Dreaming BIG DREAMS!

Sonel

2008-02-21T19:25:00.001-06:00

I've MOVED.

2007-07-16T12:14:00.000-06:00

i've moved.

come visit.

introduce yourself.

deamingBIGdreams.wordpress.com

add me to your bloglines or whatever you use.

leave a comment to tell me hello.

Adoption photography

2007-07-13T13:41:00.001-06:00

I wanted to let you all know about an organization that I found through another blog that offers free photography to new adoptive families that have been home for a year or less with their new child. What an awesome opportunity to get some great photos done. They are not cheesy photos either because I checked them out and they look great.

Go to Celebrating Adoption to check it out.

your old stuff

2007-07-13T12:59:00.000-06:00

My tv in my bedroom was bought the summer before I went off to college eleven years ago. My alarm clock next to my bed that is missing the big button on top was bought my freshman year in college eleven years ago. A blanket that is in my living room was bought my sophmore year in college. Just a year ago I threw away some clothes that I had worn since high school. Sometimes I like to think of myself as thrifty, and other times just cheap! I think they are both good ways to explain the tv upstairs that is so big it hardly even fits on the stand, and starting to loose some parts of the color throughout the screen. I guess as much as I would love a new tv, I can't see myself buying one when the two we have work just fine.

My ring holder in my bathroom has been mine since the 5th grade. My boyfriend, Scott Harrison, with whom I shared the same birthday, gave it to me for Valentine's Day.

I think old stuff is good. It keeps you thankful for what you have. Even though I admit to sometimes secretly praying for a tv to go out so we can get a new, bigger and better one, I am thanfull that we have two tv's that work.

What in your house is old and outdated but still works just fine so you can't bear to see yourself buy a new one.

time to brag

2007-07-11T12:16:00.000-06:00

I must take just a second of your time to brag on my most incredible husband. He truly is an amazing man to me. He loves me dearly and is always finding ways to take care of me and shower me with his love.

This past weekend when he was home he spent 3 hours one day cooking two amazing meals from scratch for our family. He made a Shepherds' Pie that would put anyone in Ireland to shame! Everything from scratch and most of the veggies from our local Farmer's Market. That same day he roasted some tomatos in the oven for hours and then made some amazing homemade tomato soup that I have enjoyed again twice this week since he has been gone.

Aaron loves to cook. I hate to cook. We make a great team!

new friends

2007-07-10T21:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I made two new friends just by the t shirt that I had on. They both approched me because of the shirt I had on from a race I ran this year.

I wonder how else I could make friends from t shirts. What could a shirt say that would bring on new friends?

Blankets

2007-07-09T14:22:00.000-06:00

I ordered some blankets from AUNTIE EM'S CREATIONS and I must say that they are so much more beautiful in person than on the website.

If you are looking for a baby gift and would love to help someone with an international adoption at the same time, then this blanket is for you! Go check out the site and order a blanket or two!

Birthday party fun

2007-07-08T14:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went to our friend Jada's birthday party. The boys had a blast playing with their friends at the park and riding bikes all around the place.

Mom vs. Birth Mom

2007-07-07T16:44:00.000-06:00

Recently while visiting with a new adoptive mom friend I noticed that she always referred to her new baby girl's birth mom as mom. I kept noticing this and wondered how she did it. How did she say the words that are so hard for me to say?

You see, I always refer to our son’s first mom as either birth mom, first mom or by her name. I found myself asking why is it that it bothers me when someone refers to his birth mom as mom. When someone asks us if we have a relationship with his mom, it bothers me. I know whom they mean and I know what they are asking, but I want to scream YES WE KNOW HIS MOM; I AM HIS MOM. You see they are only wondering if we have an open adoption or closed. They are merely curious and I love curiosity about adoption. I love to talk about adoption and I love to educate and disprove some of the myths people have about adoption. So then why is this so hard for me?

I am a huge birth parent advocate. I believe the most ideal place for a child is with his/her birth family. When that isn't the best situation, then that is when I think adoption should come in to play. I wish that there were more options available for parents who are struggling to raise their children. I think that a birth parent that changes their mind to parent their baby has every right to do that. They are the parents before anyone else is. I am a huge advocate of open adoptions and feel as though closed adoptions are not beneficial to anyone in the adoption triad.

I love our birth mom. I respect her and cherish her and we do have an open relationship with her. I value her more than she will ever know. She loved our son before we even began loving him. She cared for him before us. She chose to give him life and she chose us to parent him. Her reasons for placing him are her own reasons and not mine to broadcast here. She will always be a part of our lives and we have pictures of her in the boy’s room. We also talk about her and tell Little Boy about her whenever we look at the pictures.

I usually atribute my dislike of this to not wanting to confuse my boys. I never want them to be confused as to who their "real" mom is. Does this make sense, or am I just using them as a crutch to my own fear?

So, am I insecure in the thought of someone referring to her as mom too? Do I fear that I will be valued less if he hast two moms? I don’t know why this is so hard for me. When we first adopted him I would rage (not to the person, but just in my head) if someone said mom instead of birth mom. Now it doesn’t bother me, but I just can’t bring myself to say it. Is that okay?

So, any other adoptive moms out there where do you stand on this? Am I wrong? Am I insecure? Do I need to just get a grip and get over it? I can take it, tell me the truth. Is this dumb? I promise it is really not a big issue, I just need to know if I am alone on this one, or if any of you other moms deal with this.

Milestones

2007-07-07T08:17:00.000-06:00

Every mom that has children older than me says the same thing. They tell me to cherish these moments because before you know it they are driving away to college at 18 years old, and you are wondering where your baby went. Honestly that seems ages away, but deep down I know that they are right. The reason I'm starting to realize that is because although my oldest is only 3 years old I am starting to forget things about him when he was little. Yesterday I went to visit Alison and hold baby Norah and honestly it seemed ages since my Little Boy was that little and he is only a year and a half. Time does fly by so quickly.

Yesterday three monumental things happened at our house. Three things that mean my kids are growing up. Three things that caused me to reflect on the time I have had them. Have I done a good job parenting them in their three years and one year of life. Do they know they are loved? Do they know that they are safe? Do they know they have boundaries? Do they know that family is very important to us? Do they love each other? These are things that we desire as parents to instill in our kids when they are young. God helps us to do a good job at this!

The first thing that happened was that my little baby boy got his first hair cut. Oh my goodness! We had trimmed his hair once but we obviously had no idea what the heck we were doing. If you have known us since Little Boy was born you know that he once looked like Mr. T with his crazy hair. He only had hair on the top and none on the sides and the hair that was on top was bushy so we refered to him very nicely as Mr. T!

That is Little Boy last summer. NOw from there we never cut his hair and it just got bigger and bigger. Here is a picture of him this past month so you can see what I'm talking about.

So, yesterday Aaron was being a very nice daddy and decided to take Little Boy to get his hair cut so that I didn't have to worry about it next week by myself. So sweet, but in the process he forgot to realize how important a camera is at a little boys' first haircut! So, I have no pictures to show of him getting his actual hair cut because I was not there. Oh well. We'll get the next one. Aaron took him to a black barber shop and they were wonderful. They jokingly told Aaron that we should be ashamed for letting him look this way!!! Aaron said they were great and lots of fun. He also said that Little Boy did fabulous and was such a good boy. Here is his new look:

Doesn't he look like a new boy. All grown up! All day long I would nearly tear up when I looked at him. He doesn't look like my little baby anymore. I love the new do but it is taking me getting used to my little baby not looking like a little baby anymore. I still think he might be the cutest 1 year old around!

Of course Big Boy had to get in on the action as well. He was begging to get his hair cut like Caliou all day long. Why Caliou I'm not so sure, but we nixed that one real quick like since I think Calious is bald! (If you have no clue who Calious is then you don't have a preschool child and don't have PBS) So after his nap we proceded to go to the local hair salon and get his FIRST official hair cut at the age of 3!!! Before then we have done all his trims. The last cut was by me and it was the worst thing we have ever seen. Although it was so bad we let him walk around like this for over a month. What kind of parents are we?

He did a great job with his hair cut. A few months ago I cut his hair because we were having to wear it in a ponytail outside because he was so hot.

So I cut it and it was awful. Well yesterday we went to get him all fixed up with a big boy hair cut and it looks great.
Here is before:

Here is being silly with daddy while we wait for our turn:

Here is during:

And here is our big boy after his first "official" hair cut!

The next monumental thing randomly happened on a quick trip to target for ant killer and birthday present for our friend Jada. Aaron is dieing to have a bike right now. He is always looking and usually gets discourgaed because the ones he wants are always around $500! Well last night while checking out the bikes we found a bike for Big Boy that was only $10.51 - can you believe that?! We just knew that something was wrong with it and it would fall apart when he sat on it. Nope, nothing. Just on clearance. Wow! I know what you are thinking right now. You are asking and wondering why this almost 3 and a half year old doesn't already have a bike. Well, we are a little behind in that area. I never knew that little kids his age had bikes until I had a play group over here and all the moms said that their 3 year old boys were riding bikes (with training wheels of course). I felt like a bad mommy for not exposing my child to bikes yet. So, we have been talking about getting one soon and randomly we found a great deal on a Spiderman bike and so we walked out of Target with a new bike and a helmet that cost more than the bike!! I didn't have my camera but I will never in my lifetime forget the joy on my Big Boy's face as he rode that bike all the way from the back of the store to the front. He was so proud of his new bicycle. As he was proudly pushing his bike to the front, Little Boy was screaming and crying the whole time because he wanted one too. :)

So today he hit the road with daddy. Here are some pictures of our bike time today:
Our new shiny helmet:

Putting air in the tires with daddy:

What a big big boy he is!

Little Boy wants in on some bike riding action too!

My favorite picture from today with my three favorite boys going on a bike ride!

Yesterday was so crazy that this is what my boys looked like when we finally got home after so much excitement:

I have so much joy in parenting these two little boys. I have so many dreams and hopes for them and I pray for them daily. I ask God to help me bring them up to love people and to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind. I love these two boys so much that sometimes I hurt at the thought of them going through tough times and trials. I hope that they know that I will always be here for them no matter what.

These three things yesterday remind me that these boys are only mine for a season and then they will be men and influence this world on their own.

I hope that you have a fabulous Saturday! We're off to a birthday party and to register Big Boy for soccer this fall - and that is a whole nother post!!!

my big surprise at home ....

2007-07-06T07:43:00.000-06:00

Okay for those of you that have been wondering about what a I came home to the other day here it is. Aaron wrote about it just nicely on his blog so there is no reason for me to ellaborate on here. GO to aaronivey.com and you can read all about it.

All I have to say is that it was the worst smell I have ever smelled in my ENTIRE life. Nothing compares to this. I never even smelt anything this bad in a remote village in Haiti.

I'm over it now. It's not funny yet,but it will be soon.

Commitment to running

2007-07-05T22:14:00.000-06:00

What a commitment this guy has to running this race in Atlanta.

running again.

2007-07-05T19:46:00.000-06:00

Well I have done it again. That is I have signed myself up for another half marathon. I really enjoyed running the last one and was super proud at the dedication I put forth into training and proud of myself for accomplishing running 13 miles at one time.

Now you might be saying to yourself, Oh this will be easy for her since it was only two months ago she was in great shape and ran 13 miles. Ha! Wouldn't that be nice. I have been kicking myself for the fact that in the past two months I worked out maybe 10 times and ran maybe 5 times. UGH what was I thinking. I registered last week for this race that is towards the end of Sept and hit the pavement again last weekend. My first run was 2 miles and I had to run 5 min and walk 2 min. The next day the same, and then the next day I ran the 2 without walking. Today was 3 and I didn't walk, so that was good. I'm back in the training game and enjoy it. I seem to work out a lot more regular when I have a workout schedule on my calendar and a goal in sight!

So if you live in my area and want to get in on this fun you better register soon because they are only taking 1,000 participants since it is the innagural race!

Home Sweet Home!

2007-07-04T08:21:00.001-06:00

There is absolutely NOTHING like being home. I love it. I love to travel, but I love to come home to my own bed. I had been gone for 22 days and slept in five different beds and unpacked and repacked 6 different times. I could not wait to get in my own bed last night. I know hubby is used to this and I do think it would be easier if it weren't also two little boys to pack and repack over and over and have them sleeping in "strange" places!

After 12 and a half hours in the car yesterday we pulled into our town around 5:45 and headed straight to the grocery store! Fun! I knew there would be nothing at home for dinner or breakfast so a quick trip had to be made.

I woke up this morning and was startled not knowing where I was! Last night when Big Boy got into bed he smiled and said I love my bed! He has missed his bed too!

I arrived home last night to one of the worst things in the world and I will blog about it when I am recovered and won't have the strong desire to curse the whole time I writing about it and reliving it..... stay tuned!

house looking

2007-07-03T21:33:00.000-06:00

Aaron and I are always going back and forth on buying a new house. We have started to look around and talk about putting out house up on the market. We only have two bedrooms here and so if a new child will be entering our house anytime soon we would like to have another bedroom.

Check this out. We are so blessed in America and we don't even know it!

They are both mine.

2007-06-30T14:47:00.000-06:00

I think that many parents wonder if they will love a child that they did not birth. Will they look at this child and see that the child didn’t come from them? Will there always be something missing between them and their child? If adoptive parents have biological children will they then wonder if their bio child will have a bigger place in their heart than the child that they adopt.

I had these same questions about two years ago when we were waiting for our youngest son to join our family. At the time I didn’t know when or where he would come from. I didn’t even know if our child would be a girl or a boy, but I was falling in love with our child before we even laid eyes on him. I often wondered if I would feel differently about this child as opposed to the child I conceived with my husband and carried in my big fat belly for 9 months. I bonded with our oldest while he was in my belly. I felt him move and keep me up at night with his acrobatic dances. I pushed all 9 pounds and 11 ounces of him out of me. God created him to be born of me. I was in love from the minute the pregnancy test said positive. Would I ever be that in love with this next child?

These questions in my heart bothered me. I was ashamed that I was even entertaining these thoughts in my head. I was embarrassed to voice these thoughts for fear of how people might think of me. I prayed and prayed and prayed for this love to overcome me when I met my new baby. I prayed for my child to know me and to recognize my voice. I prayed for us to bond immediately and for the love that I had for our first child to be duplicated in a miraculous way for this child that I would not birth.

Throughout the 15 months of waiting for our baby I fell in love with him. I prayed for him and his birth family. I prayed for protection and health for our baby and his mom. I slowly and surely fell in love with a baby that I had never met. While we were at the hospital waiting for our baby to be born I remember the excitement that was going through my body. I could not wait to meet him for the first time. To see what he looks like. To feel his skin and to talk to him, I yearned to be with him. God was surely present that whole weekend and Aaron and I fell in love with our little boy the instant we laid eyes on him. It was as if we had known him all along.

When they held up our little baby boy I cried just the same as I had cried the first time I laid eyes on my oldest son after birthing him. I was in love. My love was real. My love was pure. This love was given to me by God to allow me to open my heart and soul to a child that I had nothing to do with in creating.

I guess I’ve been thinking about this lately because I talk to a lot of people who have biological children and have entertained the idea of adopting. They have felt the gentle tug at their heart by God and have been ignoring it for years. They are not sure if they could really love a child that they didn’t birth. I am here to tell you that YES you can. God’s love is big and God’s love sees no boundaries. That is how I love a child I didn’t birth. I love him the same as I love the child I birthed; I see no difference. There is no difference. They are both mine. They are both mine. They are both mine.

THINK OF ME

2007-06-29T13:49:00.001-06:00

Struggle with $$$$$

2007-06-29T13:24:00.000-06:00

If I am going to be completely honest on here I will tell you that I struggle with the want for more things. Bigger and Better things to be exact. Since I am being honest I can also say that I have come so far over the past few years in this struggle. God is growing me and stretching me so much but I have so far to go.

It seems as though whenever you venture out of your comfort zone and head to a poor country for a mission trip you must come back changed. It is impossible to not be changed. To look around and see people with so little and you with so much (material stuff that is) your heart is always moved to change your lifestyle. For some people that sticks and for others it lasts a few months and then they are right back to the desire for bigger and better.

I struggle with wanting a new diamond wedding band that we never got, I struggle with wanting a bigger and better house, I struggle with wanting more clothes, I struggle with wanting the diamond earrings I've always dreamed of, I struggle with wanting and wanting and wanting.

I also know that I don't need any of those things. I also know that I would rather feed starving children than have any of those things, but I live in America and "STUFF" is always right in front of your face.

This is something that God is always working on with me and I AM SO GRATEFUL for his work in me. I desire to be a giver. I desire one day to give away more money than I make. I desire to feed the hungry, clothe the clotheless and shelter the homeless. I have big dreams for this stuff and I know that God is constantly reminding me of how a Christ follower is to treat the "neighbors" around him or her.

We were with a pastor named Francis Chan this past week at Student Life. Go visit Aaron's blog to read what decision he recently made about building a new building for his church.

Aaron and I struggle with churches that spend MILLIONS on student buildings full of the latest and greatest video games and stuff. These kids have all this at home and we are just feeding them full of their desire for bigger and better. These poor kids expect this in their life. They expect stuff. I pray and hope that my kids NEVER expect stuff. We do hardly any Christmas gifts. Nothing extravagant. Do I want to b;uy my kids everything - YES. It is hard for me not to. But I can't. For them I can't. For me I can't. For the kids starving in Haiti I can not.

I am not saying that if you buy your kids everything they want you are bad parents. Do I think you should - NO WAY, but that is your business and not mine. I'm just expressing to you how God is working in our lives at our home.

Check out this video above called THINK OF ME and tell me what you think. I was convicted BIG time, especially since me myself has spent $16 at Starbucks this past week. That is not good. No need for you to yell at me, I'm already dealing with this in my own heart and mind.

last day of vacation

2007-06-28T08:39:00.000-06:00

Today my "vacation" is coming to an end. It is always bitter sweet to end the vacation. You are ready to get back to life, and yet not ready to leave the fun life you've been leading for a week. I'm looking forward to seeing my sweet boys again, and yet wishing Aaron was coming with me to see them too!

It has been a great week of lots of eating out (one of my TOP FAVORITE things to do), lots of couple time, and me by the pool reading a great book and soaking up the rays! That is my idea of a great week.

So, today around noon I head back to real life. Back to my boys, back to being a mommy and back to what I love doing.

sleeping good.

2007-06-27T07:14:00.001-06:00

Two nights down and one to go here with my hubby in Padre. I have had the BEST two nights of sleep that I have had in a long time. No baby monitor to listen to, no children within 10 feet of your bed, no sharing beds with children - NOPE just me and my hubby in a KING size bed. I LOVE it!

I love my kids more than anything, but nothing beats a week alone in a hotel room with no kids!

THE BIG NEWS!

2007-06-26T17:21:00.000-06:00

I have been going nuts all weekend about this news that I have been wanting to share with my blogging friends.

Some friends of ours that we have gotten to know through adoption and photography just brought home their new little baby girl today! They were called on Friday about her and today they met her and her birth mother and they brought home their little Norah this afternoon.

I am so excited for this couple because they have had a hard road this past year on their adoption journey. I have prayed for them and cried for them many times before God. He once again has been faithful and has joined them together with their baby that he knew would be theirs during all the trials that they have endured.

God's blessings are endless and I could not be happier for Brad and Alison!

On a side note if you need a good photographer she is great!!!

Stealth Racism in America

2007-06-26T09:45:00.000-06:00

This morning as Aaron and I were relaxing in our sweet, hotel room we were flipping through the channels and landed on CNN and watched with our jaws dropped at a story that they were telling.

Apparently in a small LA town there is a problem with racism and six black men may spend 50 years in jail for a crime that normally gets you 3 days suspension. A few months earlier at their school nooses had been hung around a tree by white kids and these kids received a slap on the wrist.

Please go here to read the whole story.

I can not believe that this is 2007 in the United States of America and this CRAP (believe me I wanted to use another word for this subject matter, but I will keep it clean) still goes on. Seriously.

As the mother of a black child, I am astonished that this is something that our sweet, Little Boy could encounter in his lifetime. Oh how I desire to shield him and protect him from any of this absurd talk and behavior that some people find normal.

When we moved to TN we encountered more racism than we had when we lived in TX. It could be the move, or it could be the make up of our family. We have a trans-racial family and so we could be more aware of our surroundings then we were before.

A few years ago when the guys were traveling they took a high school boy from the church we then attended along with them to help out with product, sound and set up. While driving in the van this boy told them that he and his family were not racist, but that his dad would NOT allow a black boy to spend the night at his house. I wish that I could have seen the guys faces as this guy was convincing them that he did not have anything against other races. The guys "lovingly" told him that he indeed did have a distorted view of God's people. That he did value his white race more than the black race. That he justified this in his mind and that then gave less of a worth to someone that God also made in his own image.

This is middle TN in 2005 - WOW is all I can say. What an injustice this kids parents have done for him. What a screwed up view of God's love this kid has. This is not healthy. I pray and hope that this boy can break the cycle that his parents have passed down to him from his parents.

Listen LIve

2007-06-26T09:38:00.000-06:00

Spur is in South Padre this week leading worship at a Student Life camp. They have a great set up where you can listen live to a certain location each night. Tonight you can hear SPUR from the comfort of your living room!

Go to Student Life Live and scroll down to June 26 and find SPUR at South Padre. Enjoy!

luggage is in BROWNSVILLE

2007-06-25T23:46:00.000-06:00

So last I heard the luggage had arrived in Brownsville around 10:30 PM and will be delivered to our hotel in Padre sometime before 6 AM. We told them to call our room WHENEVER it arrives. We'll see how happy Aaron will be at 3 in the morning when he has to go down to the front desk!

LOST LUGGAGE

2007-06-25T15:24:00.000-06:00

UGH! My luggage did NOT make it to Padre. It MIGHT make it here on the 7:55 PM flight. I used to wish that this would happen to me so I could buy new clothes .... I'm not liking it though. I feel lost without a bag!

At the airport

2007-06-25T15:21:00.000-06:00

I am at the airport without any children for the first time in a really long time. I don’t remember the last time I flew by myself. I LOVE it! Usually about this time I’m trying to entertaining my children with books, popcorn, and just trying to keep the other passengers around me happy!

A random stranger just made my day at the airport. I sat down beside this cool, hip young lady and she smiled and asked me what store I was from. I was very confused and asked her what she was talking about. She said oh you must not work for the BUCKLE. Then I remembered that my friend Laura who is a manager for the Buckle is on her way to Nebraska this weekend for meetings, and it all clicked. She thought I was a BUCKLE manager headed to Nebraska for meetings. WHOA she made my day. That means that she thought I was dressing cool and hip! Funny thing is that everything I am wearing today except my shoes are from the BUCKLE!!!! I love this store and it helps that I have some great people there that help me find cool, hip clothes! I’m trying to stay away from the I’m-a-mom-of-two-little-kids look!!!

Once again it is apparent that I am kidless. When flying with kids it is impossible to wear cute wedge shoes, or nice shirts because I would not be able to chase kids around in these shoes and this shirt would have some sort of stain on it after flying with my kids.

I am so happy as I am about 2 hours away from being in the arms of my man with nothing to concern ourselves with except loving on each other, laughing our heads off at each other, having a blast with the Student Life staff and spending great nights of worshipping our God together.

Back to Trinity

2007-06-24T09:49:00.000-06:00

I'm back in Trinity for the day. It is slow here and I need that sometimes. Slow days to do laundry, watch a movie, read a book, finish a magazine. Today is all laundry day for me and movie day for the kids. Right now they are enjoying some Pops time and I'm knee deep in laundry.

The kids and I drove from Giddings yesterday to Jordan and Kristen's house in Conroe for dinner with them, Paul (Kristen's dad) and my parents. It was fun and rowdy. The kids were a little wound up after being in the car for 3 hours. It won't be long until JOrdan and Kristen have little Porter running around crazy everywhere.;

Here's a funny kid story for you. Before we went over to their house we stopped at Old Navy to get Baby Porter a present. As I was checking things out and trying to decide on what to get Big Boy was talking about giving the gifts to the baby. I told him that he could give the baby one and his brother could give the baby one too. He thought for a moment and then said ... and Kristen can eat the presents to give them to the baby in her belly! It took me a minute to understand, but he was thinking logically how those presents were going to get to that baby in Kristen's belly! What a thinker we have on our hands!!!

Tonight after dinner the kids and I will drive to Pearland to spend the night with some of our favorite friends, Matt & Rachel and baby Ava. The kids are super excited to stay there. We have been with them the whole last week and so the kids are comfortable around them and love Baby Ava as everyone calls her!

A few weeks ago I thought I wasn't going to get to go to South Padre with Aaron and was kinda bummed about it. I mentioned to Rachel that I wasn't going to be able to go b/c the people that were watching our kids backed out and without even hesitating she volunteered to watch them while I am in Padre with my lover. How amazing of a friend is that! So, she'll have plenty of practice this week with having more than one baby! I pray that my kids are on their BEST behavior and don't miss their mommy too much while I'm gone. I think they'll love to "help" with baby Ava, and it sounds as though Rachel has fun things for them planned like the museum, pool, and water park (for kids of course!).

I have been looking forward to this week for a long time now. We'll be at Student Life Camp on the Beach. As I have said before SL puts on some of the BEST camps around and so it is always a relief to be somewhere that you know will take care of you and treat you well. Also SL Beach camps are a blast! I LOVE the beach, even if it is a TX beach, and I love being alone with my hubby with no kids. I don't think we have a trip planned this year for us with no kids, so this will be our trip for the year, even if Aaron is "working"!!! It is nice to get away with no kids - if you have kids and don't do this - YOU MUST start this year. It is a MUST for your marriage to be the best it can be. Men, plan a trip for your wives. Don't make them do it, you take the initiative and make them feel special! Aaron is fabulous at this and I love that about him so much.

Okay I have heard my children calling for me and should show them that I am still here! I hope and pray that your week is FABULOUS and I should have lots of good news to share with you this week! I can't wait!

Good news

2007-06-23T10:02:00.000-06:00

I LOVE getting good news!

On Thursday I found out that my brother and his wife are having a BOY! I'm so happy and have dreams of our boys being best friend cousins for life! They will be 2 years and 4 years apart. FUN TIMES with all these boys are in our future, I just know it! They are thinking of naming him Porter and I LOVE that!

Yesterday I received some more good news and hopefullly will be able to share that with you next week! I love happy news and I love when people are caught off guard and blessed so much!

What is the best news you have received all week?

photo booth kissing

2007-06-21T23:30:00.000-06:00

Here's the photo I promised ......

Gosh I love this guy!

A great day ....

2007-06-21T19:34:00.000-06:00

Today was a fabulous day with the man of my dreams. Tomorrow will be 6 years since we were married. Sometimes I can't believe that it has already been six years since we said "I do". Since we were married in the summer we usually always celebrate our anniversary at some camp. This year is no different for us. Today Bush & Maris watched our boys as we headed over to Austin for some great couple time. It is so much fun to go out with no kids. I forget how much fun it is until we are out and no one is crying and I am not picking up crayons off the restaurant floor for the millionth time, and I'm not trying to split a $5 kids meal that doesn't even have good food in it anyways.

We started our day at a great restaurant in Austin called Shady Grove. Fabulous food and fabulous chips and salsa. A place CAN NOT go wrong that has good chips and salsa for me. We then headed to the mall to cruise around and window shop, Starbucks for a great coffee, and then to guitar center to pick stuff up for the band. While we were at the mall we took our picture in one of those cheesy picture booths. So much fun! Whenever I get them scanned I'll share with you!

I must say I am 100% more in love with my husband today than I was 6 years ago. Our love has grown tremendously and him and I have both transformed into different people over the years. God has been so gracious to each of us by giving us each other and two fabulous boys. I can not wait for the next 6 years and so many more after that!

Baby - I LOVE YOU!

Father's Day

2007-06-20T12:46:00.000-06:00

I know I'm a little late on this one, but I wanted to give a HUGE shout out to my dad and to my husband for Father's Day! I love you both dearly and you have both impacted my world and my kids worlds in ways too big to count.

Aaron is such a fabulous daddy to our boys. He loves them so much and misses them like crazy when we are away. He would do anything for them, and is constantly thinking of their well being. When he comes home from long trips he always has a gift for them and spends all his time devoted to them. He makes more castles than anyone would like to, and plays the best game of hide and seek!

My love for Aaron has grown tremendously since we started having kids. I love him in a new way. I love him because he loves our boys so much. I love him because he desires to be the best dad in the world.

This week when we first saw Aaron after not having him around for almost 2 weeks (I'm not counting the 15 hours he was home one weekend) the boys went crazy. They only wanted daddy. They wanted to sit by daddy at dinner. They want daddy to hold them. They want their daddy. I LOVE it and Aaron loves it even more.

For the longest time Aaron and I have been on two completely different pages about more children in our family. He has said since we brought Little Boy home that we were done and that our family was complete with our two boys. I have said NO WAY I am NOT complete as a mom and I need more kids! We kinda agreed to disagree and decided not to talk about it anymore. This week Aaron drops a BOMB on me and says that he thinks we need to start the adoption process again. WHAT? I was so happy and have not stopped thinking about it and smiling. So, we are going to hopefully start again sometime within the next year. We are not in a hurry and going to take our time, but I could not be happier. We are going to pray this summer about whether or not we feel as though God wants to lead us down the path to domestic again, or international this time. Who knows!

Camp Tejas

2007-06-20T08:58:00.001-06:00

This week the boys and I have the privledge of being with Aaron for a full week of camp. This is so much fun and we are so thankful to Sagemont Church for allowing us to spend time with our daddy! We are gateful when a church considers the fact that if we aren't at camp we won't see our daddy for weeks. Thanks to Sagemont!

This week there seems to be prego women everywhere. Three friends from Sagemont are prego and I must say they all look so adorable as prego women. Whenever I see a cute prego woman I usually always think about having another baby. I start to wish that it was me prego anxiously awaiting the birth of a new baby. But then reality sets in and I remember it is not our time to birth another child, and I am happy with that.

orphan epidemic

2007-06-14T09:15:00.000-06:00

I found this site on a blog today (sorry I can't remember where so I can't site you) and was impressed with this article. It is from Children's Hope International following the Orphan Summit III which was held at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Co this past May.

Go here to read all about this and how the church could help out if we would step up just a little.

Celiac disease

2007-06-13T13:39:00.000-06:00

My mom has this disease and suffered tremendously until she was diagnosed. If you have any of these symptons seek your doctor about getting tested. It could change your life.

Proverbs

2007-06-13T12:08:00.000-06:00

My friend Nancy sent me this verse this week. I love it.

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:3-6

disturbing stats

2007-06-12T18:09:00.000-06:00

Today I was shown some very disturbing facts about orphans and adoption. Over at the Livesay's blog from Haiti she had this site listed and I am finding it very eye opening and also disturbing at the same time.

Please go and explore this site for lots of more information.

Here are a few of the points on there:
* 143 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents.
* Armed conflicts orphaned or seperated 1 million children from their families in the 1990's.
* 87.6 million orphans life in Asia
* 43.4 million orphans life in Sub-Saharan Africa.
* 12.4 million orphans live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
* Almost 1.5 million children live in public care in Central and Eastern Europe.
* More than 800,000 children pass through America's foster care system each year.

Here are some stats on Adoption and Waiting children in the U.S.
* Between 118,000 and 127,000 children have been adopted every year since 1987.
* MORE THAN 1/3 OF AMERICANS HAVE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED ADOPTING, BUT NO MORE THAN 2% HAVE ACTUALLY ADOPTED.
* On average, children waiting for adoption have been in foster care for 43.8 months, almost FOUR YEARS.

These stats make my jaw drop to the ground. I pray and urge God to never let me get complacent with these figures. I know that something needs to be done.

Is it wrong of me to question why more people are not adopting orphans? Is it wrong to wonder why more Christians are not stepping up to the plate and bringing an orphan into their home to love and cherish for all of their life? Is it wrong of me to wonder how we Americans can stand it to sit in our nice houses and pretend to do nothing about these children that do not have parents?

I will tell you something. I can not sit here. I can not fathom not doing anything for them. I urge you to ask God and yourself what it is that you can do. Find an organization that supports people. Send them money. Find an organization that allows you to "adopt" a child and support them each month for about $40 a month. What is $40?

For me, I can not know that there are children that do not have parents and do nothing. One day we'll be adopting again.

we made it!

2007-06-12T09:20:00.001-06:00

Well yesterday was a VERY LONG day for me and the boys. We pulled out of our driveway at 4:52 AM and arrived at my parents house around 6:30 PM! LONG DAY! The boys did great. They had their moments of course, but overall it was a great drive. The first two hours were the hardest for me because I was so tired and not happy about being up so early.

But we are here and happy to be here. The boys are loving seeing Nana and Pops and it will be a good relaxing week for me. One thing I love is that my parents have cable and so I end up watching way too much TLC and Discovery Health and all kinds of other stuff! It is good though, I don't ever get to do this!

Today we're going to the park and probably swimming after naps today.

Have a great one wherever you are this Tuesday!

getting packed and random thoughts.....

2007-06-10T14:04:00.000-06:00

Well I have to admit that this might be my best packing job yet. The boys have a suitcase each, I have a suitcase, a stroller, hang up clothes, a pack n play and a bag of toys. I am just down right getting good at this packing stuff. I have learned with each trip what is NOT necessary for a road trip. I used to bring it all, but not so much anymore! It helps that they are both getting older too - only one in diapers, no bottles, no formula, no baby food .... it gets easier with each year they get older!

In fact the car is almost completely packed and it is only 3 pm! I'm on a tight schedule around here. I want to be in bed tonight by 9 so that this road trip can get started between 4:30 and 5 in the morning! Wow that is early, but it makes a huge difference when you are traveling with little ones. The plan is that they will hopefully go back to sleep and then we'll be about 3 hours down the road when we have to stop for breakfast. The day is long b/c each stop is about an hour long. BUT they need it and frankly so do I since I'm doing it all by myself.

Tomorrow will be a LONG day for me - about 15 hours long, but it is worth it. I get to spend a week with my family and then two weeks with Aaron!!!

I have much on my mind these days that I'm hoping to get to blog about this week while I'm resting in Texas. I'm thinking tons about adoption, tons about orphans and even more about what am I to do about this. I have a friend that has adoption on the mind and I LOVE it. It reminds me of myself about 2 years ago when we were working on our adoption for Little Boy. It will be a pure joy to walk beside them when they do begin this journey. It could be soon, or it could be a year or two, but whenever it is I am happy to be here with them as they journey.

I also have relationships on my mind. Especially the relationship of marriage. We received three wedding invitations last week in the mail for weddings this summer. Two of them were students in the student ministry that Aaron served with. Wow that does make you feel old doesn't it! The other was for our dear and wonderful friends Jimmie and Laura. We are so happy for them and this journey that they are about to embark on. I love marriage and honestly Aaron and I have a great marriage. I am not bragging, but simply being honest. We love each other, respect each other, cherish each other, encourage each other, challenge each other and simply adore each other. It is a great journey for us. We will celebrate our 6th year of marriage in a few weeks. I could not be happier with my life!

Okay so this week I promise to bring you posts about adoption and marriage! Stay tuned ....

pictures from our week

2007-06-08T12:39:00.000-06:00

We have had so much fun this week. Here is a picture of Aaron and the boys before he left on Sunday. They love their daddy so much and can't wait to see him tonight!

We spent Monday at the splash park and saw Kelly, Tamara and Shellie and their kids there. Big Boy had so much fun playing with all the kids! It is so funny because Little Boy likes the water and Big Boy barely got his feet wet the whole time we were there! They are so different! I had my camera that day but was too busy chasing kids in and out of the sprinklers to get any pics! Next time I will.

Then we spent Tuesday at the park with our friends, Blake, Logan, Carrie, Savanah, and Allison. Big Boy had so much fun! Here he is with two of his favorite buddies from school! How cute are these boys!!!

Big Boy has been dieing to wear these shoes all summer long. Aaron won't let him b/c they reallly don't look all that great with shorts but when daddy is away mommy makes the rules!!!! He loves these shoes and calls them his "silly black shoes"!!! I am really just posting this picture so that Aaron can see how I'm running things around here when he is gone!

My two favorite little boys in the whole world!

Here are two of my best girl friends. I love these girls for all that they mean to me in my life and I love them because they both love my boys so much. It is so great to have friends that love your kids. It makes you like your friend more!!!

On Wed we went swimming at our friend Emily's house. How cute is she!

As we all know Big Boy is not a fan of the water, but as you can see he was ready at any moment just in case he went in! He had a life jacket on (which I have now bought on of these in hopes that he'll get in more!), floaties and gogles. He was cracking me up. Finally another girl there got him in the water to kick his feet around. Otherwise he was just happy on the steps. Little Boy on the other hand would drown if you weren't sitting right next to him. He is not diving in or anything, but he'll step right off the step and get up and do it again! I love how different they are and it always cracks me up!

Today we met Becca and her boys, Jonah and Eli, at Chick-fil-A and the kids played and loved it so much. My boys love to play with J & E and it is always fun to catch up with Becca as well.

So, now the hubby will be home in about 3 hours and I have much to do. FIx my hair, put up laundry, make the bed, clean dishes, and vacum upstairs. I learned a while back that Aaron loves to come home to a clean house. Problem with that is that I hate to clean. So I usually walk around spraying Lysol and Pine Sol and he thinks I am the "perfect wife"!!!!

hair

2007-06-08T08:21:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else only fix their hair when their hubby is in town? I'm the worst at this. Aaron's been gone since Sunday and I think that was the last day my hair wasn't in a pony tail! Today he is on his way home and so I must give this hair a good washing and blow dry to be the HOT wife he had when he left! Ha Ha!

So, today will be cleaning, picking up our mess and making myself presentable!

3 years of static ....

2007-06-07T14:28:00.000-06:00

We finally did it. For three long years we have endured the worst monitor that was ever invented. I guess when Big Boy was first born the monitor worked fine or else surely we would have bought a new one. But slowly over time it has become the worst sound in the world. At night you only know it is working if you can hear static. If it is not on high it does not work. This is so bad that we even have to put the monitor around the corner in our bathroom with the door shut b/c it is so loud when it is on.

Well last night it was going off and on throughout the night and driving me insane. One time I woke up in the middle of the night to the faint cries of Little Boy. I could not hear him through the monitor because it was apparently off but I could hear him barely through the house. I jumped up so quickly and ran down there not knowing how long he had been crying. I hate that feeling. The feeling that he needed me and I wasn't there to help him.

So, that was my final straw and I broke down and bought a monitor at Target today. I had always said when I bought a new one I would research and get the best one out there, but this was so spur of the moment that no research was done and I just picked the one that looked the best. I bought the one that has the longest range. Not sure why, but that seemed important to me as I was looking at them. I went middle of the line and bought the $19.99 one but when I checked out it rang up as $12.98 - YEAH a deal! Aaron will be so happy!

Tonight I will sleep much better!

SPUR VIDEO

2007-06-06T13:50:00.000-06:00

HOT friends

2007-06-05T22:17:00.000-06:00

I must say that Jimmie and Laura look amazing in their pictures. They are getting married in July and I can't wait for them to experience marriage together. They will rock as a married couple. I love them both and love how much they both love my kids.

Go here to check out their amazing engagement photos. How hot are they???

cleaning schedule

2007-06-05T13:17:00.000-06:00

Anyone else have a cleaning schedule? I have the hardest time sticking to mine. #1 reason I hate cleaning and #2 reason I hate cleaning!

So, here is my weekly cleaning schedule:
Monday - Dust upstairs, Bathroom upstairs
Tuesday - Vacum upstairs
Wed - Dust downstairs, mop kitchen/living room/breakfast area
Thur - Vacum downstairs, all trash out of house to curb
Fri - Bathroom downstairs
Sat - clean out fridge, organize desk & go through mail
Sun - sheets

Okay so there it is. I orginially made this b/c I was getting so frustrated with spending a whole day cleaning. I thought if I did a little each day I wouldn't get burned out. Well instead I get to Tuesday and say oh that's not too much I'll just do that tomorrow. Then a few more times that week I do that and before I know it I spend the whole day on Friday cleaning the whole house.

Any more tips for staying on top of housework? Sometimes I wish I worked outside the home just so we could have our house cleaned by someone else!!!

ETSY

2007-06-05T08:19:00.001-06:00

Has anyone ever bought or sold anything on ETSY? I was just curious about it. I have been trying to buy something on there for a day and I'm not sure if I have figured it out or not. I did sign up and create an account, so now if I ever make anything I can sell it on the site!!! Me, crafty ... NO, but for some reason I desire to be crafty. In fact the other day I was begging Aaron to let me buy a sewing machine to make cute crafty things. He said NO because he thinks I'll start making my own clothes and end up in a Moo-Moo, like old ladies wear around the house all day long!!!!

So, I'd love to hear about your experience with ETSY. If you haven't been, go look around and you can find some very cute things!

Oprah and my thoughts

2007-06-05T07:31:00.001-06:00

I've been catching up on my Oprah's from when I was not home last week. There have been some great shows and last night was a great catch up night for me. There was the show about people's body image and that was very enlightening to me. They talked about how sometimes your insecurities can come from within your own family or "group". There were some black adults and teenagers on the show who talked about their insecurity with how dark their skin is and how it is looked down upon to be really dark. There was an Asian girl on the show who grew up very insecure about not having creases in her eyes. Weird to me, but a very real reality to her. This show made me think about the little things that families kid each other about all in fun. Do these sometimes lead to real insecurities? Can joking leave scars on the inside. I heard a saying one time that said ... Sarcasm leads to SCARcasm. Kinda cheesy, but I think we apply it to our lives and make sure our sarcasm isn't scaring someone for the sake of a joke. There is a running joke in my family about my dad, my brother and I having big noses. YES we do have the same nose and it could be considered on the bigger side, but I will say that I am pretty self conscience of my nose and notice it in every picture. Could the joking have gone too far? Is my brother also self conscience of his nose? My dad? Just something to think about next time you "joke" with someone about something.

The next Oprah was about the crisis of young black men not excelling in school and the percentage of them that will end up incarcerated was very alarming. Something has to happen to intervene for these boys. Their life has to take a turn. Hill Harper (I think that was his name), from CSI:NY was on there and has written a book about helping these young men grow into great young men that value education and have dreams for themselves. I loved this episode and it was a little wake up call for me. I ordered the book and hope to learn lots from it.

The last Oprah was the kicker for me. I was moved to tears throughout the entire show. I saw my family in the show in more ways than one. This family was traveling home from a wedding in a limo and was hit head on by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the road while driving 70 miles per hour. The limo driver was killed instantly, the grandparents in the back were thrown forward on top of the other family members, the husband broke his back, the wife had minor injuries, one daughter lived and the other daughter was decapitated. Her mother literally stood on the side of the road and watched them pull out her family while she held her daughters head in her arms. Their life will NEVER be the same because of the choice of one man to drive even though his blood alcohol level was 3 times the legal limit. He lived and is serving 18 years in prison.

I saw my family here because this could happen to anyone. This family did nothing to bring this on. They were merely driving home from a joyous occasion and their life was changed forever. Their daughter will never be back. The fear of something happening to my boys causes my emotions to loose it and fear to run through my body.

The second way I saw myself in this story was as the drunk driver. No, I don't drink and drive now, but I have many times in the past. In my last two years of high school and first three years of college I lived a very promiscuous and dangerous lifestyle. I participated in lots of drinking and too many times to count drove myself and others all around town while I was intoxicated. I am very embarrassed to admit this and also very thankful that nothing like this ever happened while I was driving drunk. Why didn't I ever wreck? I will never know, but I do know that anyone that drives drunk is capable of doing something like this.

So, there is my Oprah recap for the weekend! I love when her show can expose problems that I feel I need to be aware of, and also to help me see things in my own life that can be changed or can used to help someone else.

just one reason

2007-06-03T18:31:00.003-06:00

Today my amazingly, wonderful hubby went to the store to pick up a new air filter thing for our house and came home with that and 3 bunches of beautiful flowers for me. I love that about him, because he does this about once a month and I love it. He always tells Big Boy that he got flowers for mommy because he loves her so much. Isn't he instilling great patterns into his boys.

pictures from Chatt

2007-06-02T14:32:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from the past week at camp.
Here are the kids and the sitters ....

One of the main reasons I go each year to Covenant is to see my sweet friend Callie. I love this girl. She is amazing and loves people and loves God and does a phenominal job for Student Life.

This is what we looked at each time we stepped out of our room. Isn't this lovely. If you can ever go and visit Lookout Mountain outside of Chattanooga it is very much worth it.

Here is Big Boy and his most favorite friend from the week! Now that we are home he is still asking if he is going to see his buddy today!

We went to the Aquarium with the Nolan's and had a blast. Here we were petting sting ray's and if we would not have been holding Little Boy he would have gone in with them. He is a maniac!

Our family in the butterfly exhibit.

Here we are with Big Boy at aquarium ....

Don't worry we didn't leave out Little Boy, he just did this through most of the exhibit!

The penquins were my favorite. Little Boy was so cute b/c he would kiss the glass every time one would swim by!

This is Sarah, the high school girl we took with us for the week to help out.

Checking out the fish!

How cute is this! Can't you just see a little NBA basketball player in the making!!!

new book

2007-06-02T11:16:00.000-06:00

I just started a new book this past week. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers. Anyone read it? I tried to start this last year and could not get into. Once again I'm having a hard time getting sucked in but I'm determined to read it this summer.

devo drama

2007-06-02T10:10:00.002-06:00

As I told you guys last week I just recently started a new devotional book. I love it and it is just what I have been needing right now. It gets you reading the word each day and then a few questions, a word from Beth about it, and then a prayer from the word and a space to journal. This is much needed for me and quite easy to get into and stay into.

If I love this so much, why did I only get three days done in a week's time? Why is it harder to sit still and spend time with God when you are at camp? Why was I always going? Why did I never stop to rest? I have enjoyed today with my devotions. I was sitting on our patio with coffee in hand and the boys playing while I read about Hannah and her sweet precious gift from God. What a story. I highly encourage you to read the first chapter of I Samuel in the Old Testament. It makes you think about what you do in the midst of your bitterness. Do you sulk in your bitterness, or do you weep and pray to God during that time. I will not tell you what I do most of the time, but you can probably guess since this was so convicting today.

I love how God knew her heart. He knew that she wasn't just promising to give Samuel back so that she could have him in the first place. Her promise was sincere. God knew that. God blessed her with the desires of her heart.

On a different note to all the mom's out there. Don't you just love it when you are right in the middle of reading a great word in the bible and you have to stop to break up a fight and put kids in time out. Man has my time with God changed over the past three years. :) Most of the time it is sweet and calm, but every once in a while my time is interupted with drama from my boys!

Camp Pictures

2007-05-31T19:03:00.001-06:00

I LOVE Student Life camps. They seriously are the best camps around. They know how to put on a great camp. The people there are fantastic. They love us and treat us wonderful. One thing I love about SL is that they always welcome families to come with the band/speaker. You have NO idea how much of a blessing this is to my family. When your husband/daddy travels for a living and could spend 6 weeks of the summer away it is a HUGE blessing for you to be welcomed with open arms to travel with them. They are always happy to accomodate for families. If you run a camp or invite speakers and bands to come minister to your church, remember that they have familes. Remember that sometimes they can go weeks without seeing them. Invite them to come. Invite them to be there too. It makes a HUGE difference.

Okay anyways on to the real reason for this post ..... PICTURES of my boys. One of the drama team guys took these fabulous pics of my boys. I LOVE them.

burning cd's

2007-05-30T07:52:00.000-06:00

I'm at camp with SPUR this week and one of the things that I love to do is to work the table for them. I really do enjoy it and have fun talking to the kids and selling the merchandise. It is fun and kinda keeps me connected to the camp. This week I have a babysitter with us, so that gives me the ability to help them out with the table while Sarah has my kids.

It never fails that this scenerio I'm about to tell you about happens at every camp. Two kids come up to the table to take a look around. They check out the posters, the buttons, the stickers and then they end up looking at the cd's. SPUR has three cd's on their table. The newest one, SLEEPWALKERS, then another one called BLESSED CATASTROPHE, and then one that is a cd with various artist and they have one song on there. So, the two SPUR cd's are $15 each and usually the kids end up saying they don't have enough money and I always feel sorry for them so at every camp I sell a few cd's for $13 or $14 - don't tell Jimmie or Chad b/c they will kill me, but oh well I'm just too nice.

So another thing that always happens at camp is that two kids come up and talk about stealing cd's right in front of me. They hold nothing back. They are not discreet they discuss their plans at the table for all to hear. It goes something like this. Keep in mind this is not in whispers but in regular voices!
Student A - I really want a cd do you have any money?
Student B - Yeah I have money but why do we both need to buy one?
Student A - yeah that is true, let's split the cost and buy one.
Student B - then we can split it - you burn me a copy and we each have one.
Student A - Okay here's $7 you pay the rest.
Student B - Okay we would like one cd here's our money.

Then they proceed to hand me 15 one dollar bills wadded together b/c they've been in their sweaty gym shorts during rec all day today.v GROSS! I am always certain I have contracted some sort of disease after working the table for thy guys and handling all their sticky dollar bills!

Well, it's time for me to manage the SPUR store again ..... Here come the kids and why don't I have any hand sanitizer with me on this trip???

a few pics ...

2007-05-29T15:43:00.000-06:00

here are some pictures from our walk the other night. both boys were sporting their new shades and both boys spent most of the walk snoozing and sweating!!! nothing like sleeping in the sun!

I LOVE this picture. My boys are the LUCKIEST boys alive. They have all these men in their lives that love them and support them and will be some of their greatest fans in life. I'm one proud momma!

And then lastly, this is one cute boy that I want to show off!!!

we're here ....

2007-05-28T16:20:00.000-06:00

We're here and camp has started. Big Boy thinks is it so cool to be at camp. He thinks this place we are at is actually called "camp"!!! So cute.

One thing I love about my boys is that they LOVE their daddy. When he is on stage they want to be up there with him. They love when he plays the piano. They love when they hear a "daddy song". It is so cute.

Hope your Monday was good.

It's SUMMER again!

2007-05-27T18:18:00.002-06:00

Aaron and I have beeen married for almost 6 years (in June we'll celebrate 6) and every summer of our married life we have ventured out around the globe (not really, just the US) for summer camps. SPUR gets the awesome priveledge to lead students and adults all over the US each summer in worship at camps.

I LOVE and I HATE this part of the year. 85% love and 15% hate. Something like that. I LOVE the summers because we get to go to lots of cool places and travel a lot all summer long. I HATE the summers because we sometimes go 1-2 weeks without seeing our daddy and the traveling can get old and hard with two little ones.

Tomorrow begins camp #1 out of 8 for the summer for SPUR. I have a feeling this might be one of the BEST summer's since we've been doing this. Everyone in the band is happy. They are almost all married. Life is good. They will be with some great students this summer and some great places too.

We head out for Chattanooga tomorrow and before the summer is over the boys and I will have driven LOTS of miles in the ole' minivan. We will go to Chattanooga TN, Trinity TX, Brownwood TX, Giddings TX, Spring TX, South Padre Island, TX, Prosper, TX and then back home. WOW it will be fun. The guys will be in TN, NC, CO and TX this summer.

So, I hope that your summer is fabulous! I'll be updating here on our life from a new place each week!!! Pray for me as I travel a lot alone with two boys! Pray for us when we are away from our daddy this summer.

Student Life here we come.......

love family time

2007-05-25T20:58:00.002-06:00

If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE it when Aaron is home and we just have family time. Aaron cooks a fabulous meal, I do dishes, we all play outside and then Aaron and I have mommy daddy time after the kids go to bed! :)

Read this fabulous post that my amazing and wonderful hubby posted tonight on his blog. I can not even explain how much I love him ......

kids with Uncle Tim

2007-05-25T16:50:00.000-06:00

Last week when we were in TEXAS the boys got to spend some time with their Uncle Tim while they were at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They love Uncle Tim and he adores them as well. He is a fabulous photographer and was playing around with his new lens and happend to snap a few picturs of my boys.

Here are the disclaimers .... Yes I was there and should have made sure that Big Boy had his nose whiped, but oh well. Yes we do normally fix Little boy's hair but it was vacation and what the heck his hair was free for a few days!!!

I look at these pictures and can NOT believe that I have two beautiful little boys that are such a blessing to Aaron and I. They bring so much joy to our house that I can not even explain it. It is hard to believe that within four years of moving to a brand new state with no jobs and no idea what we were doing we have two kids, a house, a lawn mower and life is good! Thank you Jesus for too many blessings to even begin to name.

I LOVE MY BOYS!

Adoption and sex

2007-05-25T15:34:00.001-06:00

I know the title of this post just got your attention. :)

My real question is for all adoptive parents out there. Did you specify a gender for your child? For those of you that have adopted domestically or are in the process of adopting did you choose a sex that you wanted? Or did you leave it open for either a boy or a girl?

For those of you adopting internationally is it even possible to choose your gender in the country you adopted from? I don't know since I've never been down that road. IF you can, did you?

I have some dear friends who have to make this decision within the next few days. They have a daughter who is one and she desires another daughter. She his torn as to what to do.

Any help? What did you do? What do you recommend?

So Cheeky ... A contest

2007-05-25T11:50:00.000-06:00

Another contest is going on at Adventures in Babywearing and I thought you might want to know about it. Head over to her site to check it out, or go to the jewlery site to see it all for yourself.

I think this stuff would look great on you! Go enter!

90 days

2007-05-24T13:32:00.000-06:00

I started a new bible study today. Thanks for the recommendation from Amanda over at Baby Bangs I bought my new 90 day study of David yesterday.

Today was the first day and it is just what I need for this summer. Some scripture to think on daily and some questions to get my mind thinking. I am going to love this.

So if you are looking for something, this is a good one for the summer. It is called DAVID - 90 DAYS WITH A HEART LIKE HIS by Beth Moore.

Great wedding weekend!

2007-05-22T09:18:00.002-06:00

I LOVE weddings. I LOVE to see two people become one. I LOVE to see two people so in love finally get to be together all the time. This weekend we had the joy to be a part of the union of Chad and Stephanie. Chad is in the band and they have dated long distance for four years! Isn't that amazing that they stuck it out, both graduated college, and kept their relationship pure for four years. I am a proud friend.

Aaron performed the wedding and I think he did a fabulous job. He spoke from his heart and loved them and encouraged them in their journey that lies ahead of them.

Here are a few pictures from the rehearsal dinner which was at Cafe Adobe. We had so much fun hanging with friends and singing karaoke! What a fun night!

the pattern of the designer

2007-05-16T07:38:00.000-06:00

This morning as I was reading my devotional book I flipped through the pages and found where I had written the birth of our youngest son in this book. That day in this book might be the best devotional I have ever read. It was the timing that made it so wonderful. It was as if the author of this devotional knew that my Little Boy would be born on that day and that I would need to hear these words whispered to my soul. Isn't God good!

Our youngest son was adopted at birth. Our journey from paperwork to baby was about 15 months long. We prayed and prayed for our child that God had already pre-destined to be our child since the beginning of time. We prayed for his first mommy, we prayed for his arrival, we prayed for his spirit to be sweet, we prayed for us to be prepared to accept a child that we didn't create, we prayed for him to bond with us as his new parents. Our prayers were constant and they were without ceasing for this child that we knew nothing about.

The waiting game was hard. One of the hardest things I have ever been through. If you have been down this road you know the feelings that I'm speaking of. Some of you that read this are on this journey right now and you are waiting and wondering. Some of you are wondering if you will ever have a baby. Some of you are wondering if you will ever get your baby home from their country. Some of you reading this have felt God tugging at your heart to pursue adoption and you haven't moved yet.

My emotions during our 5 month waiting to be chosen time were all over the place. I was a wreck and wanted our baby then! God's timing is so perfect and I have realized this in more than one occasion in my life. To be able to look back on the past and see how God was working is a cool thing.

Here was the devotional from the day our little joy arrived on this earth. Please allow this to encourage you as you wait for your baby. Allow these words to resonate in your heart. Allow these words to bring you comfort in the pattern of the great designer of the world.

HEAVEN'S COLOURS
LOOKING BACK YOU WILL SEE THAT EVERY STEP WAS PLANNED. LEAVE ALL TO ME. EACH STONE IN THE MOSAIC FITS INTO THE PERFECT PATTERN, DESIGNED BY THE MASTER ARTIST.

IT IS ALL SO WONDERFUL!

BUT THE COLOURS ARE OF HEAVEN'S HUES, SO THAT YOUR EYES COULD NOT BEAR TO GAZE ON THE WHOLE, UNTIL YOU ARE BEYOND THE VEIL.

SO, STONE BY STONE, YOU SEE, AND TRUST THE PATTERN TO THE DESIGNER.

You see, God is the designer and he is fitting each stone together to make his perfect pattern. Be encouraged. Be encouraged. Be encouraged.

Shingleton's in Brazil

2007-05-15T16:56:00.000-06:00

Go visit The Shingleton Family blog. They are heading to Brazil this summer with their entire family and would love for you to keep up with them through their blog.

Have fun! Tell them I sent you!

I might be the lucky one ...

2007-05-14T18:12:00.000-06:00

Are there any other mom's out there that sometimes are jealous of their husbands?

Hear me out here ...

My husband travels a lot for a living and while he is gone he eats out for every meal. Me, I'm cooking spaghetti and making PB & J sandwiches while he dines out.

He gets to sleep through the whole night with no babies waking up with runny noses, or wet b/c they've peed all over themselves. He doesn't have to change sheets or diapers in the middle of the night.

While he is gone he gets to mingle with lots of adults and most of the time has great conversations. I am happy to just get through the check out line at Target with out having to explain to the clerk why my children are yelling .... they are tired, of course!

While he is gone he gets to dress nice and look presentable. Today I wore the same t-shirt that I slept in last night all day long. I haven't combed my hair yet today and didn't even attempt any make up.

While he is gone the most he has to clean up is to put his clothes in the same area as his suit case so the housekeeper can clean up around him. Here at the house I cleaned two bathrooms today from top to bottom, cleaned up the kitchen three times today, and washed four loads of laundry.

While he is gone he only has to worry about cleaning his own body parts. Here I'm responsible for two little boys to smell clean for school tomorrow.

Okay, I know this sounds like I'm complaining, and actually I think I am. Let me explain though. Normally when my hubby travels he is only gone about 3 - 4 days at a time. Today this makes night #7 that I've been doing this on my own. I'm tired. I'm tired. I'm tired. The boys were actually in bed and asleep before 7:05! The sun isn't even down then!!!

If you keep up with my blog you know that it is not unusual for me to have these "down" days and then God ever so gently helps me get back on track. Most of my conversations with Aaron on the phone tonight were of me complaining about him being gone for so long and me holding down the house all by myself. After that as I was bathing my boys and sulking in my loneliness I thought of all the soldiers wives and husbands that literally do it all alone for months upon months at a time. I'm complaining about SEVEN days! Once again, I am sulking for nothing. I do have it really good.

Then the next thing that happened was when I was reading books with the boys tonight. I love this time. It is literally one of my favorite times of the day. Lately Little Boy has been very irratable at night. From about 4 until bedtime he only wants me to hold him and I just can't do that the whole time. BUT while we are reading I can hold him forever and he is so happy in my lap.

They each picked out their books to be read and all was well. Then we got to Big Boy's book and I sighed because I LOVE this book, but hardly ever read it without tearing up. Here this may ring a bell ...
I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be.
Of course as I got to the end where the son is rocking his mama the tears began to flow.

That is when I realized how lucky I am to be the one at home with the boys. Aaron may get lots of other perks that I don't get now, but I think that I have the best deal.

I get all the kisses.
I get all the hugs.
I get to snuggle with my babies.
I get to lay on the floor with wonderful smelling boys in their brand new jammies.
I get the run and jump into my arms hugs.
I get to hear "mom, i like your shirt" 15 times a day.
I get the head of Little Boy resting on my chest as I rock him.
I get to listen in on the conversations that Big boy has with his toys while playing.
I get to see Little boy swing on the swing by himself for the first time.
I get to smell that baby morning breath every day.
I get to hear "i love you mom" over and over again all day long.
I get to read books to my boys every night.
I get to listen to sweet, innocent, heart felt prayers from a 3 year old!

You see once again, God has adjusted my thinking tonight and for that I'm greatful. Still very tired. But, oh so grateful!

Shrek

2007-05-14T13:27:00.001-06:00

Big Boy wasn't sleeping today so to keep him from waking up his brother I allowed him to lay on the couch and watch SHREK, that I had on TIVO from the other day, while I cleaned bathrooms.

I would come in when I heard a commercial so I could fast forward since I'm not really into my three year old being subjected to commercials that at any moment could have something inappropriate for a three year old.

So, as I was sitting here after one commercial I started watching the movie with him. It is super cute and I hadn't seen it since it came out. As I was watching I heard "shut-up" three times, "butt" once and "a**" once too. I know that it was clearly referring to the donkey as an a**, but still not appropriate for my 3 year old.

So, I convinced him that after he killed the dragon and got the princess out the movie was over. I can't believe that he heard these words, and hope that he didn't really "hear" them. Wow, I had no idea that a movie would have a** in it that was PG.

This is why I stick to what is on our TIVO for the kids to watch. NO commercials and I regulate what they see, which is mostly recorded off of PBS.

Okay, now that Clifford is on I'm back to cleaning the bathroom! I think I'd rather watch Clifford!!!

Journey to their baby.

2007-05-14T13:14:00.000-06:00

In the world of adoption it is so fun to sit back and follow someone on their journey to their baby. I enjoy doing this so much. To see God bring families together in a way that only HE could do is an amazing privilege.

Here are a few journey's that I am currently following. Go visit their blogs and maybe you could follow them as well and receive the joy I get with each day that brings them closer to their baby.

1. Hood's to baby Jadyn Also check out his wife, Amy's blog.
2. Brad & Alison Bynum (Alison is also an amazing photographer - call her to do some work for you and you won't be dissapointed!)
3. The journey to Ghana
4. Stevenson in Haiti
5. baby in Guatemala
6. Ethiopia
7. Matt & Rachel to El Salvador
7. Oatsvall's to China again!

Have fun checking out these blogs! If you feel like it leave then a note of encouragement because I know that they could ALL use it.

Have a fantastic day!

what are you reading?

2007-05-14T12:07:00.000-06:00

As some of you know last year my New Year's resolution was to read more. I did read more and have enjoyed reading. My idea of how many books to read in a year and yours could vary greatly, but hey at least I'm reading more than I was which was about NONE!

Last week I finished reading THE SECRET MESSAGE OF JESUS by Brian D. McLaren. This was a book that Aaron highly encouraged me to read. It was a great book that challenged my thinking about church and the kingdom of God. Ideas from this book are new to me and sometimes made me uncomfortable and sometimes made me mad that I had not been taught these things while growing up. I encourage you to read this book and allow the ideas in it to at least make you think. Although you may or may not agree wiht all of it, you will enjoy the challenge.

I must say that books like that are hard for me to read. I enjoy a story, characters and a plot. It took me FOREVER to get through it and I would dread to sit down to read it. Once I started reading I enjoyed it, but it never called my name from the night stand as some books do!

Now I'm free to read another book and I am reading two. Not sure why, but oh well. Book #1 is THE TREASURE PRINCIPLE by Randy Alcorn. Our church recently handed them out to us for free so I think I should read it so that they didn't waste their money. So far I'm only on chapter four and it is okay. I honestly couldn't tell you one thing that has impacted my life so far, so hopefully it will get better.

Book #2 I just started today and LOVE it. I've only read the introduction and the first page of chapter one and can't wait to sit down to read it again while the kids play outside. It is called AN ORDINARY MAN by Paul Rusesabagina and he is the man who literally saved 1,268 people in his hotel during the 1994 Rawanda genocide. You may have seen the movie, Hotel Rawanda, well this is his book and I can't wait to get into it.

So, what are you reading these days?

new swing set

2007-05-14T11:46:00.000-06:00

Look what we got on Saturday!

Kent and Shawnah so graciously brought this over to us. Their neighbor was getting rid of it and they immediately thought of us. My boys LOVE it! I am loving having a back yard to play in with my boys! They have so much fun out there and in fact we were out there at 8:30 this morning!!!

I sit with my coffee and my new book and they kids play until they get run down! It is just what little boys need to do!

So, thanks Shingleton's and Margo!!!

Who looks bad now ....

2007-05-13T14:55:00.000-06:00

Get this ... my brother and dad went in together and sent my mom flowers for Mother's Day. No one asked me if I wanted to get in on that gift! Now I look like the bad child that only sent a card, and she won't get it until Monday either!!!

My dad told me today I could send him money and he would tell her that he forgot that it was from me too! I said no thanks!!!

Those dogs ....

Blah to me on Mother's Day

2007-05-13T14:22:00.000-06:00

First let me say a HUGE Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom, Nancy my mother-in-law, my Grandma in San Diego, and my Mimi in Texas! I love you all!

Second I want to tell you how I got a HUGE slap in the face today from God. Ha ha! You know the moments where you feel as if God just says to you, are you kidding me? This morning was fine as I got the kids ready for church by myself and we arrived just in time for me to teach my kindergarten and first grade kids in Sunday School. As they were all making mother's day cards for their mommy's I started feeling sad that I didn't get cards from my boys today. Neither one of them wished me a Happy Mother's Day, or made me breakfast in bed and that is probably because they are 3 and 1, but still I was feeling sorry for myself. (I did get cards from school though on Thursday!)

Then after church everyone was headed out to restaurants to shower their moms with praise and a day off from cooking. Me, well I was headed home by myself to make hot dogs and left overs for my sweet boys and myself. As I drove home I felt cheated on Mother's Day. I felt as though I wasn't being praised and I wasn't important.

After I put the kids down for a nap I headed out to mow the lawn. Now mowing the lawn didn't upset me, because actually I enjoy mowing the lawn. I get free sun, a slight workout, and time alone to think! Well, thinking I did.

As I was having my pity party to God about being alone on Mother's Day and not having anyone to take me out it was as if he started whispering little things in my ears. The first was thoughts of Naomi and Ruth from the bible. This was our lesson today in church and I remembered how Naomi lost not only her husband but also her two sons. I bet she had a few lonely Mother's Day's to celebrate alone. She endured and persevered and God blessed her. Shame on me for feeling sad when I have the best hubby in the world, who is constantly praising me as a mom, and lavishing me with gifts and his time, and I have two fantastic healthy boys that love me more and more every day.

Then I remembered my friend Allison posting about her friends in a car accident this weekend. Not only is this mom in the hospital in bad shape but she is dealing with the fact that her son is hours away in another hospital not responding and probably not going to make it.

Then I think of all the women who LONG for a child and for some reason or another can not have one. Their hearts are broken and longing for a life to grow inside of them.

Then I think of all the moms that have lost children. I can not even imagine this tragedy happening to a mom. I pray that these women are comforted in the fact that God is good and just the same way as he provided and protected Naomi he will do the same thing for them.

I also think of birth mothers who have placed their children with new families. I am sure they think of these children often and have a special place for them in their hearts forever.

So, my lawn mowing today was very enlightening to me. God was gracious to gently whisper in my ear that my moaning, groaning and complaining was not necessary. Although I didn't get showered with praises today by anyone, I know that my hubby and children adore me and I am thankful for all that I have in this life.

(As a side note, Aaron did shower me with gifts before he went out of town, so don't think he forgot!!!!)

SPUR on TV

2007-05-12T14:19:00.000-06:00

A few months ago Spur58 got the privilege to perform on the cable tv show SOUNDCHECK that is on DAYSTAR. I personally do not get that channel (bummer, I know!) so I won't be able to watch it, but I want you to watch it if you do get the channel! Actually you may want to TIVO it b/c I think it comes on pretty late! And I think the lead singer is extremely HOT!

Here is the scoop:
SPUR58
Friday, May 18th at MIDNIGHT!

On another note ... have you guys headed over to SAVE THE SLOTH yet? They have weekly challenges that I know will be great for you! I have been keeping up with them and they are on my mind constantly throughout the week and have caused me to think more about my surroundings and notice people around me. They want us to wake up and breath again. To wake up to what is really around us.

I challenge you to take the challenge! You won't regret it!

Haiti Tourism

2007-05-12T07:49:00.000-06:00

This made my stomach sick this morning as I read this NY TIMES article about Haiti and cruise ships landing there. Tara over at the Livesay Haiti blog posted about this today and I know this hits her harder since she is a missionary living in Haiti and sees what we only read about on a daily basis.

Here is the final quote that is a real kicker from the article .... “I don’t want to see poverty,” acknowledged Helen Murphy, 66, of St. Paul, who was shopping in the tourist market one morning. “I’m on vacation. I don’t want to think that these people don’t have enough to eat.”

WOW did you hear that. That makes me so mad that I want to cuss! It is people like this that think us in America live the "normal" life. I bet that more people live as the people in Haiti do than the people in America do.

I am not opposed to the cruise ships in Haiti. In my very uneducated opinion it sounds like a great idea to provide jobs and clean up the country. Who knows. I don't like this woman though. I like to think that they took her comment out of context and she is one unhappy woman now .... but then again, how would you get what she said out of context - she doesn't want to acknowledge poor people. I feel sorry for her.

Freedom Writers

2007-05-11T21:00:00.001-06:00

Go rent this movie now. Go update your Netflix queue now. You need to watch this movie. I loved it.

Freedom Writers - 5 Stars from me!

Mark Shultz

2007-05-11T20:18:00.000-06:00

Have you heard about Mark Shultz's new adventure? He is biking across America to raise money for orphans. Wow is all I can say to that. Our good friend, Clay, is driving his bus daily as they make their way across the US for an amazing cause. Go here to view his video blogs.

Also, check out his website.

birth control

2007-05-11T19:29:00.000-06:00

Today was my yearly woman exam. Isn't that always a wonderful day of the year! I look forward to this day all year long and today was my day! ha ha! I visited a new doctor and she was great, but the wait time was awful. I sat in the room with that horrible robe that opens to the FRONT for an hour waiting for her to come in to examine me.

When she was doing the bre*st exam I was chatty-cathy. I mean isn't that one of the most awkward moments in your life. Not only is a stranger touching you, but for me it was a woman today. I'm never sure if I should look her in the eyes when I'm talking to her while she is doing this, or look at the ceiling or just shut up and close my eyes. It is a no win situation. Fortunately she was super nice and made me feel comfortable throughout the whole thing.

I was also there to talk about birth control. You see I haven't been on any form of bc since before Big Boy was born. I had my own "internet birth control". I would look online for calendars for people that were trying to conceive. THen I would take those days that it said we should try and we did the opposite - NOTHING! it worked for a while and then surpise - BIG BOY happened!!! So, I'm now wanting some form of bc but not sure what to do.

When we first got married the bc made me a psycho woman! Seriosly not good for a newly married couple. I was not myself and hated it and Aaron wondered who he married!

Here are the options she gave me. I would love to know if any of you have tried any of these and what you like and dislike about them.

Option #1 - Mirena - IUD placed in your uterus - effective for 5 years - BAD side for me is I'm not sure I want to wait 5 years to have another baby. It can be taken out whenever but to be the most cost effective you need to leave it in at least 4 years.

Option #2 Implanon - an impant in your arm that provides up to 3 years of protection. - Sounds good, but not so sure about something stuck in my arm for 3 years.

Option #3 - NuvaRing - flexible ring about 2" in diameter that you insert inside of you once a month. This one sounds appealing to me. Anyone used this?

Been tagged

2007-05-10T20:18:00.000-06:00

Okay so this tagging thing is going around and I have been tagged by Gini and Heather ... so here we go:

Here are the rules. Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. You need to choose seven people to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I was the mascot my senior year in high school! Go Knights! I think I just wanted to be close to the football field to get a better view. I love to watch football and I got a great seat that year, right on the sidelines. It wasn't hard for me to earn the position since I was the only one that tried out! I had lots of fun that year with the cheerleaders. :)

2. I secretly desire to be on TV! Maybe on a talk show or something ....

3. I participated in the Junior Olympics while I was younger in track. I compted in the 4x400 and the 4x800. One year we placed 3rd in the 4x400 out of the whole United States. Another random fact about that race ... out of the top 8 teams I was the only white girl on the stand! I still have that medal framed and beg Aaron to put it up in our house. Not really, but it is a running joke b/c he eventually hung it up in our garage!!! Ha Ha! After finishing my half marthon a few weekends ago I told him I wanted to frame that medal and hang it with the others!

4. Aaron was the first guy I ever dated that didn't play baseball. I'm not sure why that was, but I guess I was a groupie. Aaron was also the first guy I ever dated who was in a healthy, growing relationship with God. No wonder I stuck with him!

5. I have never done drugs. Some of you may be saying that isn't much of a random fact, but actually I was very wild in high school and college, so I'm proud that I actually said NO to one temptation that was put before me!

6. I still have the ring holder that my boyfriend in 4th grade gave me. His name was Scott Harrison and we were boyfriend/girlfriend for a long time and hardly ever talked. He actually dropped the first ring holder while riding his bike to school and his mom went and bought another one. What a nice mom. I still have it and use it every day to put my wedding ring and watch around.

7. I would love to design my own house with an architect and pick out EVERYTHING and put in so many upgrades. I want my kids to all share a room. ONE big room for boys and ONE big room for girls. Bunk beds everywhere. With a computer room, tv room, and toys room. I want them to be together and love each other but have places to go to get alone time. Also to share bathrooms. One big bathroom for boys with 2-3 showers and toilets, and ONE big bathroom for girls, with lots of showers and stuff. Is this weird to you guys? Also, it looks as though I'm going to need more than just my two boysi n my family. I know I'm weird!

So, I am supposed to tag 7 people for this thingy .... so how about:
Becca @ Four of Us
Maris @ This is Life with Us
Amy @ The Beckey Family
Christy @ The Smith Family
Amanda @ Baby Bangs
Amanda @ The Reed Family
Tara @ The Livesay Haiti Blog
& one more ... Mel @ My Life is a Sitcom
& one more! ... Kim @ Dave, Kim, Emma Bemma, Izzie Bizzie
Okay I can't stop ... Debra @ And by Faith ... the blog

one of those days ....

2007-05-10T18:51:00.000-06:00

Does it make me a bad mom to say that my kids are driving me crazy? I mean really only one. I will not name which one to conceal his identity, but you could probably take a guess. He has wanted me to hold him all day long and that is not physically possible some days.

When we have school days he naps from about 11-1. Sounds good,except at home we nap from about 1-3. That means on school days he is SO tired by about 4, and so hungry by 4 that our house is miserable from 4-7!!!

I did do something for the first time ever tonight though .... I cooked on the grill! Did you get that? I, myself, on my own cooked some sausage on the grill tonight! It was so much fun and I love it! I had to call Aaron about a billion times to ask questions. He thought it was hilarious!

Okay back to my whiny, cranky Little Boy. Oh did I just give away his identity. Ooops. Sorry, baby boy! Oh well ... he is our BEST sleeper of the two boys and he is crying tonight wanting EVERY book off the bookcase in his bed with him. Where does he think he is going to sleep? I have limited him to two and they can't be the HUGE big books either. So, he is not happy with me.

You know what I do when I have a "bad" day .... I eat. Isn't that lovely. I eat crazy stuff. For example, toinght I had dinner with the boys at 5 - who eats then??? - and now that I just went through the whole crying phase with wanting every book in the bed, I need some food loving! To make me feel better, I cut up a nice, fresh, bright red tomatoe and COVERED it with salt, pepper and shredded parmesean cheese. Oh my it was so good! I ate it all until my stomach was hurting! But, Little Boy is now asleep, I'm enjoying The View from today, and waiting for Grey's to record for about 20 min on Tivo so I can skim through all the commercials!

So, if you need a food pick me up go ahead and try my tomatoe and cheese recipe. So good. Aaron thinks I'm disgusting .... BUT he has never tried it either!

PAIN

2007-05-09T02:17:00.000-06:00

I am in PAIN and haven't had something hurt this bad since labor! It is 3:30 and I'm up b/c I can't sleep b/c of my pain. My neck and upper back is shooting pain throughout my arms, neck and back. I think something is wrong and I can't sleep. UGH.

I'm supposed to take Little Boy to doc tomorrow and I'm just hoping this gets better in the next few hours so I can get him there.

Okay back to trying to count sheep ....

UPDATE*** Yes I am better and just have a stiff neck today. This has happend about 5 times before in my life but this was the worst. I'm looking into going to the doc. :)

One Mile.

2007-05-08T18:46:00.000-06:00

I am ashamed to admit that today I ran my FIRST mile since my 1/2 marathon about a week and a half ago! I have gotten so lazy with no race on the calendar and no workout schedule on my ical! I need a race to be traning for.

Tonight I did pilates at the Y, and I 'm still not so sure about it. Yes it did hurt sometimes, but I didnt' sweat hardly and didn't feel as though I had really worked out afterwards. Not sure if I'll do that one again. Then I got on the treadmil and ran ONE lousy mile! Ha! I was running out of time and needed to get home for dinner and that is all I had time for. I guess one is better than none!

Karate AKA "arate"

2007-05-07T13:06:00.000-06:00

I am the mom that is so ready for extra curricular activities. I know I'll probably be eating my words in a few years when I have 4 different kids at 4 different soccer fields and Aaron's on the road. Ask me then how much I love extra curricular activiites!

Big Boy is 3 and I'm so ready for him to be doing something. I thought about gymnastics but Aaron and the rest of the SPUR boys weren't thrilled with that idea.

I found out that 3 year olds can do karate so we called and got him in a class. They actually let you try it out for free at first in case it doesn't work out! Thank goodness!

He cried most of the time and I finally got him out there when I promised he could play outside after karate. :) He was hilarious to watch and the kids called him a girl.

So, they told us we could come back the following week for another "trial" class. All weekend long we talked about karate and how fun it was and he would always respond by saying that "arate" was scary!

Because he was timid about it we decided to not go back to "arate" class. He is only 3 and we have time to let him want to do it. Oh well. I was being pushy and he obviously is not ready for "arate"!

I am thinking about art lessons for the Fall. I called the teacher today and she said that since his young we'll try in the fall and see how he is doing then. He loves to color and actually is really good at it for a 3 year old boy. He is also good at drawing people - good for a 3 year old boy that is! He likes this, so I think we may try that!

Next year we'll be old enough for soccer! Yeah I can't wait!

I honestly have this fear that Big Boy is not going to be into sports. My family is a very sports oriented family. Aaron's family isn't. Not that one is better than the other, but one is foreign to me. I was never in the band or choir. Aaron was never in sports. We bring two different backgrounds to our kids. I'm thankful that they have both - honestly I am. I just want God to prepare me if Big Boy is not going to be athletic. As I read this it sounds silly to be thinking about my 3 year old not being athletic.

I am not saying I will be upset if he is not. I will LOVE whatever he does! Honestly!

Little Boy will probalby be into sports. He loves balls and just seems to be drawn more towards balls and stuff like that. He comes from an athletic background. His birthmom played sports and still is involved in stuff. His biological grandfather is a coach and so I know he has it in his genes.

I know that we'll have lots of various activities ahead in our future. I hope that my kids are well-rounded. I pray that the succeed in whatever God has planned for them, whether it be soccer, playing the drums, singing in the choir, writing plays, acting, performing monologues, playing basketball, karate, playing the guitar, running track, or anything else that he wants them to do! I want the best for them and I want them to be happy and good at whatever they do!

pictures

2007-05-07T12:50:00.001-06:00

Don't you love it when you download the pictures off of your computer and most of them look like this b/c your children have gotten a hold of your camera!

a new look

2007-05-06T15:27:00.000-06:00

Wanna new look for your blog? Maybe you or I could win one for Mother's Day. Go here and sign up!

Birthday celebration!

2007-05-05T14:37:00.000-06:00

Birthday's don't seem like they are that big of a deal anymore these days. Tomorrow I'll hit the big 2-9! 29 years old. 1 year left until I'm 30. 11 years away from 40. Wow - isn't it funny how when I was younger 40 seemed so old and now it seems so young!

Aaron surprised me and took me out on the town on Thursday night to celebrate a little early. I let the boys go home from school with Shawnah because Big Boy was begging to go over there and I headed home to mow the lawn. I was at home about to change clothes to mow when Aaron arrived and told me we were going out!!! I LOVE TO GO OUT!!!! What a surprise. Little did I know he had already made plans with Shawnah to watch the boys for us and I didn't know about it.

We went to a FABULOUS restaurant in Nashville called Radius 10. Super vibey and super cool! It reminded us of Chicago or New York City. It is in the Gulch area and we had some great drinks, great pizza, great hummus, great salad and fabulous tuna! Yummy it was good! Then we headed over to The Rutledge to listen to some great live music. Since we had gone to dinner so early we arrived during sound check! It was funny to me to watch someone else sound check. :) We sat at the bar and I read the paper!!! We were only able to listen to one band since we needed to get home and get the kids before 10.

We had so much fun celebrating my birthday. The boys got me a new watch. Apparently Aaron doesn't like the watch that I have now. I bought it at Target about 3 years ago and it is a sports watch which is great for running. I never take it off and he says it looks awful. I even wear it with nice clothes. I just never cared! Aaron gave me the gift I was hoping for all along - a new program for my computer called iRemember. It is a digital scrap booking program and I can NOT wait to get to scrapping!

As we were out that night we talked about life, love and how we wish that everyone loved each other the way we love each other. It seems like lately people all around us are somehow missing the meaning of life. Married couples are fogetting what it means to love, cherish, respect and care for each other. They are not putting their spouse first in life. We have vowed to alaways put each other before anything - even our kids and our jobs! "US" is way more important than anythinge else on this earth. We are diligent about spending time talking each day. Many nights we eat together as a family, and about once a week we feed the kids first, put them in bed, and then eat our meal together. It is a MUST that we go out at least 2-3 times a month with NO kids.

We continue to date. We continue to fall in love. We will continue on this journey together.

Encouragement

2007-05-05T14:36:00.000-06:00

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest ifwe do not give up." Galatians 6:9

found it!

2007-05-05T14:34:00.000-06:00

Today is laundry day. Thank goodness because I found my cell phone in AARON'S PANTS! He knew that he had taken it away from the kids and put it somewhere ..... I guess that somewhere was in his pocket! Ha Ha!

At least it wasn't my fault this time!

freaked out mom.

2007-05-04T16:49:00.000-06:00

YES I am a freaked out mom. I freak out. I overreact. I assume the worst. I think that my child always has the one illness that no one has discovered yet and if I don't take them to the doctor they will die within 20 minutes. I freak out!

Today was no different. Little Boy woke up feeling kinda grumpy and so he took a nap from 9:30 to noon. We had to wake him up so that he wouldn't sleep through lunch. He felt so hot and had a fever of 103.8 - that freaked me out! We gave him tylenol and offered lunch, which he ate none and drank none. After lunch he laid on either his mommy or daddy all day long. About 1:30 he fell asleep on my chest and we put him back to bed. At four we woke the boys up and he felt hot again - 102.9 - ugh I HATE fevers and always overreact!

I rushed to the store for ibuprofen and came home to a cranky and hot boy. Did I mention I hate fevers? I hate fevers.

I read online that you should just watch them and if it goes down after each dosage then they are doing fine. It has to run its course and could probably be an infection that the fever is fighting.

So, I FREAK out and Aaron finally says for me to go just so I'll feel better. I'm worried about an ear infection or some MAJOR disease that has yet to be discovered and my child has it.

I take him to the clinic close to our home that is super nice and great to have so close to us. They are super nice and in a very polite way advised me to go home and love on him and make sure he drinks and makes wet diapers. They said to make sure his temp goes down with medicine and that he doesn't get dehydrated.

So, $15 later I've been told that nothing can be done to help him. This is just like me. I want a quick fix to most things. If something is wrong, let's fix it. That's my philosophy. Sometimes I want the answer NOW. It is kinda like me wanting a "real" job. I want it NOW. I want it NOW. I want it NOW. When really God may be saying ... hold on Jamie. Listen to me. Follow my direction and my time table. I know the desires of your heart, but it may not be the right time for you now.

So, now I'm home loving on my little boy as he has yet again fallen asleep on my chest as I type this. So, if you think about him, pray that my Little Boy sleeps well tonight, that his fever keeps going down, that we get him to drink even if we have to get it in him with a syringe (which the doc gave me for this reason), and that his mom doesn't freak out all the time!

again ...

2007-05-02T19:51:00.000-06:00

guess what? i have lost my cell phone again! we know it is in the house b/c aaron saw the kids playing with it today while i was gone to the Y. i know my kids should not be plaing with my phone.... but don't get onto me until we find it, then i can take it!

seriously. why can i not keep up with my phone!

Lots of contests

2007-05-01T14:39:00.000-06:00

Click on the sidebar to the right to go to 5 Minutes for Mom for lots of stuff to win between now and Mother's Day. They said they'll be constantly adding new stuff so go and check it out!

Save the Sloth

2007-04-30T20:12:00.000-06:00

Save the Sloth

I highly recommend you check out this site and bookmark it or add it to your bloglines. Just do something so that you can keep up with this site. It will encourage you and give you many things to think on and ponder. It will cause you to maybe see things in a different light than you had before.

I love this site and will be taking the challenge this week. I'll update you on how that goes for me. I encourage you to take the challenge too. Let me know how yours goes as well.

Go now. Now. Close my page and go check out the sloth page. You won't be sorry. Leave them comments too.

Movies

2007-04-29T22:37:00.000-06:00

I just added a new side bar with movies I love on my blog. Actually love is a strong word, but it is really just movies I found off my Netlflix list that I remember liking a whole lot! Anyone agree with any of these choices? Disagree? What movies do you like. What do you recommend I watch next!

Just finished watching THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND and really enjoyed it. Great choice for the night.

Off to bed now ...

good bye mom and dad ...

2007-04-29T21:43:00.000-06:00

My parents have been here since Friday and they are leaving tomorrow .... I'm sad for this. I LOVE when they visit. They love on my kids so much and buy me food, and we have a great time. This time they were here to support my big race and so now their time here is over. Hubby is on his way home and we'll hang tomorrow with Mom and Dad before they leave.

Madison's Room contest

2007-04-29T20:29:00.000-06:00

the ladies over at 5 minutes for mom are holding another contest. this one is sponsored by Madison's Room and it is full of some super cute things! if i win i'll be giving them for gifts since i'm not blessed with a little girl yet! go NOW and register though b/c the contest is almost over.

John Mayer and LIGHT GREEN

2007-04-29T19:54:00.000-06:00

I subscribe to John Mayer's blog and tonight read an interesting entry on his blog about global awareness. His ideas are not to go out and change your entire life and GO GREEN all of a sudden, but yet to become LIGHT GREEN! To change one thing at a time. Go here and read his blog: John Mayer Blog

I know I've told you, but here are my LIGHT GREEN ideas ....
1. Bio-degradable diapers (I use at least 2 a day)
2. As light bulbs go out we will replace them with the ones that last forever
3. I am buying non-toxic cleaners as I replace the old ones

Baby steps ...

what are you doing?

13.1 miles with an update ...

2007-04-28T20:25:00.000-06:00

I DID IT! 13.1 miles today. I have been training since January and today was THE day! It was early this morning and Becca and I got down to Centential Park about 6:45 am for a 7 am race start. We were in the 13th corral and so it took us about 20 minutes to get to the start line.

The race was great and my goal was to finish under 2 hours and 10 minutes. I was set to pace myself for about 9:30 to 10:00 minute miles. The first mile Becca and I ran was 8:30!!! Way too fast for our first mile! :)

We had fun and my parents flew up yesterday to help with the boys and to cheer me on. Here are some pics to prove my acheivement!

I saw the family during the race around mile five and was able to give the BIg Boy a kiss. He was kinda of caught off guard and didn't know what to think when I ran up to him!

It was fun and I can see myself doing this again someday. Right now my WHOLE body hurts and I want to just lay in bed all day! My knees hurt my calves hurt, my toes hurt, my back hurts .... wow I hurt!

I finished at 2:06.46 so I was very proud of myself!

UPDATE!
***I found my "official" time today in the paper - I finished 5,727th with a time of 2:07:06. The last place in the paper was 19,416 so I think I did pretty well! The first place in my age group (25-29) was 1:24:40! WOW that is grooving! BUT get this ... the first place in age group 12-14 was 1:42:26. What the heck? That girl is amazing! Today my body doesn't hurt too bad, just my knee caps. I know it is random but they do hurt!

Going green ...

2007-04-25T19:00:00.000-06:00

So many of you read my post earlier in the week on going green and helping out our environment. I have taken a few baby steps myself and feel good while doing them even though one is kinda gross and Aaron is refusing to do it!!!!

I have never even considered doing anything for the environment. I'm not sure why I have never taken the time to sit down and figure out what my family and I can do to help, but we never have. I think growing up I heard many people say things like, "We don't need to worry about the earth because Jesus is coming back soon". I bought into this for years and now I'm not buying it anymore. It is almost like saying that we don't need to eat healthy or exercise because Jesus might come back soon and we'll have a new body in heaven anyways. Doesn't make sense does it?

I am now thinking that I should do something to help. I want to teach my children to take care of our house, our community, our country and our world. What is wrong with that? What is wrong with instilling a sense of service in our kids? I am now vowing to try to do this more.

I will be honest this is not easy. It is a matter of changing your whole outlook on everything. It is about taking time to think about things that matter. Taking time to shop for items that are environmental friendly. It means doing things a little different to make a big difference.

My small steps this week have been to purchase a few cleaning products that are better for our environment. Here is what it says on the back of my new all-purpose cleaner - If every household in the US replaced just one bottle of 32 oz. patroeleum based all-purpose cleaner with our renewable resource based product, we could save 7,100 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 400 U.S. homes for a year! Then on the back of my new dishwashing soap it says if every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 25 oz.petroleum based dishwashiing liquid with our 25 oz. vegetable based product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S homes for a year!

Those statistics sound good to me! It makes me feel as though I am making a small difference. I will buy non-toxic and biodegradable products from now on. Yes, they may be a tad bit more expensive, but it is really not much and it is helping the earth.

My next BIG step was different diapers. YES I was moved by the fact that it takes up to 500 years for a disposable diaper to biodegrade in a landfill. Wow that is just one diaper. We use at least 4-6 a day just in our home. Aaron asked if it really made a difference for us to switch some of our diapers. YES that is the point ... we all have to do our part. This is hard for me, but so far in two days I've saved four diapers from going in the landfill. I don't use them at school or church, I wouldn't do that to Little Boy's teachers! So far the poopies have been VERY gross and honestly it made me want to quit them all ready! BUT we'll keep going. If you have kids in diapers please go visit this site. I'm not pushing you to do this, but at least check it out. No I haven't given up disposable diapers, but I will vow to cut back on the amount that I use and put into our landfills! Check out gdiapers

owning a lawn mower ...

2007-04-25T12:39:00.000-06:00

We are the proud ownders of a brand new lawn mower and weed eater! We have lived in our house for about 2.5 years and have always paid someone to do this type of stuff. I think we are becoming great home owners! Aaron has left to go and get gas and I'm getting ready to mow the lawn and he'll do the edging! I have not mowed since high school .... I'll let you know how things go!

hubby.

2007-04-24T20:42:00.000-06:00

I LOVE my hubby .... I'll write more about this tomorrow ...

Pioneer Days

2007-04-24T19:49:00.000-06:00

I took the boys to the Pioneer Days this weekend and we had a blast. We first went in the morning and then I realized that I was a bad mommy with NO money for the pony ride so we had to go home and then return after lunch and naps. I mean we do have our priorities!!

The boys had fun and were each able to ride a pony and then we all did the hay ride. The kids had fun and it was a great day to get out and go back to the pioneer days!! ON a side note there was a lady there selling African Shea Butter and I purchased some to hopefully help with Little Boy's skin. We'll see how it all works out.

It won't let me post pics ... I'll try in a few days!

Encouraging post

2007-04-23T08:13:00.000-06:00

As many of you know I am always thinking the grass is greener on the other side. That is a struggle of mine and it goes into lots of areas of my life. I am dealing with it and dealing with it and dealing with it. I found a great post today from a ministry site that talks about this. It goes out to all mother's with small children who think they need to be doing more. This was just for me and in fact I will read it again today and probably again tomorrow, and in fact I may save it for all those other days when I feel as though God is not using me when in fact he is using me in the best way possible right now.

Have a great Monday. Aaron is home and we are happy! GMA week is this week so we have a super busy daddy, but none the less he is home! We love him!

Earth Day

2007-04-22T19:54:00.000-06:00

I am ashamed to admit that I am not very earth friendly. I don't recycle and usually never think about anything that might effect our earth in the years to come. I know some of you are very upset with me, but isn't the first step in correcting your problem acknowledging it? So, here I am watching Oprah and listening to all the tips on "going green". I will list some of what she said:

1. plastic bags can take 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill and paper bags use an estimated 14 million trees in one year - what we should do is bring your own reusable bags. Okay this one will be hard for me ... not sure why, but it will be.

2. Buy organic b/c no pestisides are used in growing - okay I can do this one.

3. Green dimes says they can stop an estimate of 70-90% of junk mail from coming to your house. Aaron will love this one. He HATES junk mail. In fact just a few weeks ago he decided to make a statement to the mail lady and refused to remove the junk mail from our mail box. I tried and tried to explain to him that it wasn't her personally that was responsible. To no avail he said someone had to pay and unfortunately it was her. Don't worry, I slip out there and take it all out when he isn't looking! I know it is not our sweet mail lady who is in charge of the amount of junk mail we receive!

4. Napkins - we use 2200 per year on average per person. If we all gave up one napkin a day it would save a billion paper waste from going to landfills per year. WOW!

5. Cleaning products are putting stuff in the air that can cause asthma and other problems. The "clean" smell that we love is not really clean. It can be toxic. Visit these sites to see NON TOXIC products. Seventh Generation which they said you can find at Target and other health food stores. Meyer's cleaning products can be found online. Method cleaning cloths so you don't have to use spray. These can be found at Target too. Shaklee is also very good too. I think I might go online and get some of their stuff. I just hate to think that I'm hurting my kids with my cleaning. Good thing for them I don't clean that often!!! GO visit now b/c they are having a sale for Earth Day!

6. When stuff is plugged in and not on it is still using energy - about 40%. You should use a smart power strip ($32.99) that will save you money on your electric bill and save energy too.

7. Change your light bulbs - buy a compact florescent light bulb - 75% more effecient and you'll recognize savings on your electric bill! They last 8-10 years. One lady saved over $50 her first month! WOW! Look for CFL light bulbs! They are about $5.99 but last forever!

8. RECYCLE - I am guilty of NOT doing this. How do I get those bins so someone will come pick it up???? Takes 100 years for glass to break down in landfill! Remove the lid and rinse them out first. Find out the rules in your area, go here.

9. Did yo know that Starbuck's offers you a 10 cent discount if you bring your own mug! Wow and then you don't trash anything!

10. Keep thermostat at 78 in summer - UM we won't be doing that. Aaron would DIE! Ours is more like 68!

Okay so this is a lot of information and I can't believe I just sat here and watched this whole show and typed out what I was hearing. I am going to make small steps. We'll start with new light bulbs and a smart strip. I'll start looking for new cleaning supplies and will look to find out about recycling in my area.