My Kids in Pictures

OK, so I'm a freak when it comes to pictures. I. LOVE. PICTURES. I love to take pictures, give pictures to others, receive pictures, and take more pictures. My children will probably have to have therapy someday because of the ever-ready camera that is most always near to capture the never-to-be-forgotten moment. It is humorous that I have a small, digital camera, John has a whackazumma (yes, that is an official word) SLR camera and even Cooper has a Fisher-Price digital camera. (Natalie and Luke have toy camera phones so they do not feel left out of the picture-taking business.) Cooper will even pose us when he is trying to take a picture of us... I wonder who he gets that from??? I don't think I will ever regret taking so many pictures; they are just so fun to look at later on! OK, even as I am reading this I realize how ridiculous I sound.

Oh, and before you ask, yes, I do something with the pictures. I do not scrapbook. I put picture in books and identify every person and location in the pictures, but I do not scrapbook. It's just not possible for me. Each kid gets a book, each year with 200 pictures from that year in it. Then I also make a 'Family and Friends' book that consists of pictures of our family, friends and events that the kids do not go to (Margarita Ball, Las Vegas trips, Mary's parties, ELE parties, Girls' Night Out, etc.). That way when they decide they would like their 'picture books', I will not be left pictureless... as if.

Mud Slingin' Mommas

I ran the D/FW Mud Run today. Oh yeah, a really muddy, mud run. It was along the Trinity River Trail in Fort Worth and the Mansfield Fire Department was kind enough to fill all the elements with LOTS of water. We were a team of 5 women, ages 25 to 45 and you guessed it, we were the Mud Slingin' Mommas. The race consists of running 6 miles with 18 'elements' along the way. Everything from climbing a cargo net to jumping over walls, sliding down a big 'ole muddy slip 'n slide to climbing a Staircase to Heaven that was a little challenging when you are wearing 6 lbs. of mud. We were some 'hot lookin' mommas' when we got done! Not one part on us was without mud. Seriously. The best part was getting sprayed down by the fire department hose. OK, never mind, the best part was taking an uninterrupted 20 minute shower when I got home... that was the best. I've never been so happy to be clean...

My Mother Hen and little Mr. Independent

Natalie is my little mother hen. She has assumed this role in full force over the past couple of weeks. She now views herself as completely in charge of Luke. She wants to coddle him, corral him and smother him. She wants to walk him to class (at Mother's Day out). She wants to help him get in his chair at the dinner table. She wants to help him go potty and cheer him on when he finishes. All this and more. All this that completely and utterly frustrates Luke to no end. Why? Because he is Mr. Independent. His favorite phrase right now is, "I-do-all-my-self!" Everything from putting his clothes on, tying his shoes, going potty, buckling himself in the car seat to eating with forks, cutting up meat and wiping his bo-bo. You are thinking, "Wow, he must be advanced to be able to do all these things", right? No, the truth is he cannot do all of these activities quickly or proficiently, but he is determined that he can. So between Luke 'trying' to do "all-my-self" and Natalie trying to help him, we have a lot of frustration floating around here...

Round 'Em Up!

Kindergarten Roundup was last night. I think I was way more excited than Cooper. Having your first child start kindergarten just feels like such a milestone. Pregnancy, childbirth, bottles, sippy cups, potty training, writing, reading, KINDERGARTEN! Yea!
Back to the Roundup, (that's what they call it in AISD), we had a chance to meet the kindergarten teachers, fill out 16+ pieces of paper, prove that we are living on this planet earth, buy some spirit apparel and school supplies. The eye-opener was seeing how Cooper would interact with a group of complete strangers. He did pretty good! Of course, he tried to cling to John, because that's what our children do, but he was fine with going to the kindergarten room and singing a song, coloring a picture and, ultimately, eating ice cream. I think he will forever look forward to and love kindergarten for that very strategic 'surprise' that they gave all the kiddos. Overall, it was a great experience and I can't wait to start kindergarten... I mean for Cooper to start kindergarten.

My Three Balls of Energy

I really did not fully know what someone meant when they said, "If only you could bottle that energy..." No kidding. My children are never-ending in their energy, enthusiasm and excitedness. I have always thought that I had a lot of energy...not compared to the three children I birthed. It is so funny to see their enthusiasm play out so physically. For instance, if I say, "Yes, we can go get a slurpee." They are jumping up and down, singing the slurpee song, high-fiving one another, hopping on one foot and doing the slurpee dance that only they know. Now, what if an adult let that kind of excitement flow out of them? What if John was sitting at his desk and his secretary came in and said, "John, I got a continuance on that trial set for next week." What if he jumped up, clapped his hands together and yelled, "SWEET BABY! Atta girl!!!" Yea, it would probably make her run away and quit her job. I really should think about bottling that energy...

What Easter Means To Me

Today is Easter, 2008. 10 years ago today I made the most important decision of my life. I decided to follow Christ; to admit my life as I had lived it was not ever going to be right; that I needed to surrender all to Him to have a better life. And you know what? My life is better. My life is beyond better. My life is more than I would have ever hoped it could be. God has blessed me over and over and over. I deserve nothing. I don't deserve a fraction of what God has given so gracefully to me. God is good, He is so good. Not because of what he has given to me on this earth, but because he loved me so much to pursue me and to make me realize that I am loved by Him. I am His.

Easter means a new birth, a new life, an acceptance that I had never known before and an acceptance that I will know throughout eternity.

My Friend Marcie

I just have to write about Marcie because I love her so much. We have been friends since we cheered in college together (go UTA Mavericks!). We met at tryouts in 1992. She was the most awesome dancer and she could tumble, stunt, you name it! Pretty impressive for someone so tall (5'9" I'm guessing). In 1994 she was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and had to quit cheering. She graduated with me in May of that year and did not slow down. Even though the disease was having it's way with her, she had 3 different jobs, drove a modified car and persevered beyond what any of us could imagine. This is someone who loves our Lord and has not lost her faith or her hope. I am but a baby in Christ compared to her spiritual maturity. Though she is in a wheelchair now, she has written a book, created a scrapbook, still does Beth Moore bible studies, prays unceasingly and perpetually influences other with her strength and conviction. I love Marcie. I am a better person because of her.

Easter Egg Hunt at PBC

We went to the Easter Egg Hunt at Pantego Bible Church today. They really know how to put on an Easter Egg Hunt. Over 10,000 eggs, 4 different egg hunts, and each egg hunt broken down into age groups. It was GREAT, I mean GREAT!! We all had fun, it wasn't hot and the kids did not complain. Can you argue with that? Here's a pic right before they started the Easter Egg Dump, I mean Easter Egg Hunt. Now I know this is hard to believe, but my kids are a little competitive. I do not know where they get that from...ha ha ha! I was coaching them right before the whistle blew on where to run, which ones are the easiest to pick up, who to tackle...just kidding! I did do a little pre-game pep talk to get them in the spirit, but they were pretty gung-ho knowing that there was a high likelihood of candy being in those colored eggs!

Along with the excitement of the East Egg Hunt, there was a super-sized Easter bunny present for taking pictures. As you can see, Luke is a little freaked out by the bunny who was really almost as tall as John. (He is squatting down to fit in the picture frame.) However, he seems to have quite a tight grip on the Easter egg bucket full 'o candy!

Reward Charts

These work! I don't know why I stray away from using them. Cooper will do anything to get a sticker on his chart...anything. Tonight he read 3 of his Bob books, new ones that he hasn't already memorized. Then he read 2 of the easy ones to Luke. It is so cute to see him asking Luke to say a word and then encourage him to say more. I'd give him 3 stickers if he asked. :>) Natalie wanted an extra sticker also, so she went to her room to make her bed... 10 minutes before bedtime. Oh yes, Cooper called her on that one, "Why are you making your bed for night-night, Natalie???" She didn't care, she was getting a sticker!!!

First Blog

I happened upon this blog by accident. I was reading one blog, connected to another and ended up creating this one. I have only read 2 blogs consistently (mom2my6pack and David Daniels), and did not think I would ever create on. Well, here it is.