Happy Father's Day

In honor of all dads, I'm including a link to the funniest video I think I've ever seen. I cried when I watched this because I laughed soooo hard!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8798242020576043158

I Am a Survivor

I'm alive! Yes, I survived kids' camp and had lots of fun too. =) It was definitely good to get home though. The kids all had an awesome week (they got to do so many fun things) and the speakers we had were great too. My favorite was a puppet named Elmer - I haven't been able to stop thinking about him! He was so funny!

So Elmer was the funniest part, my nap on Wednesday was the most relaxing, my sunburn was the most painful, all the things that would have been the most fun I wasn't able to do since I was pregnant, but someone (we have NO idea who!) throwing up in my icechest and then leaving it all week in the hot van was absolutely the grossest!!! The smell was breathtaking and faint inducing and the sight of chunks floating around was just plain nasty. Maybe I should offer a reward for any information leading to the capture of the gross-wad that did that. EEEWWWWWWWW!!! If I had a picture I would post it - sorry, I was too busy gagging to think about taking a picture.....

100 Years!

Here's a picture of our family with Granny at her 100th birthday celebration in Wichita Falls. There were LOTS of people there and it was a busy 3 days! I told Sandy she was a crazy woman for doing all that for 3 days straight! =) We made some great memories though....

We talked on our way home about whether or not we would want to live 100 years ourselves. Would you want to?

The Good Report

Our day in Abilene was wonderful and well worth the trip. We had a good report from the doctor there! Our baby definitely has kidneys and he showed us four things that look completely normal that down syndrome babies usually have. He said our baby looked completely normal and healthy to him. And it's definitely a girl! We were smiling pretty big when we left that appointment. =)

We spent the rest of the day having lunch with Chad and Mindee and going to see their church, going to the mall, taking a nap in the van, and eventually eating at Chickfila where we got our babies back! We had a happy reunion and now we're home again. It feels good. It's been a long but good day - signing off now to go to bed. =)

"The God We Serve"

In less than 2 hours we will leave to drive to the perinatal specialist to hopefully find out what's going on with our newest little one. I feel like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego this morning. When they were faced with the fire they looked Nebuchanezzar in the face and said, "We do not need to defend ourselves in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." I'm looking this initial report in the face and saying that I know God is more than able to give me a baby in perfect health. But even if He does not, I will not bow down to despair or depression. I know that God's plan, whatever it may be, is what will ultimately come about, regardless of whatever threats the enemy may make.

If there was going to be an altar call to this blog posting, the music would have to be that old song, "Whose Report Will You Believe? (We Will Believe The Report of The Lord!)" Those were the days! =)

Why I Never Stood A Chance

I just want everyone to clearly understand why it is that I never stood a chance in life to NOT cry about everything. This picture to the left is my mother, Biggie, crying at Disneyland. Currently, I don't have a picture of my dad crying, but I will get one. It shouldn't be hard. These people cry about everything! Theme Parks, TV commercials, songs on the radio, good stories, sad movies, funny jokes, funerals, weddings, graduations, new babies, old people, people getting voted off of Survivor...the list goes on and on.

So don't ever think it odd if you see me crying about something silly - it's in my genes.

Some California Memories

Disney Land!

Our whirlwind trip to California is over and we are now recovered! We spent Thursday traveling to DFW and then flying to California - we didn't get to our hotel room until about 2am Central time. Friday night was John's graduation and that was a proud moment! We're all glad he's done with school for now - he finally has a little more time. =) After graduation we all went to a restaurant called Northwoods along with the Collins family, John's old friend from Bible Quiz and his wife and kids. Northwoods was a strange place at best, with horrible service! I've never been somewhere so expensive yet so undesirable! If you ever happen to see one still in business, keep on driving down the road.

Saturday we all went to Disneyland. I think the day would have been better if we had let Julia sleep in longer, because she was one fussy child. She definitely had many moments of happiness, but she was fussy in between all those moments. =) In retrospect, there were lots of things we didn't do there that I'm sad about. But overall, we still did LOTS of fun stuff! One of my favorite moments was taking the kids to the Playhouse Disney show. It was so wonderful to see their faces light up whenever they saw a different character. We were right up front so it was awesome! Julia jumped up and down almost the whole time. John David was more mature and reserved, but I know he loved it too.

We didn't get to see Mickey and Minnie and at the end of the day, Julia kept saying, "Mickey...Minnie....Where are you???" We did see Goofy, Donald, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Hercules, JoJo, Goliath, and Mulan. It was great!

I'm not sure how many churros we all ate or how many miles we walked but we sure made some great memories. Could our kids have been any happier - Disneyland with all their grandparents? Anything they wanted was theirs! =)

I still love Disneyland and I can't wait to go back again. I guess we'll have to go in about 3 more years with baby #3!

Our Silly Girl, Julia

I just had to share this moment with everyone. This was a few weeks ago now. I had been doing some housework in another room for awhile and while I was working I kept hearing Sesame Street music. I figured John had just put a video on for Julia. When I came back to the living room I found John and Julia listening to a Sesame Street CD on a little CD player and they were both singing all the words as best as they could. It was the cutest thing ever. Julia was really belting it out - she loves Sesame Street!

A Quick Update....

Just a quick post to say that we had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend in Dallas. Fine Arts was great and our human video group did advance as well as Eowyn's children's sermon. Everything else was close but didn't advance.
It was nice to not have to come home on Saturday night but to stay longer in Dallas instead. We got to spend wonderful time with Davus and Biggie and even Jeremy too. They took the kids to Six Flags while we had Fine Arts and then when we were together we hung out and went to Pappasitos (where I froze to death and we had the new waiter from H*ll!) On Monday we ate at Spring Creek (where Jeremy bathed in BBQ sauce) and then went to Chuckey Cheese for the kids. It was a wonderful time that went to quickly. =( We at least get to all be together again for John's graduation next weekend.
After we left Dallas to go to Wichita Falls for a quick visit with John's family and the Curtis family. It was good to get to see all of them too. We didn't leave there until after midnight though so we got home and in bed at almost 5 in the morning! The kids at least slept the whole way so I got to sleep most of the way too.
Ok, off to run an errand and then make some dinner for my man. More later....=)

My 3 Babies

Today isn't the first time I've felt our newest little one moving around but today I have felt moving over and over. It's fun to think about what that baby is doing in there. John David talked through my belly button a couple of mornings ago. He said, "Hello in there! Who are you? Are you a boy or a girl? I'm John David, your big brother!" Then he blew big rasberries on my belly. It was so sweet.

Right now, he's hugging Julia and telling me she is his baby. Now he's giving her a piggy back ride but it's not going to last long - she's choking him. =) He likes to ask her if she loves her Bubba or if she thinks Bubba is cool. Usually, Julia will hug and kiss him and say yes. It's such a sweet thing to watch them love each other.

John David's Day (according to him)

"I woke up in my mommy and daddy's bed and I was aghast by the cool sound of cool mail prizes I found and had so many cool presents that my Grandma and Grandpa gave me. When I ate my Sponge Bob cookie this morning, I opened my markers. When mommy opened the wrapper on my cookie, it broke and she made me cry. She said, "I'm very sorry that I broke it!" And then we fixed it and I ate it and that was my lucky day.

Earlier we went to Sam's and ate pizza for lunch. And then it was my big whole lucky day because we're already having so much fun. After Sam's, we went to Walmart and we bought presents for Alyson's birthday - she's going to be 3. Then she'll be in J.A.M.! That's when she'll be in J.A.M."

Life is Right Again

I'm so happy I have my babies back again! We left them in Wichita Falls with Clay and Sandy on Saturday. They had a fun week full of friends, Chuckey Cheese's, Veggie Tales Live, playing outside, and taking lots of bubble baths. I'm glad they had fun but I was missing them bad and so was their Daddy. We laid in bed at night or drove around during the day talking about how much we missed them. It was a happy time when we got in the car last night and drove to Abilene to get them as Clay and Sandy were passing through to Midland.

We ate at Rosa's and I could hardly eat because they both kept clobbering me with hugs and kisses. It was annoying but mostly just wonderful! =) We were happy to be all back together again. Julia said she wanted to go to Mommy's house and John David was ready too. It's a great thing to be part of a family that loves each other so very much.

We survived!

I'm happy to report that we survived Easter weekend. I can't wait for the day when Easter or Christmas means time to slow down and celebrate these special days in more meaningful ways with our family. In our current positions, holidays mean an extra crazy schedule and helping other families celebrate at church. Saturday was our community egg hunt and everything went great. We were able to present the gospel in a super cool way that I'm sure no one there had ever seen before. I'll post pictures of that outreach later. Friday night I never even went to sleep because we didn't get home from working at the church until 5 in the morning and I still had so much on my mind. I just decided to stay up and keep preparing. We had about 300 people there and lots of fun! Easter Sunday morning also went great. I got to pie Steve in the face so that was a first for me and him. =) It was great to lead little kids in worship to Jesus on such a special day. There were parents at the door waiting for our service to be over. I didn't feel bad making them wait a few minutes while the kids were worshiping. We wait for the adults plenty of Sundays.

Sunday evening, after a wonderful nap, we went to the Garcia's house for dinner and an egg hunt. It was a great night and the kids had a lot of fun too. We had a blast with the cascerones and we are still combing the confetti out of our hair even today!

The next morning, before I got up, the kids found their Easter baskets from the Easter bunny (Delana). They thought it was lots of fun to throw the grass all over the floor. It was not in heaps, but rather strode out piece by piece. What a mess! But they had fun, I guess. =)

Last night, out of the blue, John David's arms started stinging really bad from his eczema. He was hollering so loud! I took him to the bathroom and put some lotion on them and stood him in from of the fan. He was still screaming. I carried him to bed and tried to calm him down. He hollered for me to pray for him quick. So I did, and he kept screaming. He started hitting his arms and yelling at them," Stop hurting me! You're making me cry! You're making me be a big cry baby!" He was so serious and in so much pain but it was so funny. He finally calmed down after I read him a story and then John and I both laughed with him about what a funny guy he is. It does break my heart that his arms are so bad and now even his eyes. We have some medicine but it doesn't seem to work. =(

Oh, one more funny John David story before I forget. A couple of weeks ago we were in the living room along with Steve, Eowyn, and L.C. (one of our youth leaders). John David went over to L.C. and asked him, "L.C., do you have sex?" The room got really quiet and we all thought maybe he said six. I asked him what he said and he said it again just as clear. L.C. kind of looked at us and then back at John David and said, "No, John David, I don't have sex." The room was still quiet except for everyone trying not to laugh. John still sat there in shock and didn't say anything. I had to tell him to say something to John David. Then he took him aside and talked to him. Apparently he heard that question on "Yes, Dear" the sitcom when Steve was watching it earlier that day. Aren't we in for lots of fun??? =)

John David at The Rink

I just had to write about this wonderful memory! Last Thursday night, we had a fun night at The Rink (our entertainment complex here) for our Kids' Church workers and The Krew. Julia stayed at home with John since she had been sick, and John David went with me. This was the same place where we tried to play lazer tag for his birthday and they were understaffed and wouldn't let us. He was soooo excited when he realized where we were going!

First we played lazer tag. How fun! He was able to wear a vest and have his own lazer gun to shoot. Even though he didn't score even 1 point, he went on and on about how great he did and how he was the winner. I just smiled and agreed.

After lazer tag, we skated. We tried to anyway! I hadn't skated since I was a kid and John David had never skated before. At first I tried to help him around the rink but that wasn't working too well since I needed help myself! Some of the teenagers came and started helping him. He never quite got the hang of it and decided to ditch the skates and jump in the bounce house instead. =)

Finally, we rode the go karts. John David and I rode in a 2 seater car together and we had so much fun trying to beat everyone. Since the track was circular, he just always thought we were winning. When it was over he declared our car the winner. What a confident little guy.

The night ended with a big hotdog and promises to come back and play at The Rink again really soon. What a wonderful night of fun with my boy.

Our family pictures

Last night we went to the water lilly garden and took some family portraits. We took lots and lots of pictures and only one turned out just right. Oh well, all we really needed was one anyway. It was a fun thing to try to get both John David and Julia to look cute and smile nice at the same time. Tomorrow I will have the pictures made into cards and then get them mailed off this week so our family can all find out our news. It's been a secret for too long!
This week is full with preparations for Easter this coming weekend. So far, everything is right on track so I'm not stressed about it.
Julia just woke up crying so I need to go see if she's ok. I wonder when she will learn to sleep through the night? You would think she's still a little baby the way she is at night. Hopefully, she'll get this sleep thing figured out (as well as the potty thing!) before this fall when my hands will be more full than ever. =) What a wonderful full they will be though. I love my babies!

Wow, I'm good!

I'm glad to see that my very first post worked without any problems. I needed a little lift like that today! =) I read some good advice yesterday and I'm glad I did because it came in very handy today. The advice was, "Never resign on Monday." I've been telling myself that alot today and it's not even Monday yet! If I look at the big picture, our Impact service actually went really well today. The little stuff just really gets me sometimes. Stuff like disruptive kids (REALLY disruptive and rough) and distractions during the message (An 8 year old boy we have is down syndrome and does really well except that apparently he can't "wipe" himself after using the restroom. He went to the restroom and ended up having to go home because there was poo all over him. This happened during the message.) Or how about not having your key leader not knowing about it in advance? Cool, huh? All this is not a good way to start the week of our egg hunt outreach! I'm still confident it will rock, though!

For lunch we came home and ate sandwiches so we would have time to rest a little before heading back to the church. Human video practice was at 3:00 so John is long gone. I'm leaving with the kids in just a little while for JBQ. Can't wait to play some of the fun games we have for tonight!

Tomorrow we're going to go take some nice family pictures. Hopefully everyone will cooperate and we'll have some nice portraits to show for all our work getting dressed and combing our hair! And let's pray for NO wind!

Changing the subject totally.....new on my random wishlist is a pc game called "The Movies". It's about $30 at Walmart so I'm hoping to buy it soon. With this game I can easily make my own cartoons. My brain goes wild with the endless possibilities!

This morning during the service, the Bible Quizzers all presented John with a gift certificate to a Japenese steakhouse here in town and a night of babysitting for the kids so we can have some time alone. How wonderful is that??? His team won 1st place at district yesterday - Steve took 1st individual, Eowyn 4th, and even Kansas scored 15 or 20 a game! Yea team!

I should end this post now and go get ready for JBQ now. There's just so much to say when you first start your very own blog! =)

Ok, this is just a test.....