Vickie's Journey

christmas '11 project

2012-02-16T08:48:00.000-06:00

Before

After

Our project this past Christmas has paid off. Katie is really enjoying keeping all of Kit's belongings neat and tidy.

My Faith

2012-02-08T14:00:00.000-06:00

I've been struggling lately over a spiritual issue... whether or not I really believe. It's a strange struggle because I haven't doubted my salvation, but I realize my life has been pretty easy up to this point. So how would I react if something life changing, something 'big' were to happen. Would my faith be strong enough? And when I pray, am I really praying to God, or to my imagination? There is certainly NO other faith or God I would turn to!

It's just been a struggle, but I've tried to stay faithful and ask God to reveal to me the answer.

The other day the very simple answer came... yes, I do believe. As often happens, I was thinking of one thing and that thing led to another and another and so on... until I found myself thinking about the spiritual gifts test that I've taken over the years. I've taken a total of 3 and on every one of them, to my surprise each time, faith comes up as one of my top 3 or 4! I believe easily and readily. It's just part of who God made me. I don't need mountain top experiences, I have a very full past of reminders of how God has spoken to me and helped and guided me through life. I am thankful to say that I do believe and know that when the hard times come, God will give the faith as I need it (Corrie ten boom). Until then, I strive for wisdom each day for every situation, and for my faith to grow deeper and stronger... whether I realize it or not. God's word will not return void!

Pledge to the Present of God

2010-09-16T20:33:00.002-05:00

School is going so great. Katie loves it, we love it! We could not be happier with the choice we made.

Each morning they say the pledge to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. Today after dinner we were playing school (she was the teacher, of course)... there was a present on the counter for a birthday party tomorrow... she grabs the present and says "OK kids, now we are going to say the pledge to the Present of God. Attention. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the present of God. God's holy word. I will make it a lamp to my present and a light unto my path and to my Savior, one present is crucified and risen with life and liberty to all who believe."

I laughed so hard I cried.

First day of Spring...

2010-03-21T14:39:00.018-05:00

and the last Saturday of Spring Break.

this was the day before... beautiful. What a difference a day can make.

We had planned to go to OkCity Saturday for a very mini overnight vacation. We had a hotel reserved with an indoor swimming pool, museums mapped out, shopping, and a walk around the OU campus. Instead...

so... we had our vacation at home. We painted our own master pieces. Some inspired by another favorite book, others inspired by Monet and Renoir themselves, and some inspired by our own imagination. Then we put them in our 'gallery' and gave Dad a tour.

and, of course, the donation box.

next, since we couldn't walk the OU campus, we made our own garden. These cardboard flowers came out of a box of drinking glasses I got a few months back. Glad I decided to keep them for a 'rainy day'.

lastly, because we couldn't do any 'real' shopping in OkCity, we went out to the B'ville mall, looked around and had dinner. Then went home and got to sleep in our own bed which is always better than a hotel!

the end.

Katie's Birthday

2010-03-20T16:08:00.007-05:00

Katie's 5th Birthday! We went through several themes before we finally decided on a 'Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa' party based on her favorite book series. Since there were a few boys from her class she wanted to invite, we decided early against the 'Princess' theme (yipee).

Grandma got here Friday...

when the kids drove up, they followed the horseshoes up to the front door. The 'Circle W' was the symbol Dan's dad used for his business... it was on all the sacks of grain he sold.

Then, they came in and got their hat and bandana and walked through the barn doors.

the (fake) barb wire kept them out of the dining room.

Me and mom decorated the horse head and horseshoe cakes.

Even Jakey got in on the fun... don't worry, she's not putting any pressure on Jakey.

Silly dad.

activities were stamping,

roping, (this came from Grandma Emma whose grandson use it for practicing his roping as a young boy)

a game of horseshoes, and a made up game of 'needle in the haystack'... simply a lot of shredded paper with toys hidden underneath with their names on them.

The party was so much fun and we had a beautiful day so they got to run and be crazy outside!

Another thing we did was to give it a purpose. While the event was for Katie and to celebrate her life, we wanted to do more. We asked for no presents (she would get plenty later) but for everyone to bring a book. We will now take those books to the Ronald McDonald house in Tulsa for the kids there to enjoy. Katie was excited about doing this and did not seem to miss the gift opening at all... she was having too much fun!

shape up update

2010-03-20T16:04:00.002-05:00

I ended the first 40 days a few weeks ago and am now on the 'maintenance' program. I could not be more pleased with the results. I didn't lose many pounds but still had great results. I would highly recommend Julie's program. I feel great and love the energy I have. that's all I'll say about that online.

playing Cubbies

2010-02-19T21:50:00.003-06:00

You never know what Katie will be in the mood to play. Tonight it was Cubbies. She was the teacher and you can see below all her students:

so it came time for 'craft' time in her Cubbie class. She goes back to our bedroom and comes back with a bottle of scope, a box of Lightdays, toothpaste, and eyeliner (still in its package) and proceeds to tell her Cubbies about the craft they are about to do. She never actually opened any of the items, but she was sure explaining in detail what they were to do. I wonder what a group of 4 & 5 year olds really would/could do with those items if given a chance and left alone?

this is what she pulled our for snack... the lotion is the icing and the sudafed is the little red cookies. (by the way, ALL the items were just bought and UNopened. )

this is her being tired of me taking pictures.

the Lightdays above reminded me of when she was about 2. About that time when they love running little errands for you around the house. You can ask them to take anything to any room and they LOVE 'helping'. I had asked her to take a box of Lightdays to my bathroom. She did, but I began to notice she was gone a long time. I went back to our bathroom and there were panty liners stuck everywhere! On the floor, cabinets, shower... everywhere. I wish so bad I had gotten a picture, but I didn't, but the memory is still very clear!

shape up update

2010-02-11T19:32:00.002-06:00

it's going really well. I haven't cheated too much, really hardly at all, and I can really see results. on top of that I feel great! things i miss are cooking some of our old 'favorites', there usually loaded with butter and salt! I also miss baking. I could still do it, of course, but it is toooo tempting at this point! I made some banana nut bread the other day for a friend, the recipe made two loafs, I could NOT keep my fingers out of it... especially when it was warm. So baking is dangerous for me right now. I only have about 1 more week of the initial '40 days'.

almost there

new menu item

2010-02-11T19:27:00.002-06:00

discovered/made up a new yummy dinner tonight:

pork loin cut into slices

marinate in:

¼ cups Lemon Juice
½ teaspoons Balsalmic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Basil, Dried
½ teaspoons Oregano, Dried
½ teaspoons Thyme, Dried
⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper

then brown on both sides in pan/skillet, add 1c water and add cut up broccoli and carrots on top. cover and cook until done and tender.

to go with it I made a sauce of (salt free) can tomatoes, white wine, and herbs and put that over rice noodles.

It all turned out pretty good and didn't taste 'diet' at all, even with out the salt.

Sick little girl... Part 2

2010-02-11T19:25:00.002-06:00

Just when I though we were getting over things, she wakes up at 1AM throwing up again. We went to the doctor about 2 and by then she was already starting to perk up, thank goodness. I guess this was just a little 12 hour bug. Hopefully its over.

sick little girl

2010-02-02T20:24:00.000-06:00

Katie rarely gets sick, even a cold. I can always tell when she is really sick!

Today, she was really sick. when she doesn't feel like playing or dancing, when she sits through an entire movie without getting up, you know she's sick. She was complaining of her stomach hurting and I knew it was true I just didn't know what to do about it. Finally it got bad enough I called the doctor and they got us in. While in the waiting room, it came up... a lot! It was so horrible... I was glad there were not a lot of people in there.

We got home and got a little Dora chicken noodle soup down her, but the poor little thing just doesn't know how to be sick because she never is. As soon as she would feel just a tiny bit better she'd start jumping, then her tummy would hurt again, we'd tell her not to and to just sit and rest, she would for a few minutes then, out of habit, she would pop up. Even though she was sick, I got so tickled at her because it was like she just didn't know how to be sick... that a lot of kids would have been 'milking it' for all they could get.

She went quietly and quickly to bed tonight... which is another sign that she is truly sick. Hopefully tomorrow she will feel much better.

another new recipe

2010-02-02T20:04:00.002-06:00

found another great recipe for the shape up:

Jalepeno-Lime Chicken

1 T olive oil (I just misted my chicken with OO instead)

1 t lime zest

1 T lime juice

1 Jalepeno pepper, seeded & diced

1 t ground cumin

1/4 t black pepper

1/4 t salt (I skipped this)

chicken breast

combine all ingredients and marinate for about 30 min.

cook oven, grill, or broiler pan.

served with brown rice cooked in low-sodium chick broth, homemade pico, avocado, and fresh green beans.

I used the left overs today and put the chicken, rice, pico, & avoc over lettuce...YUM.

Some Favorite Menus so far

2010-01-27T15:17:00.004-06:00

Pork cooked with fresh salsa & avocado

rice noodles

fresh green beans

ground turkey chili with a homemade chili seasoning

salt-free stewed tomatoes

brown rice

roasted carrots

lentil soup

rye toast

salad

tilapia cooked with lemon pepper and white wine

broccoli

roasted potatoes

herbed chicken

sweet potatoes

broccoli

shrimp & chicken paella

cauliflower

shrimp salad w/ avocado

rye bread or potatoes

turkey meatball soup using vegetable stock

rye bread or potatoes

40 day shape up

2010-01-26T20:45:00.005-06:00

I'm now on my 1st day of my 3rd week of my 40 day shape up program. The first week was terrible. I felt horrible, I was stressed over food, I just knew I was doing it wrong, I was unorganized, and worst of all... I was hungry ALL the time. I trudged on and the 2nd week was much better. And this week, well, I feel great!

I still have to stay organized, but like most things I do, I enjoy the organizing and preparation better than the actual activity. I've enjoyed cooking as close to 'natural' as possible and am amazed at how good some of our meals have been. I'm even losing my taste for salt!

Probably not tonight, but I'm going to try (once I get organized) to post some of our favorite meals so far. They may not be anything new, but I want to remember some of the substitutes and combinations for future.

I can't tell right now how much I've lost, but I feel like I'm at least going in the right direction... down instead of this slow steady up I've been doing for the last 10 years.

Christmas '09 - part 2 -Let it Snow!

2010-01-01T21:02:00.006-06:00

Wow, a white Christmas. How fun is that? At least we thought it was fun.

snowmen... snowgirl in our case... her name was Lollipop.

Dan pulled out his sled he's had since he was 10! It's got a lot of miles on it and we put a lot more on it this year.

Justin and Xander...

me... going down.

me... coming back up. Jakey ran up and down this hill about a dozen times. Every time someone would go down, he would run after them. We thought he was a wimpy dog, but he had a ball in the snow!

Katie and Dan... and Jakey.

Katie and Xander had so much fun playing together. She really loves her little cousin.

Christmas '09 - part 1

2009-12-28T21:06:00.008-06:00

Like every other Christmas, this Christmas season flew by. Our last company left today and I don't have close to the energy to blog the entire season, so I'll do it in parts.

Of course it starts with the tree. This was Jakey's first Christmas with us and he has done great. After Katie and I decorated the tree, we came back in the living room and found this... Jakey nestled underneath. We got a big kick saying he was our first Christmas present.

Next was Katie's recital. How precious are these little angles... and what an appropriate costume, if I do say so myself. The girls did wonderful. Katie went on during the week to perform at 2 nursing homes... one was Sterling House where Peepa (Dan's dad) was. We missed him so much as she performed. He would have loved it and been so proud.

I'm jumping ahead, but Dec 24, Katie sat at the front door waiting for Grandma. We were anxious for her to get here. She was racing the winter storm and got here just as it started sleeting.

She made it... safely!

Christmas day was lots of fun. DonRay (my brother) and his family were suppose to be here, but the weather kept them from coming. We still had Dan's aunt & uncle, Lloyd and Ann, and a friend from church, Nancy, with us. Lots of food and fun.

Katie showed herself to be a very steady hand at Jenga...

and Jakey proved himself to be a snow dog. We were amazed at how much he liked the snow.

Sledding to come...

Bear Hugs

2009-12-11T10:19:00.003-06:00

I had no idea that this very day last year, my birthday, would be the last hug I would get from my dad. He was a hugger and was big on bear hugs. I remember as a little girl him asking for not just a regular hug, but a bear hug. As I hugged him good bye in the hospital he said how glad he was that I had come and had been there that week. We both fought the tears as I left to come back home. He started chemo that night and was never the same.

God has been so faithful this year to us left behind, but I can't help but think of him and his hugs and laugh and cry on this day.

Dad's B-day

2009-11-19T07:51:00.003-06:00

yesterday was Dad's birthday. I thought about mom, and dad, all day. When I talked to her last night on my way home from church we realized a really neat thing that happened yesterday... something that God had done.

On the way to Cubbies I mentioned to Katie that it was DonDon's birthday and that after Cubbies we would call Grandma and tell her happy birthday for DonDon. Basically just my way of saying we would call and let mom know we were thinking of her. As I said that, I thought of something I had never thought of before. We've all heard the term 'born again' as it refers to becoming a christian. Well, the thought I had was that Dad has a new birthdate, Dec 28 2008. The day he walked into heaven. It brought me encouragement and I figured I would think more on it later.

As I was talking to mom, she said (paraphrased) "Vickie, I have to tell how God encouraged me this morning. I was dreading this day because I knew it would be hard, but God told me something, almost as plain as we are talking now, that Don had a new birthday. It wasn't Nov 18 anymore, but the day he went to be with the Lord." In all the deaths of close relationships she's experienced, she said she had never thought of it in that way before.

I then told her my story and we were both amazed at how good our God is and how he works! Our God is a living God and cares so much for each one of us.

Our Date Weekend

2009-11-12T07:15:00.004-06:00

A few weekends ago, Dan and I left Katie with mom and went in to Ft Worth for a date weekend. We usually try to do this at least once a year. Last year we went to Beaver Lake. This year, since I didn't want to make the 'katie logistics' complicated, we decided to do something close to mom. We stayed at the beautiful Hilton downtown. It was really cool to be in such a historical place, downtown, and so nice. It's Historical because it used to be the Texan and was the last place the Kennedy's stayed before that fatal drive to Dallas.

The only pictures we got were at the Modern Art Museum Cafe. We didn't actually go into the museum we just ate lunch there. And it was wonderful. It pretty much sums up what we did most of the weekend... a little museum, a little walking, a lot of great food, relaxation, and reading.

these were some tree sculptures seen from the outside eating area.

the water was only a few inches deep, but wound it's way all around the museum.

It was a very nice weekend. Since the hotel was free, we splurged on food... the Modern, Ruth's Chris, Tavern... all very yummy and nice.

Oh yea, AND, we got to start and finish some conversations!

Fall is here

2009-10-15T16:24:00.007-05:00

last month I got really excited that Fall was here. well, it wasn't quite here yet... but it is now.

this tree out my kitchen prompted it all. you can't see it in this picture, but there is one red leaf somewhere in the middle of it.

here is a close up...

and it got me in the mood to pull out the Fall decor box. It happened to be a morning that instead of putting clothes on, Katie put on her dance recital tutu.

she loved pulling every thing out and looking at it, then helping me decide where it should go.

she really made me laugh this day.

And this was the best pose of all!

Our Rainy Day

2009-10-12T21:30:00.006-05:00

It's been a long time since we've had an entire day of rain. And I LOVE a good dreary rainy day. Probably because I'm such a homebody. Over breakfast last Thursday we made a list of everything we wanted to do on our rainy day... that is after we went to dance and had lunch with friends.

First thing, of course, was this little craft I came across...

umbrellas out of tissue with splatter paint as the rain drops... as you can see it turned into finger painting.

Then some basic coloring,

then, movie and popcorn,

Katie is always seeing me looking for crafts and things to do on the internet, so while I was busy doing something, she was busy herself. Next thing I knew she was saying, 'mommy, look what i did, maybe we could put this on the internet so other kids could try it'. I think it was just markers on a wet paper towel, but if you want to try it Katie would be really thrilled.

Last thing before dinner (which was leftovers this night... I was way too busy to cook), we carved her pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

we didn't finish our list so we are still ready for the next rainy day... bring it on!

Mommy, come find me...

2009-10-09T20:51:00.004-05:00

that's what i hear every time we start to go somewhere... church, school, park, library, or bed. She usually hides in the same place, but every now and then she'll come up with something new that really throws me. I've only had my camera handy a few times.

Garden update

2009-09-02T13:11:00.013-05:00

we came back from vacation and I really thought my garden efforts had failed this year. But, looking back from the beginning, and even this last month, I can see that they were not a total bust. we had a lot of lettuce, carrots, & radishes in the beginning. We did actually get one stalk of broccoli, more than I expected, but no cauliflower. This last month the jalepenos, okra, and bell peppers have really come in strong. The herbs have done great all year... I have been very happy with them and have had fun experimenting with different ways of preserving them.

this is where we're at now... okra, jalepenos, bell peppers, & herbs about the only things left.

cut the basil down in size by half and am now getting a new crop... basil anyone?

the stinker (and all of his kin) that got my broccoli

this was one reason for the herb garden... the colors & smells!

this was the main reason for all of the garden... Katie. She named all the caterpillars, Squishy.

Here is Squishy chewing on some dill.

here is Squishy's brother, Squishy, metamorphosed.

2009-08-28T21:58:00.009-05:00

Wow, I did not realize how long its been since my last post until someone pointed it out to me tonight. Well, I'm going to try and force myself to stay awake tonight long enough to finish a post. Just a quick recap of our summer:

it started with Jakey, he is doing great!

then the long awaited sprinkler system. I didn't think I'd ever be able to get to my flower beds. Obviously it didn't bother Katie from her summer fun!

Katie learned to swing... ALL BY HERSELF!

how fun was OK Mozart this year?!

a trip to the Tulsa Zoo with a friend

out 13th anniversary

and a trip to Colorado (more about this later).

Time does fly when your having fun!

Veggies, Veggies, Veggies

2009-06-25T08:14:00.007-05:00

We are having so much fun with our gardens. It has been great

for Katie (and me) to see where these things come from

and how they grow. If your interested, you can see

more of the process here.

Father's Day - Part 2

2009-06-21T16:20:00.003-05:00

The second part to this Father's Day, but certainly not 2nd in importance, is how wonderful my husband is. Why God would give me 2 such wonderful men in my life is beyond my comprehension, but I'll take it! And, be grateful for it. I absolutely LOVE how much Dan loves being a dad. Katie will have so many great memories of them playing at the park together, him tucking her in at night, him getting her up on weekend mornings, them helping together at the shelter, bike rides, walks, books, and the list will go on. But he's not just a 'fun' dad. Thankfully, he is great at helping me with discipline. What a man! I love him!

Father's Day - Part 1

2009-06-21T16:07:00.005-05:00

As most of you know, i love gardening. It's not that i'm that good at it or I have a 'green thumb', i just love it. I love the symbolism between gardening and my own life. It's always been very therapeutic for me when I'm going through a hard time.

The lead up to this Father's Day has been hard. I knew it would be. Two years ago, the first year of my dad's retirement, he helped his church clean up some of their landscaping. It is a beautiful, little old country church and had flowers and other things planted that could have easily been there since the founding of the church. One of the things they dug up were some iris. The old fashion, bearded kind. So, I got a plastic bag full of them. I planted them that year, but of course they usually do not bloom the first year after a transplant.

So then, this Spring came around and they took on a whole new meaning to me. I wanted them to bloom so badly. I really needed them to bloom. And sure enough, they came through their dormancy and flowered. Three purples and one white. How perfect. White for purity... my dad is perfectly pure as he stands in heaven with Jesus now... we are pure before the Lord because of what Jesus did for us... and Jesus, our savior, has always been pure and blameless and has always been dressed in purple as King of Kings. We, too, will be in purple when that Day comes!

Just like the iris, I have felt in a state of 'dormancy'. Sometimes its all we can do to survive the winter. But, the Son never disappears and always has his warm eye on us. When we can't feel the warmth, we always have His Word, His Promise, to trust in.

I still miss my dad so much. It's unbelievable. I guess I was even more of a 'daddy's girl' than what I thought. But I treasure the memories. How blessed I am to have so many wonderful memories of a loving, Godly, Father! "Every good and perfect gift is from above"... and my dad was that.

Our Good Dinner Week

2009-06-12T21:47:00.003-05:00

Have to admit, this has been a good-dinner week. I got on this kick of wanting to try new recipes. I don't usually try so many in such a short time span, but it's been pretty successful. I don't think any of the new recipes were bombs, in fact, they were all a definite 'do again'. Most, if not all, came from Pioneer Woman.

Baked-Lemon Pasta - this was really good. I served with shrimp. Katie liked this one.

Asian Salad she calls it her favorite salad EVER. I made this tonight and Dan and I LOVED it. Thankfully, I had some mac & cheese leftover for Katie.

PW Pasta Primavera - I actually made this several weeks ago, but it was really good. Katie ate parts of it.

Steak Bites - could not believe how easy and good these were. Just salt, pepper, and butter. Except for cutting the meat, which the butcher can do, it goes really fast, too.

Tomato-Basil Pizza - haven't made this yet, but I have the stuff and its next on my list.

I mentioned that tonight I made the Asian Salad. Katie wouldn't touch it, and I knew she wouldn't, but she made her own version: mac&cheese, grilled chicken, and blueberries mixed together. She was very proud of herself and ate every bite so I couldn't complain!

Shopping

2009-05-30T21:57:00.002-05:00

The other day we went shopping in Owasso, mostly for Jakey, but ended up with lots of sandals. We had a lot of fun and Katie was so much fun. We started the day at Walmart and did ours and Peepa's grocery shopping, visited best we could with Peepa, then headed to Owasso. She loved looking at shoes, clothes, bedding, and other things. She is bcoming quite the little shopper. Before we left we had a little talk about Madame Blueberry (veggie tale) and how 'stuff' doesn't make us happy, but a thankful heart does. I think she comprehended some of it.

She has a double feature DVD set of Veggie Tales with Madame Blueberry and Queen Ester. The other night at bedtime she wanted to read about Queen Ester in her Rhyme Bible. After we finished she then wanted to read Madame Blueberry in her Bible. We explained and she was ok that Madame Blueberry was not in the Bible.

Dance Baby Dance

2009-05-18T17:26:00.005-05:00

We did it!!! We made it through our first dance recital, and we not

only did it, we did it great! I was so afraid she was going to be

another 'me' and not do anything on stage, but I'm so glad I was

wrong. Her friend (who was a pro at this kind of stuff) got on

stage and started waving at 'her' audience. Well, Katie thought

that looked like fun so she started doing it, too. This was all

during dress rehearsal. During the real show, it was all business

and all dance. Her class did really well and most importantly...

looked adorable!

Our Popsicle is here!

2009-05-12T14:28:00.007-05:00

I wish I had a picture of me right now... sitting in the easy chair with our new little dog (the popsicle) and the laptop in my lap. We have been waiting for this little guy since December. He belonged to my sis-in-law who lives in Albuquerque and has been ill. She chose us out of 7 other families to adopt... quite an honor coming from Sug.

While we were waiting, we nicknamed him Popsicle so Katie wouldn't know what we were talking about. I'm glad we did because we were suppose to get him at Christmas, the New Years, then February, then Spring Break. Finally, the timing was right and Katie and I flew out to ABQ to be with Sug and help out and to bring Jakey back with us. Both Katie and Jakey did great on the plane. I was a little worried, but no problems at all!

Katie has really enjoyed him... we all have, but seeing the smile on her face and hearing her giggles just thrills me!

I now have 2 shadows. Jakey follows me EVERYWHERE and Katie follows Jakey. It's really funny to watch.

It's so nice having a 4 year old dog and not a puppy. He is already house broken and is really smart. At night he has already learned that he does not sleep on our bed, but on his. As soon as we say night night and tell him to get in his bed, he does it.

this is Jakey's cousin, Apache. Apache is amazing! He's a former Border Patrol Working K-9 and the most gentle dog you could ever be around. But, give the command and he is viscous. Jakey goes crazy at other dogs, but him and Apache were good buds.

There is a lot of adjusting to be had, but I think we were ready for it. We lost our Jake (the golden retriever) about a year ago and have really missed him. Jakey will be a very different experience for us, but we are happy to have him here!

2009-04-21T19:44:00.001-05:00

the popsicle is coming... we're excited... stay tuned!!!

Our Spring Break

2009-03-25T13:34:00.007-05:00

It was so nice to have a week of no activities and no travel. We really had a good time just staying in town and doing whatever we wanted. Katie got to go with me for Meals-on-wheels and enjoyed that, Dan took off Friday and worked on garden beds for me, we went swimming at COP, had two picnics and got sunburned at both of them (felt great), and went to a friends house to play. It made me realize how busy we are during the week. How did this happen? I only have one child, and I'm pretty protective of our schedule! Anyway, here are a few fun pics:

first, we got some boxes to make the stand. It's called MaggieMoos (original, huh?) She got the ice cream set and cash register for her birthday.

then we got down to some very serious painting.

Then some serious, and not so serious, gardening:

of course, there had to be some 'pretend' so she pretended that she was a cowgirl riding her horsie (the dirt bags)

longing for eternity

2009-03-16T07:35:00.002-05:00

I needed to get some more thoughts out about what God has been showing me... this time about death. I have found myself longing so much more for heaven and eternity. Selfishly, it is to see my Dad and other loved ones. However, I am beginning to think that is just one more step towards truly longing to see my Creator. I believe God put that longing in us, (I don't know where it is in the Bible, and would love input if anyone knows) and we shouldn't skip over it as part of our spiritual growth or think it 'morbid'. I long to see my dad again. Why? Because I know where he is. He is in eternity. I'm sure through life, the more loved ones we loose, the more we long.

So what has God shown me? Once again, everything is from Him and points to Him. Even death. As negative and hurtful as it is... it points to Him. It makes me (us) long even more for what we were created for... eternity with our Heavenly Father. I am thankful for every day and every blessing on this Earth, but live for the hope that there is even more to come!!

2009-03-12T22:04:00.003-05:00

I have to admit I've had several posts since my last but they haven't made it to the publish stage. I've had so many thoughts I've had to get 'out', but have kept them between me and God. One thing I have been wanting to write about is what God has been teaching me about blessings. So basic, yet when we go through hard times, the basics is what we fall on. A few weeks before Christmas a friend gave me a framed quote of James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." I had no idea what that verse would come to mean to me.

I have been blessed with SO much and if I do anything right in my spiritual walk, maybe its be thankful and humbled by what God has allowed. However, where I've fallen short is thinking it had something to do with my good decisions(not very humble). I do believe God blesses our good choices, but we are not blessed because of them. We are blessed ONLY because of his grace. I could make all the right choices, do all good things for the right reasons, but could still loose everything in an instant. It wouldn't mean I wasn't blessed. It's all about His grace.

As I found myself asking God over and over why he would take someone like Dad, He kept reminding me that my dad was a 'good and perfect gift' and he was from 'above'. How blessed I am to have had such a wonderful gift. We often think of our kids as being little blessings 'on loan' from God. But so are our parents and spouses and friends. I could be mad. I could take it out on certain people. I could doubt God's existence. I could stop seeing the need to pray.

I could do a lot of things, but I just can't.

I can't be mad a God who has given me everything and only took back what was His.

I can't hurt others because I hurt. That makes no sense at all... it wasn't their fault.

How in the world could I doubt the existence of God Almighty! Just look around. Just because I didn't get what I wanted when I wanted it?

I have to admit prayer has been hard. However, even when I don't pray simply because I don't want to, I am still fully aware of His presence and still strongly hold to my faith... which leads me back to prayer!

I think I've chased a rabbit. It still goes back to being blessed. I was blessed with wonderful, God-fearing parents, a Bible-teaching church growing up, and the grace of God which will last for eternity.

One last thing, I just got the word about Stacie. Oh how I pray showers of blessings and God's comfort for that family. Words cannot express...

2009-01-05T21:13:00.003-06:00

A friend put it well, He finished strong. Yes he did. Even while in the hospital he was sharing Jesus. He was at peace... not with his good works, and there were plenty, but with his Lord. How could I have been so blessed to have a father like this. I'll miss his mid-morning phone calls just so he could have his 'vickie fix', that's what he called them. I'll miss his bear hugs, our last hug was on my birthday, Dec 11. I'll miss his corny jokes, his meticulous instructions, his sunday school lessons... so much I'll miss. I can hardly stand the grief... so much seems unfair... its just not right... but, I know my God is good, all good, and if he is all good, there is nothing that can be mean or unfair about Him. I've believed this through other hard times and I know its true. Interesting how you can know something without understanding it.

thank you for all your prayers!

2008-12-17T07:26:00.002-06:00

I've had another sweet visit, so far, with my mom and dad this week. My niece also came down with here little boy (17mo). Katie and Xander have been having a ball. I'm really glad they are getting to spend some time together. I sat with dad yesterday at the hospital and he was doing ok... just in and out of sleep, but when he was awake he was making conversation and even cracked a few jokes. I fed him lunch, stayed until the nurses left, then went home to 'rescue' Hollie, who was watching the kids, and switch places with her.

I'm hoping for another good day today. He feels like hell, even on the good days, but we just keep encouraging him that all the surviving cancer patients went through the same kind of days, or months. He has about 2 more days of chemo, then we wait and see.

2008-12-12T09:30:00.002-06:00

First of all, thank you everyone who has been praying. As grim as things seem, there have already been answered prayers to lift us up and give us hope.

I left Tuesday to go see my dad. It was a very hard visit, but SO good. We all needed it. I needed to see him, he needed to see me, and mom needed us there as well. An answered prayer I have to share about is that Wednesday morning dad called me at the house and said he needed to talk privately with me. Well, I knew what that meant and I did not want to go there, but I also knew I needed to be strong and listen. Strength was no where in my being at that moment, but I got some friends praying and, oh my goodness, not only was I able to hold myself together and listen, but Katie sat in her chair, with her activity bag, and did not make a peep the entire time! When we finished talking, I was a little startled because I thought 'where's Katie'. I was very thankful and me and dad got a good laugh out of it. I love comic relief during hard times!

The good news is that the doctor is appearing more hopeful and we've found out some things about this kind of leukemia that are encouraging. When I left the hospital Thursday everyone was feeling much more hopeful.

an unwanted journey

2008-12-08T14:52:00.003-06:00

one phone call and your whole life changes. it sucks. its not fair. i hate it. i can't stop crying. but we have no choice but to move forward. i can't even put into words how sad i am. my dad, my sweet dad, who loves the Lord with all his heart, who couldn't wait to retire so he could do disaster relief work, who rejoices in seeing others come to know Christ, was diagnosed with Leukemia. we just found out this morning. Katie has been watching me cry most of the day and has been really great, but i have got to get a grip. i will probably be going to Denton this week or next. everything is uncertain as of right now. I haven't even really talked to my mom, yet. she called with the news, but all she could get out was 'he has leukemia' and we both sat in silence, crying until she finally said 'i'll call you back'.

i don't even know what to ask for... just that you'll pray however God leads you to.

thanksgiving countdown

2008-11-26T14:35:00.006-06:00

got this idea for the turkey-day countdown from one of my favorite websites (click here). Katie has had a lot of fun each day plucking a feather.

oops... note to self, next year don't let the middle feather be the last to be plucked!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

7 Random things

2008-11-20T07:34:00.004-06:00

I've been tagged to say 7 random things about me, so here goes:\

1: I think I have somewhat of an obsession of taking pictures of flowers. I took a photography class in my very early college years and loved it, but never really did anything about it.

2: I don't mind too much when Katie gets up around 7:00 because it means I get to watch Curious George.

3: I am not a cat person. I don't hate them, but they are weird and boring. Katie would like one, but she will probably just get a stuffed one 'while living in our house'. We haven't told her yet but I think we will be adopting my sister-in-law's dog this Christmas!

4: I like to sew home decor items.

5: I like to cook and try new recipes.

6: I was 30 when I got married, which was just the way I wanted it (even though I know I really had nothing to do with it.). I liked being single.

7: I love old movies and musicals. Before Katie was born, I had to be careful because I could have waisted an entire day watching TCM without even realizing it.

I tag Denise, Kim, Lauren

2008-11-17T13:10:00.001-06:00

i know i've been tagged to say 7 random things about me and i will, but i can't today... but i will.

This one's for you, mom...

2008-11-12T13:38:00.004-06:00

my mom has told me about the times when her and her siblings were young and mom, being the oldest of four, would gather them around and make up stories. I have always been impressed with my mom's creativity and have tried to develop that as best as can be, however, it just comes more easily for some. I am getting a little better and am trying to pass it on to Katie. We've started by randomly putting stickers on a piece of paper and then making up a story to go with it. Katie has only somewhat been interested in that, until recently. She finally made up her own story all by herself. So, here goes...

Once upon a time, there were 2 princesses and one had a wand and one did not because they were out at the store, so, the princess with the wand shared hers. Then they went in the castle and found a shiny coin and a teapot and a crown and all this other stuff. Then they went out of the castle and there was lion and he was going to fight the princesses, but they did not want him to so he didn't. And they lived happily ever after.

halloween

2008-11-02T14:01:00.003-06:00

Halloween evening around 8:15 when we got home, Katie admitted, on her own with no prompting, that she was tired. I can't imagine why. To start off the day, she woke up at 6:50, almost an hour earlier than normal. Then the day really began...

our little princess with Josie

not shown, is all the school activity... parties, candy, special crafts and games, etc...

while I was cutting out cookie shapes, I gave her a little bit of dough to 'play' with. Combined with my utensils and some of her play utensils, she had a ball.

after school, we went to trick-or-treat Peepa then went out to trick-or-treat Grandma Emma

we home just long enough to read a few books, watch about 15 min of a video, then it was off to little Emma's house for dinner and more trick-or-treating. I loved this picture because while they were busy being princesses, they were also digging in the sand, playing in the grass, and getting dirty. They had SO much fun.

God has been so good this year. I can't help but think of last year when little Hanna was moving to Houston. We were so sad (and still are, we still miss them), but I am so happy that a year later He has provided for Katie such a good friend. She has lots of friends and loves all of them (she talks about all of them all the time), but it is sweet when you see them enjoying a special friendship.

Katie knows the routine around our house, no dessert unless you eat a good dinner, and no sucker unless you have had a good, quiet rest. She got 4 suckers in her bag and has laid them out on the counter assigning them to the days that she WILL take a good rest. Maybe that means this week I will get some things done during her rest time!

Beaver Lake Weekend

2008-10-27T21:29:00.008-05:00

What a wonderful weekend. I cannot even begin to say how much we needed this. Time away to relax with no monitors, no cartoons, no teddy grahams, no children's books, etc... Just us, our own schedule, our food, our movies, our books... just US. Am I sounding a little selfish? I don't mean to and I really missed Katie A LOT, but a husband and wife just need time away to rediscover why they love each other. Dan and I had a great time talking, laughing, relaxing and just being together... something we hadn't done in a while. We went to California last year, but for some reason, this little weekend trip was exactly what we needed.

our view in the evening when we first got there.

our view during the day. there a was noticeable difference in the color of the trees by the time we left.

where we spent most of our time.

we also watched the deer which came right up to our property.

And, of course, we did a little biking. Dan had to show me where him and the guys go on their campout/biking adventures.

yes, unfortunately, this was the best we could do in getting a picture of us.

a house without Katie

2008-10-23T19:16:00.002-05:00

Our plans have changed a little, but thankfully they are still on. Dan and I have been planning a weekend away for a few months now. The original plans were for my parents to come here to stay with Katie, but my Dad has been sick and they didn't think it a good idea for him to be too far away from home and doctors. Since we are not talking anything contagious, I met them in OKC today, had lunch, left Katie with them and came on home. It was so weird walking into the house and not having Katie. Its completely different than when she's at school. After I walked around the house a few times wondering what to do, I finally sat down to do a sudoku puzzle and watch Seinfeld.

As strange as it feels without her, I am really looking forward to this weekend. We leave tomorrow morning for Arkansas. Dan has rented a lake house that sits on a hill overlooking a lake just outside of Eureka Springs. Cannot wait!

imaginations

2008-10-23T07:39:00.006-05:00

I'm sure I've mentioned before about Katie's imaginary friends, but it has really been on my mind lately. I wasn't too worried about it until Dan brought up the fact that it made him sad because he thought that she was lonely. Well, that got me. However, I brought it up in Apples of Gold and everyone assured me it was normal and even healthy. Now I feel like I can enjoy her playtime without worrying whether or not she is lonely... she just has a GREAT imagination and I love it.

I caught her the other day playing Cubbies with all her 'friends'. She was the leader and was walking them through the book and going over their verses with them. I got video, but I can't figure out how to get it over to the computer yet.

We got a new swing set for our backyard. We've had it maybe 2 weeks now and have already gotten our money out of it. She loves it. She played for an hour, by herself, the other day outside.

here she is with all her 'friends' fixing a cake for a birthday party.

random pictures

2008-10-13T14:36:00.002-05:00

been a while since i've had pictures. while searching for these, I realized I never take any of me, Dan, or Stephen... how sad. I will have to work on that.

Katie being mommy. She came through my kitchen grabbing everything on the counter. When I asked her to put it back she held her pad of paper up and said "but its on the list". So, as long as it wasn't sharp, I let her play with my kitchen stuff.

Her class was one of the first to go out to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. It was a little warm, but still a beautiful day.

little victories lead to big ones

2008-10-08T21:55:00.002-05:00

I'm talking about swimming, but it's bigger than just doing laps.

I have had these reoccurring dreams of drowning for about 20 years. Mostly it is me drowning, but sometimes it is someone else I love and I am helpless to help them or myself. I can feel what I think drowning feels like and just before I go out, I wake up. For 20 years I've had these. I don't know which came first, the dreams or the fear of water over my head.

So my reason for taking swim lessons was not just for exercise, but to help overcome some of this fear, especially since Katie loves the water.

My progress in swimming has been slow but fun. I am past the beginner workout and am now working on the intermediate workout. I can't do it yet, but I am working on it. The biggest victory I have had came last night... while I was sleeping. I actually had a dream not of drowning, but of me treading water for a very lengthly amount of time!!! I could not believe it when I woke up.

When I first told Dan I wanted to take swim lessons, he thought where in the world did this come from... actually I did, too. I had my reasons, but it was pretty out of the blue for me. I can see now and believe that God was leading me to it. I am so glad He cares about things like this in our lives.

2008-10-06T19:12:00.001-05:00

Oh my gosh... it's Monday and laundry is DONE!!!!!

a strange day

2008-09-22T21:06:00.005-05:00

two very odd, but very good, things happened today.

First... I went to Tulsa for a scheduled root canal on a tooth that had bothering me for over a year. However, for the last two days I had noticed that it was not hurting. I went today anyway thinking that this has happened before and was sure it would start hurting before I got to the office. While at the office, the dentist and her assistant did everything they could to get it to hurt and neither could. So, we decided to 'wait and see'. I was so glad because I was really, really dreading this.

Second... I was doing my bible study tonight on Ps. 131. Verse 2 "But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother...". The picture here is a child at least 3 years old exhausted from the day, sleeping with its mother. I had to laugh. If the picture of my 3 year old at bedtime is a reflection of my spiritual life, YIKES. However, tonight was different. Instead of fighting to the end, and then some, she actually fell asleep while being sung to. Amazing. Maybe that is a picture of me growing spiritually. Probably just a funny coincidence, but it seem to fit the day!

Lots of excitement

2008-09-17T13:18:00.002-05:00

I am really excited about this Apples of Gold. I wish I would have had something like this when I first got married. I really, really needed it. I remember praying so hard for a mentor, but it just never seemed to happen. Looking back, I think I wanted one too badly. I probably would have relied too much on their advise than on seeking God. Whether that is true or not, I am happy to be a part of this group now. How blessed we are to be a part of such a wonderful, God-seeking church that not only desires to minister to people outside the church, but to those family members as well.

Speaking of that, we have Cubbies again tonight. I am even more excited that ever. I think us leaders are ready, prepared, excited, and feeling a little more comfortable.

AWANA craziness!!!!

2008-09-11T14:07:00.003-05:00

But, so much fun. It was so crazy last night. I wish I had a picture of us leaders before and after! We all survived and hopefully everyone (kids and adults) will come back next week. Even with all the craziness, it was fun and is going to be great. I really can't wait.

2008-09-10T13:33:00.002-05:00

I was reminded this afternoon of something that was very encouraging to me and I hope it will be to other followers of Christ as well.

I actually had a few minutes to read before I had to go get Katie. The current book I'm reading was laying on top of a book I have been trying to read for months. Dan loved it and really fired him up spiritually so I thought I would read it as well. We are SO different! The book is a great book on current culture and where it is spiritually and our responsibility, but... I cannot get past the first few chapters. I know things in out culture are spiritually depressed and younger generations are facing different issues than us and we should, to some degree, stay in tune and updated on that. However, what excites me is not to hear a bunch of facts of what the world thinks of us, I know what they think, they hate us. I know this not because I'm so smart, but because the Bible says so and said it first, a long time ago.

What does excite and energize me is to hear current specifics. My dad is on a disaster relief team and has been very busy his summer. He comes back from every assignment excited about those who have come to know Jesus for the first time and the disciplers who stay behind (or live there) to help them continue their new walk.

That excites me. There are other local stories, too. Christianity is not dead and people all over the world can hate us and ridicule us, even outlaw us, but Christianity will NEVER die because Jesus is not dead. For me it is such a crucial, daily reminder because it is so easy to get discouraged.

I'm glad God made me and Dan so different. It takes both in this world. Those who get motivated by the negative and those who get motivated by the positive. Whatever it takes, stay motivated and pray for each other.

having fun with facebook

2008-09-08T15:52:00.003-05:00

yep, that's right, I just got on to facebook. hey, just because I was a computer science minor doesn't mean I love this thing! like most, I have a love/hate relationship with it. It has been fun seeing some college buds.

had to share these fun pictures from this morning:

Katie is doing awesome on her bike. she loves it. We debated whether we should had gotten her a tricycle instead, but I am SO glad we got her a bike.

We had fun pulling weeds this morning until she innocently and calmly said "Mommie, you have ants all over your shoes." Yikes! We made a mad dash for the shower. I'm so glad they were not on her.

where the buffalo roam...

2008-09-02T16:11:00.003-05:00

for those who haven't been out to see the tall grass prairie buffalo out near Pawhuska, it is so much fun... that is as long as you see the buffalo. We've been twice and have seen them both times. It was great fun and they have an interesting little museum and information center at the end of the road.

MOM...

2008-08-26T16:35:00.003-05:00

what happened to mommy???? Katie has started calling me mom. Yikes. that sounds way too big girlish!

morning start

2008-08-25T07:50:00.002-05:00

ahhhh..... peace and quiet. the start of a great day. i know it won't last too much longer, but it may be all I get today.

We had such a great small group time last night. I am so excited about the 2 new couples joining, even if it is just for a short time, but hopefully it won't be. I feel like I am at such an exciting time in life. God is doing so much and is allowing me to be aware of some of it. There are a few couples we have been praying the spouses and I can see some softening of the heart beginning to take place. There are others that I am seeing a new eagerness for the Word.

And then, there is my sweet husband. I have never seen him more eager to tell/show people Christ. He has such a heart for this young generation coming up and really wants to find God's way for him to minister to them.

As for me, I feel like I am in such a unique position in life. I am 42 with a 3 year old. I love love love being around other moms. On the one hand I need friendships with other moms, old and new. We are all in this together and come from such different backgrounds and have great perspectives!!!! On the other hand, I feel like I have some life experiences that can be offered as well. For me it's a little difficult to know the balance. I never want to come across as knowing more than I really do. I am definitely not an expert in anything! So am I a friend or mentor? I want to be both, I need both as well.

I just love the positions God has put me in through life. I was 30 and single...loved it. I was 31 with a 13 year old step son, and now I'm 42 with a 3 year old. For such a shy, quiet young girl who just wanted to be 'normal' and like everyone else, God sure had different plans. I just love His sense of humor.

And by the way, Don Ray, if you are reading this, I love you and it was so good to talk to you!!

steppin' up

2008-08-22T11:01:00.003-05:00

I wasn't sure what the new study 'Stepping Up' was going to be about, but I was happy when I found out it was about the Psalms of Ascent.

However, I don't know why I agree to sign up to facilitate. Everytime I do it I always end up saying 'I'll never do that again', but I do. I am so unnatural at it. Some people are so natural and can make the conversation of the group flow so easily. I'm not even sure I can get my homework done, but I will somehow. Those in my group, please, please, bare with me. I know it's just 'facilitating' and not 'teaching', but when you are not a natural leader and/or teaching is not your spiritual gift, even facilitating a group of friends can be big. I know this is part of that 'stepping up' we will be learning about even though I did not know that when I signed up. I'm nervous, but I know God will help, after all, "Where does my help come from? the Maker of heaven and earth!"

I'm so good at talking myself into circles, or half circles in this case.

oobleck gone ooey

2008-08-21T15:47:00.003-05:00

since my last post was about my messy kitchen, it seems appropriate that this post should be about the mess we made today in he kitchen. We had two batches of play-do to make, which besides the flour, went pretty well and successfully. I had never made it with Kool-aid before, but today we used orange and cherry kool-aid...very fun.

Next, we thought we would try to make oobleck. Big mess, but lots of fun. It didn't turn out the way it should have, unless it needs to sit for a while, which is what its doing now. It was still fun and we'll probably try again... another day!

clutter and cleaning

2008-08-13T15:14:00.004-05:00

I really consider myself a very organized, orderly, clean person. Maybe that is why things like this drive me CRAZY... kitchen clutter and bathroom cleaning.

I have this really great kitchen that a lot of people would love to have, and don't get me wrong, I love it too - when it's CLEAN. which is an impossible task. when the sink is clean, the bar is cluttered; when the bar is clean, the desk is cluttered; when the desk is clean, the hutch is cluttered, and so on and so on. And, it's not the same clutter being moved around, it's all different clutter. I try, I really do, but it is impossible for this kitchen to have all its parts clean at one time.

the other thing that is driving me crazy these days is bathroom cleaning.

All this stuff is suppose to make my life easier and simpler????? one, two, three things for the floor, and a bucket full of different cleaners, rags, and scrub brushes...each claiming to be multi-purpose... but it doesn't seem to work out that way.

I'm sure someday I'll figure it out.

Ladie's retreat

2008-08-11T19:07:00.003-05:00

Can't begin to say how needed this past weekend was. Even though I had just gotten back from vacation, and it was a really great one, I still had no down time, or time to myself. There we many things I enjoyed about the retreat, but I especially loved meeting and making some new friends and getting to talk with some others that I had wanted to. It so encouraging and exciting to know there is a whole group of moms, soon-to-be moms, and someday moms who are raising a brand new generation of 'little' warriors for Christ.

The other thing I loved was Saturday morning. Waking up, drinking coffee on the porch, being in NO hurry.

To top the weekend off, we had a great family Sunday together. Katie took a great nap (very rare), and then we all went bike riding...in the rain. We came back soaked and muddy, but had so much fun. I'm so glad my girly girl likes doing stuff like this.

back to real life

2008-08-04T07:51:00.005-05:00

I always torture myself this way after a vacation, but...Monday last week I was in the mountains, drinking morning coffee with a jacket on watching hummingbirds, riding bikes, hiking, picnicking, and enjoying God's creation without SWEATING!

I didn't exactly feel like jumping in a pool at 6:00 this morning so I went walking instead... then I felt like jumping in a pool. I was drenched when I got home. YUK! It still felt good to get up and get going. I was pretty proud of myself for not sleeping in.

Here are a few more pictures from Vallecito Lake Colorado:

phase 2 - camping

2008-07-24T20:35:00.005-05:00

Our campsite. The campgrounds are so nice. It's obvious why some people live here 6mo out of the year!

Our first full day has been great. The main event, before the rain set in for the late afternoon, was the biking/hiking/picnic adventure.

This is the river we picnicked on.

me and Katie.

We got off the trail and back at our campsite just in time for the rain to start. It was a good thing because it was a really hard rain...thunder, lightening, and hail.

Dan started something with letting Katie drink from his camelback. From then on she would not drink from anything but it and had to have a drink about every 5 steps!

Phase 1

2008-07-24T17:20:00.003-05:00

Phase 1 of vacation went great. we made it to ABQ by dinner Sunday evening which is what we had planned (amazing). We had great visits with Dan's sister, Sug, and neice, Kelly.

Sug and Kelly Kelly and Katie

We fell in love with Jakey, Sug's dog.

We got half a good day today. We explored the campground, fed the horses, and played all morning, then for lunch we packed a lunch and rode our bikes up the mountain a short ways and picnicked and hiked. I'll try to upload pictures later today or tomorrow. It was really beautiful. We made it back to the campsite just in time for the rain, which we had been watching. It rained really hard today. I'm so glad we have the trailer to 'hang out' in. Hopefully we'll be able to get out some more today.

All for now.

4 More Days!

2008-07-15T18:35:00.002-05:00

I cannot wait to get away. Cooler temps, low humidity, biking, hiking, naps, reading, looking at stars, no TV, no phone solicitors... you get the picture. We leave Saturday evening for vacation, first to Albuquerque to see Dan's sis, Sug, and then to Colorado and camping on Vallecito Lake.

Me and Katie were looking at the videos from last years camping trip. I cannot believe the difference a year makes in her looks and especially her speech. It was so cute to hear 'oosh' (fish) and munka (chipmunk). I'm sure next year we will be saying similar things. One thing I clearly remember was that she was starting to hit her 'terrible two's' and my reading material for the trip was 'Toddler Wise' and 'Dare to Discipline'. This year I will be catching up on Nat'l Geographics and 'Love Languages'(again). Ah yes, some of the changes a year makes are very, very welcome. Not that we've got the discipline issues conquered, but I've told Dan "I think I like her again".

I say we are camping, but this is a type of camping that is new to me. I've never had the luxury of an RV... microwaves, showers in the camper, space, storage. The campsite will even have WIFI. Not sure if I'll blog again this week, but I will hopefully have updates while we are gone.

Katie's pretend world

2008-07-04T13:24:00.003-05:00

Katie has this pretend world that she lives and plays in every day. It's really fun to see her in her 'own little world' doing all the things we do in our real world. She will look at me sometimes and say "My babies just keep crying and crying", or "I so busy today", or "Hanna just crack me up", or (one of my favorites) "I have to call someone so you have to have good phone manners". She gives her babies stickers, does crafts with them, takes them to Walmart, and puts them down for rest. It's really good for me to watch because I can see where I need improvements. If she starts disciplining her babies too much, I usually need to take a clue and ease up myself, but it also shows that she is learning the good stuff also.

in Katie's pretend pink world:

her new house is pink

her trees are pink and purple

the grass is pink

strawberries are served at every meal

Big Hanna and Sara live there along with all her buddies

her babies are Kate and Sasha

she has a pooter(a pink and purple computer) that she types on

you get the picture, it's very colorful!

I love my girly girl

the power of a smile :)

2008-07-02T17:21:00.007-05:00

it's days like these I wish I was a really good writer and could express what I feel in words...but I'm not, so hopefully I can express a little of what this day has been.

Many know I drive for Meals on Wheels, but what you may not know is how much I LOVE it. It has been such a blessing to me and for Katie as well. My mother always told me how contagious a smile was. When we were in Europe we played this game because we noticed how much people did not smile, so, we would smile and keep count of how many people smiled back. It was great fun. Now, back to MOW...we get to practice our smiles a lot. And when we don't feel like smiling, there is Mr and Mrs Hefty(in their 90's). They ALWAYS came to the door together, smiling, and usually holding hands. They are the most grateful and encouraging couple.

Next, there was Mr. Pierson. When we left the first house on our route me and Katie would practice our wave and smile because we knew that when we got to Mr. Pierson's house he would almost always be outside 'piddling' around the yard or on the cars (again he is in or close to 90), and would be waiting to see Katie. He loved waving at and seeing Katie. The way he talked about his grandkids and great grandkids, I'm sure he loved all kids.

This past week we lost both Mr. Hefty and Mr. Pierson. Driving the route today was very sad but reminded me of how important a smile and a simple act of kindness is. There have been times I've complained about the 'inconvenience' of taking Katie ... getting her in and out of he car, sometimes listening to her fuss, getting coats on and off in the winter ... but remembering the smiles she brought to Mr. Pierson and the Hefty's and the smiles they put on our face makes all the inconveniences disappear. We will really miss them.

survivor

2008-06-26T14:59:00.002-05:00

that's me...I survived my first 3 weeks of getting up at 5:45, yes, 5:45AM, and exercising. Not just exercising, but exercising hard. It was so much fun and has been great getting home and showered (mostly), before Katie wakes up. I knew this, but I have had so much more energy and have felt great even though I have been really, really sore. Thank you DENISE for doing this with me and encouraging me.

Another accomplishment is that I finished my first session of swim lessons. Can't say I'm a great swimmer, yet, but I learned so much and know that it will take lots of practice. Now that my cardio class is done for now, I will work hard at my swimming. The few laps I've done so far have shown me what a great work out that will be as well!!!

It's embarrassing to say, but I have not lost one pound. I feel better and I think I am fitting into some clothes better, but not one pound. Oh well, I told myself at the beginning, it's not about the pounds its about the fitness level and being healthy.

We had a fun time with Sawyer and Grace this morning in the backyard and Katie took a nap without any fussing, debating, potty breaks, or drinks...maybe we should have play day over here everyday!!!!

I love our backyard

2008-06-20T19:43:00.003-05:00

I wish I had a true 'before' picture of our backyard, but it was basically one very narrow and steep slope with one ugly tree. Me and Dan could hardly walk back there and of course Katie couldn't. Last year we decided to fork out the money and have it landscaped. We had never spent that much money on a home improvement project before and it was pretty scary, but we love the results. The only problem with it was that it left us with a 5-6 foot wall...very dangerous. We weren't quite ready to fork out another 2-3000 for a custom fence, so we came up with these trellises and very heavy pots to block the fall. I think it turned out very well and now Katie and other kids can play without danger.

this was Day One...the tree had already come down

Day two or three

the process...you can begin to see how high the wall is...it gets another stone or two higher than this

this is now. the grass came back beautifully.

During the process last year, Katie would wake up every morning (for about 6 weeks) and want to see the mess and ask if 'the guys' were here yet to fix our mess. Now everyday she wants to go out and play. I think she would stay out there all day if I let her.

tagged again...

2008-06-19T13:14:00.004-05:00

click here for tag questions and answers

sweet dreams

2008-06-15T21:06:00.002-05:00

we've had 3 great nights in a row! She has gone to bed without any fussing or crying or tantrums. we started a new chart with 5 categories: bath, teeth, pjs, books, bed. She gets to put a heart magnet by each one each evening as she does each on without 'arguing or complaining', a bible verse we are learning. If she she gets 5 hearts, she gets a princess sticker for her calendar. She only has one sticker, but she is doing so much better and the actual lights out bedtime has been much, much, much better these last 3-4 nights.

One of her new favorite phrases is to tell us to 'have sweet dreams' each night...

I better go do just that... my cardio class starts back up at 6:15 tomorrow morning. I am going to do it, and I am going to establish a new habit.

Play time

2008-06-13T07:51:00.006-05:00

I've said it before, I love to watch Katie play. They have such an imagination at this age and can seem, once they get started, to pretend ALL day long.

Storytime. Anything can become a 'play thing'... even empty pajamas

this bowl of dirt, twigs, rocks, and other things has been a dinner, circus, and of course babies. she can pretend for a very long time with this...and its always changing.

my little strawberry picker. we had a great crop of strawberries this year!

remember the 'tissue on the end of the pencil' craft? she really enjoyed this.

this was our mural. more colored tissue paper. this was a good exercise for her to practice with scissors.

Its been a busy week from camping last weekend to VBS and swim lessons this week to Grandma & DonDon coming this weekend. Next week is OKMozart and hopefully we can do some fun stuff then, too.

Maybe the week after that we can go to the water park. Anyone up for that?

our garden

2008-06-11T21:14:00.004-05:00

this was taken last week...you should see it now. It has grown even more. We have a ton of radishes so I looked up the nutritional value (to justify sooo many radishes): they are a very good source of potassium, vitamin C, & magnesium.

I'm pretty sure nothing will come to harvest at the same time, but, oh well, it's still fun. What I really care about are the tomatoes and the okra. We had fried green tomatos tonight...a summer treat and about the only time during the year that I fry anything (that and okra). The house smells like grease but it was worth it!!!!

I've Been tagged

2008-06-10T07:24:00.002-05:00

This is a fun little game that bloggers play. The rules are:

1. Post the rules!

2. Answer the questions about yourself

3. At the end of he post, list 5-6 people you would like to tag and leave a comment on their blog letting them know.

4. Let the person who tagged you know that you posted your answers

here goes...

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

June, 10 years ago, I was giving my notice at work (quitting my career), and in the process of moving overseas with my husband of 2 years. I was so excited I could hardly stand it.

2. What are 5 things on your T0-Do List today?

pull weeds & other yard work

fix Dan's shorts

shop for and visit my father-in-law

call tree man to cut down dead tree

call and check on broken table

(only 5)

3. What are some snacks you enjoy?

baby carrots

popcorn

fruit

any of Katie's snacks

dry cereal

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

I would help family. Definitely my parents and sister-in-law so they could retire financially worry-free. Then I would 'let' my husband quit work and open his coffee shop. For myself, its hard to know until you are actually in that position, but the only thing I can think that I would want is to revamp my wardrobe...every piece of it!

5. What are 3 of your bad habits?

-where some people are always late, I over-estimate time and usually get places too early. i consider this a bad habit because i stress way too much over it and usually end up losing sleep because of it.

-I put off phone calls like crazy. Example: the phone calls on my to-do list have been there a week...they will only take 2 min to do, but I hate looking up phone numbers, finding the phone, reminding Katie of her phone manners, making the call only to get no answer or a machine or sitting on hold for forever. (oh yea, I exaggerate, too.)

-I talk to myself. its a habit, its embarrassing, and now Katie is starting to notice and say things like 'What are you saying?' and 'Mommy, stop talking like that'.

6. What are 5 places you have lived?

Irving, TX

Nacogdoches, TX

Sugar Land, TX

Dworp, Belgium

Plano, TX

7. What are 5 jobs you have had?

-the very first job I ever had outside the home was working the phones for a placement agency. I was 16 and the only reason my parents let me do this was because my mother worked in the adjoining office and could keep an eye on me. the issue was that the agency placed bartenders and dancers. that's right, good little baptist girl was talking and handing out applications to bartenders and nude dancers. It was just a one time summer job.

-was a travel agent for a couple of years before college

-in college i worked as lab assistant

-GIS Analyst

-Mommy (my favorite by far!)

8. What is currently playingon your IPOD?

I don't have one, but, when I listen to Dan's, it's usually to hear a sermon that I missed. When I work out I like upbeat Christian, when I'm in the car I usually like Chris Isaak or similar.

9. What are the last 5-6 books you have read?

Chronicles of Narnia (can't wait to read them with Katie)

'One Night with the King' and its sequel

'Dare to Discipline' (its ongoing)

'unChristian'

10. Who do you want to tag?

(i don't know many bloggers)

Denise

Jennifer

Hollie

2008-05-29T13:43:00.008-05:00

I am so glad we did this trip. it was such a great time away. Our first stop was Hanna's and Josie's. Hanna and Katie knew each other right away and smiled and giggled and got right down to business (playing). They had a lot of catching up to do.

As you can see, Larissa looks great and Josie is as cute as a bug! I saw Evan for just a little bit. I was hoping to talk more with them, but Katie pulled a 'Katie' that night and I needed to go to bed with her so I didn't get to stay up and chat like I had hoped. Next stop was my friend, Robin's house not too far from Larissa's.

Katie and Robin's two kids, Lucas 8 and Eden 5, hit it off and had a great time together. It was so fun to be around her kids and get to know them better. I wish we could do it more. We stayed with them the remainder of the trip so me and Robin got some great catching up. Now if we can just get her to blog!!!

a little swimming, a little dress up, some pretending, and lots of giggles!

We also got to see my very sweet Great Aunt Dorothy. I was able to see her often when we lived there, but have not seen her since we've moved. It was so good to see her and for her and Katie to meet. She can hardly see, just out of her peripheral vision, but she loved 'seeing' Katie. Mom and Dad said she called them twice over the next couple of days to say how much it meant to her and to try and talk to Katie again, but to get Katie to talk on the phone is not an easy thing.

We saw Larissa and family, Robin and family, Aunt Dorothy, and Don and Debbie from Sugar Land. Katie traveled well...better than I expected and we made some good memories. Part 2 of our trip started with picking Dan up at DFW and visiting some other college friends in Burleson. Getting together with Lanna, Eric, and Andy always takes me back to a great time of my life and to know that they are still walking with the Lord makes me so proud and grateful that were and are a part of my life today. We missed you Andy.

(I think we're looking pretty good for a bunch of years out of college!)

didn't want to bore everyone with all the pictures, but there are more of each phase of the trip.

click here for more

It's good to be home!

what a trip

2008-05-28T21:46:00.001-05:00

we are back. we had a GREAT time! we have house guests now and will try to post pictures tomorrow, or sometime soon. Got some really great pics, can't wait to show them!

A good start

2008-05-18T21:21:00.002-05:00

We had a great trip to Krum. I couldn't believe how well Katie did in the car for 5 hours!. We left today from church and she was already yawning and rubbing her eyes so I thought for sure I would get several hours down the road before she woke up...HA!...she slept to Tulsa, 30 min, and was awake the rest of the trip. But, she did great! She played and sang and did 'her sewing' for a couple of hours, watched a 40min video, had a snack, and somehow we ended up at Krum with only one very short melt down.

I just hope tomorrow goes as well. We are so looking forward to seeing the Shooters. I asked Katie what she would say to Hanna when she saw her and she said "I going to say I wuv her and miss her". How sweet is that!

Girls road trip

2008-05-16T21:42:00.002-05:00

I am so excited about this next week. I never thought I would be excited about going to Houston, but I am. Dan will be away on business so me and Katie are taking a road trip to Houston to see some good friends. Our first stop is Little Hanna's and Josie's house. We both are excited about seeing their family and new home. Next stop is Robin's. I can't believe my best friend has never seen Katie, in person that is. I have only seen her kids a few times and it just doesn't seem right, but it can't be helped and at least we have internet and see each other when we can. If it works out we'll try to see some friends in Sugar Land and then head back to DFW on Friday to pick Dan up. Hopefully things will work out to see my college buds Memorial Weekend.

We have a lot planned and a lot of traveling.

I nearly forgot the best part! Sunday night my parents will be keeping Katie and Dan and I will have time alone. Can't wait!

2008-05-11T21:03:00.002-05:00

I was inspired this morning in church to write something about my mother. the testimonies were wonderful and David's testimony got me thinking along these lines: How my mother has shown me Christ:

She has always stood for Truth: Mom always taught us principles from the Bible. Rules were not rules because her and dad 'said so', but because the Bible taught it and Christ lived it.

She is kind to enemies: I never could understand how mom did this, but she seemed to always be kind to people who were mean to her. Mom is the kind of person everyone likes, but there was a time in our life when some family-by-marriage members were out-right ugly and mean to her for no reason. She was hurt, but never talked mean about them, she was angry, but never took it out on them. She not only didn't do these things, but what she did do is still so hard for me to do...she prayed for them!...and she makes it seem easy!!

She forgives: if anyone deserves to be angry and bitter about hardships, it would be my mother. As a daughter of an alcoholic father, she endured and saw many, many horrible things, and yet, she is not bitter. I've never know her to be. She accepts God's grace for getting her through those and other times and looks at all that she has been blessed with.

She has cared for those who are sick and/or dying: Mom has cared for many. Her own mother, her brother, her mother-in-law, grandchildren, and many other elderly people and their families. She has such a gentle spirit that knows how to minister to people in need.

She studies and teaches God's word: teaching sunday school never seemed to be routine to her. Even though she is a great teacher (her and dad both), studying the Bible is not just for teaching others, it's for teaching yourself first. Her Bible has a fresh new leather cover, but the pages inside are worn and covered with writing... that is years and years of studying God's word and teaching it to all ages, from children to widows to those in between.

Isn't this a picture of Christ? He stood for Truth (he is Truth), he loved his enemies and cared for them, He certainly forgives, he cares and loves all beyond our imagination, and He gave us His word to study and know Him. He knows us intimately and wants us to know Him that way.

Thank you Mom...I love you!

the new title

2008-05-04T15:08:00.004-05:00

I've had this new title for a few weeks now and I wanted to explain a little how & why it came about:

I was reminded here recently of a song that came out during a very critical time in my life. The song isn't so 'hip' these days and many of you will think it quite outdated and silly and fluffy (or bubblegum-ish as my husband would say), but it has more to do with what I was going through and the meaning of the words. When the song came out, early ninety's I think, I was going through some major spiritual changes. Changes that would change my life... forever. I had gotten to a point, because of sin, that I didn't feel like God wanted to use me and each day was just about trying not to screw up too much. However, I knew and believed enough about God to know that He still loved me and He could use me if He wanted to, He just didn't want to because I had messed up things too much. By God's grace I continued to go to church and do bible study. Then, one day, at church, i heard a word from God, fresh, not new, just in a different way. From there the adventure started. God showed me that this life is a journey, a very exciting one. The last 5 years or so I had once again gotten so caught up in daily life that I had forgotten about the excitement of Christian life.

Changes are coming for me and Dan. I don't know exactly what they are, or to what extent, I just feel God is trying to take us on some kind of journey bigger than we have ever been on. The song says 'Come on get ready for the ride of your life', and like a roller coaster approaching the top of the hill, I'm scared to death, but I don't dare get off!

Started out this morning in the usual way

Chasing thoughts inside my head

I thought I had to do today

Another time around the circle

Try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible

And I read about me

Said I'd been a prisoner

And God's Grace had set me free

And somewhere between the pages,

It hit me like a lightening bolt

I saw a big frontier in frontof me

And I heard somebody say 'Let's Go!'

Come on get ready for the ride of our life

Gonna leave long faced religion

In a cloud of dust behind

And discover all the new horizons

Just waiting to be explored

This is what we were created for,

We'll travel over mountains of high

We'll go through valleys below

Still through it ll we'll find that

This is the greatest journey

That the human heart will ever see

The love of God will take us far

Beyond our wildest dreams

Saddle up your horses

Come on get ready to ride

Sadle up your horses

We've got a trail to blaze

Through the wild blue yonder of God's

Amazing Grace

Let's follow our leader into the Glorious unknown

This is the life like no other

This is The Gread Adventure

Random pictures and stories

2008-05-02T12:54:00.010-05:00

Katie fixed Grandma's hair sooooo pretty.

This is NOT a fake rooster. No, this is a very REAL rooster. His name is Rudy and he belongs to Emma. He likes to sit by the window and watch Emma while she is in the kitchen. This is also the rooster that attacked me... not every day you can say that. We were outside looking at the new colts and when I backed up I must have stepped on him or just gotten too close. Either way, he did not like it!

since Dan's surgery, he has been doing a lot of therapy exercises at home. Katie likes to do them with him, and now when we ask her to do something she has a new excuse not to..."I can't, I have to do my essercises"

Katie and Daddy on a fire truck at 'Touch a Truck' day. One of her favorite books is 'Fire Cat'. It was one of Dan's books when he was a boy and is about a cat who becomes a fire cat. She looked, but couldn't find Pickles, the fire cat.

I hope this is the only way her and daddy will ever be on an ambulance.

Dan was right at home on this one.

This is the beginning of our garden. So far we only have tomatoes and jalepenos. We need to hurry and get seeds planted for carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, okra, and more peppers. This is just our first try, so I'm not expecting a whole lot.

Katie's new swinging technique. She loves to swing on her tummy.

my favorite kind of day

2008-04-28T22:07:00.002-05:00

What a sweet day we had...just me and my girl. We spent the morning doing worksheets and coloring, a few chores, ran a few errands together, read to each other, had lunch, then worked on our garden. We brushed each others hair, and teeth (she has to brush mine now), kissed each others booboos, then cleaned up together and rested. At dinner time, I cooked in my kitchen, while she did her chores and errands and phone calls with her babies. We went over her sunday school lesson and reviewed her verse. Then we invited daddy to go on a walk with us and got ready for bed.

I wish everyday could be like this, but mostly I hope I never forget the days like this that we do have!

FYI for Sat April 26

2008-04-25T09:43:00.002-05:00

this looks like a lot of fun, for kids and parents, benefitting Mutual Girls Club.

Touch-a-Truck Day

how bad do I feel?

2008-04-24T20:52:00.002-05:00

this is pretty bad. I had my yearly, wonderfully fun, mammogram this morning. After dinner this evening I kept itching and quickly realized that I had been so 'out of it' this morning that I had forgotten to take off the beebees. Weird, I know! It's amazing I was able to drive home.

love Spring, hate allergies

2008-04-24T10:54:00.002-05:00

I have never had allergies before except in college (East Texas) where every Spring I could count on being in bed for a week with major suffering! It always hit within the time span of an hour...2:00 I'm fine, 3:00 I'm in bed. I don't understand how someone just develops allergies, but I guess I have. This, however, will not keep me down this time around(no classes to skip). I am determined to have a vegetable garden this year and I think this weekend will be a good one for getting it together. Having a veggie garden with a young one is something I've wanted to do for years and years, and now maybe I can try to pass on Mema's love of 'everything' (gardening, sewing, geology, cooking, etc...) to Katie.

About the weekend...it was so great. The trip down seemed to take FOREVER! with traffic delays and potty stops, I thought we would never get there. But we did (with no accidents...traffic or potty) and both Friday night and Saturday were great. We got to see my Aunt Linda and Bill, my cousin Troy and his wife, Amanda and their daughter, Aidan (7). When I get pictures I'll post. I wish so much I could be around them more. Troy, I have to say I love you, but, I really love Amanda. How did you marry so well?!!!(jk) Katie and Aidan hit it off just as I had hoped and prayed. She will be talking about her cousin Aidan for a while, and we will certainly be nurturing and encouraging that. Thank you Linda for a great meal!

Saturday was just as fun. Just us girls, me, Katie, and mom, went to ChuckECheese, a first for us, and had a ball. Then hung out at this awesome park in Denton, had ice cream, and back home for a 'rest', water painting the sidewalk, dinner with Dad. It was great not to have a packed agenda, just hang out and chill out time.

off to Krum

2008-04-17T07:35:00.002-05:00

tomorrow as the men go on their freedom weekend, Katie and I will head to Krum, Tx, where my parents live. The plans have changed a little. I was really excited about this weekend, and still am, but, originally, my college buddies were planning to get together. They all live in the Dal/FtW area, but it was only last year that we all 5 got together again. I hadn't seen one of them in 17 years! Wow, it was SO much fun we decided to do it every year. It was one of the most encouraging times I had had in a long long time. To see 4 of my life long friends, years later, still loving God and raising their families in church...what a blessing. Also, what a testimony to God's protection for such great friends in a very vulnerable time of life.

However, someone forgot to call someone (won't mention any names, Eric), and, someone is moving...again(Eric), and it's not going to work out this weekend. Really bummed that I won't get to see them, but we are still going, and, hopefully, I will get to see, instead, an aunt that lives in Colorado that I havn't seen in a while. She will be in town this weekend, too.

Whatever happens, it will be great to get out of town. Dan has been gone all week and I am ready for, well...something different.

2008-04-14T15:46:00.002-05:00

I love productive days. finished laundry, for the week, bought a glass door for the front of our house and had it installed, picked out and bought tile for our entry bathroom, pulled out a crepe mertyl tree and transplanted a bush in its place, got some more plants planted, played with Katie and had a great 'bible study' time with her(that's what she calls it when we read from her toddler bible), now I am writing while she...I was going to say "rest quietly in her room", but, no lie, as soon as I got to 'while she', I heard foot steps, so I better go attend to her.

New Look

2008-04-13T07:36:00.002-05:00

black and white doesn't really go with Spring, but I was just in the mood for something different. I took so many pictures while we were in Europe, years ago, and I'm just now getting a chance to 'play' with them. I love pictures of flowers and nature. I just had the negatives put on CD (that gives you an idea of about how long ago) so some of them are a little washed out, sad, but still beautiful.

peaceful goodnights

2008-04-09T07:39:00.002-05:00

Katie has been going to sleep more peacefully at night the last couple of nights. Not because she 'got it', but because me and Dan decided that he would put her to sleep for a while.

Things had gotten so bad again and I don't understand why. We are consistent, we follow through with discipline, and we have been open to change things and really try to figure out, why??? We do positive and negative reinforcements. They'll work for a while, but then it starts again.

I think she just doesn't want to go to sleep, and given her age, she will fight and test 'till she drops. Thankfully, once she is asleep, she is a very sound sleeper. I've had to turn the big light on in her room before in the middle of the night and she never woke up. Thunder and lightening never seems to bother her and I think its because she never hears it.

It was a simple change, but I had gotten to where I just couldn't do it. By the time I got her quiet, if she got there, I was exhausted just from the night time routine. I was grumpy, mean, and all I wanted to do was go to sleep (a new escape for me). Evenings have been better all the way around now. I worried about next week when Dan travels, but I'm sure we'll get through.

Ladybugs and Bumblebees

2008-03-30T20:33:00.020-05:00

I think the party was a big hit. It seemed like everyone had a great time and we certainly had fun planning it. It's really fun to figure out what you can do with what you already have or what you can reuse. thanks everyone for coming and for the gifts.

party pictures

goodbye old buddy

2008-03-21T15:34:00.014-05:00

We knew it was approaching, but it still seemed to come so quickly. Just 2 weeks ago he was his usual perky Jake who lived to take walks and go for runs. Then, just a few days later, he stopped eating and last night when Dan went outside with his leash, he just laid there and looked at him. Those who have and love pets know how they can become a member of the family. Even with all their faults and frustrating quirks, you still love them. Dan, Stephen, and I all have grieved and are grieving in our own ways. This is what helps me...

Dan found the add in the paper for golden retriever puppies and Stephen picked Jake above all the others.

from picking him out of the litter, to graduation, Jake was there.

He has been with us every step.

From SugarLand...

to Belgium...

back to SugarLand...

to Bartlesville.

He's been a trooper, and a happy one. As long as we were there, he never seemed to mind where we lived.

Then Katie came along. He never once showed any signs of jealousy. He never snapped or growled. He loved and protected her from the first day we brought her home. Whenever she would cry, he immediately would get up and look at her and find us. He was never trained to do that, it was just instinct for him.

He was my buddy when Dan traveled so much and when Stephen went off to school. We fought over the garden...he usually won...and many other things,
but I will miss him like crazy.
Goodbye Jake.

Katie is 3!

2008-03-14T12:42:00.004-05:00

Today is Katie's 3rd birthday and I know that most of you reading this know the feelings and memories that come with your kids' birthdays. I can get so sad sometimes looking back at pictures and videos, but how quickly it changes to gratitude and humbleness that God has allowed and trusted me to raise, teach, and love such a wonderful child. What a blessing! I pray everyday that God would help her to learn His ways and His love despite my inperfect teaching.

She was so excited this morning to take cupcakes to school.

All dressed up with earrings, lip stick, perfume, and fingernail polish. If you can't see some of this stuff, that was the whole idea!

Happy Birthday Katie!

be nice to your sister...

2008-03-12T15:55:00.002-05:00

I know I can't retell this story as funny as it was when it happened, but I have to try.

Katie is always very excited to see Stephen when he comes in the door, almost as much as Daddy. So Stephen came home from work the other day and instead of greeting him with a hug and kiss, she gave the usual 'Stephen's home!' and went and sat on our pew bench with her toddler bible(upside down). Then she began thumbing through it like she was looking for just the right verse(or story). Didn't find it, so she thumbed through again and put her finger on a place and said, very adamantly, "be nice to your sister", then closed the book.

The only thing I can figure that prompted it was that our theme lately has been 'be nice to your friends (mother, father, etc...)' Stephen came into the kitchen asking if we had told her to say that, of course we had not.

You just never know what they are truly picking up and when it will show itself

surgery went well

2008-03-07T21:08:00.002-06:00

what a day! Dan had shoulder surgery today in Tulsa today and it went well except that what we were hoping would not happened, happened. That is, the doctor got in and found his rotator had torn and had to be fixed. So, instead of a 3-4 day recovery, he will be 2-3 months in rehab. He is really upset because that puts him into summer before he can ride his bike...and he is dying to ride his bike again!

So my day started with me and Dan leaving about 8:45am. We walked out the door with Katie screaming on the floor. I hated to do it, but we HAD to go. I don't know why she does that. I had been talking for several days about how big Hanna was coming and was going to take her to school on Friday. Katie was so excited and talked about it when she woke up this morning. But, as soon as Hanna walked in the door, Katie clung to me and started crying. Fortunately, Stephen was still here and between the two of them they got her to school. Then when Stephen picked her up from school, she was fine until they got in the car, then she broke again. The only thing I can figure is that she just sensed something was not right and was different than just a normal babysitting night. That afternoon Jordan stayed with her until we got home and I think she did fine with Jordan, but they were at home not going off somewhere.

When we got home, she wasn't quite sure about Dan...something was very different. It took her a few minutes before she would go to him, then she was fine.

So after several tantrums, 3 different sitters, a whole day without mommy, locking herself in the bathroom, peeing in her pants, and being completely confused all day, she went to sleep without a sound! Ahhhhh, now its my turn...good night.

much about nothing...

2008-03-06T15:30:00.002-06:00

Ok... so I have been accused of not blogging much. Yes, it's true. Not sure why except everytime I actually have a few minutes to sit down and write, hundreds (yes, hundreds) of other things creep into my mind that I should do. Then after I get past caring about all those things, I feel I have nothing to write about. Not that nothing is going on, but who really wants to hear...which really isn't the purpose of this thing anyway, or is it? Either way, in my defense (I know I really don't have to defend myself), it is hard for some people to be free with their thoughts and even their daily life. At times I think I'm too open, but then most of the time I am, by nature, quiet and private which is usually why I think I am too open...not because I really am. None of this probably makes sense to anyone reading, but I think its helping me.

I have to say I love my life and am beginning to love who I am. I love that God made me basically quiet with a sense of humor that usually only those really close to me get to see. I love how God has shown mercy on me and blessed me with a husband that I totally do not deserve. I love that I have a (almost) 24year old step son and that he is living with us and gets to be around Katie. I love that God has given me a precious little girl. I have been blessed with wonderful christian parents whom I wish like anything lived closer. I love, I love, I love... What mercy God has shown me through my life...to give me my dreams and so much more. I wish I deserved them, someday I will...in heaven.

There are a lot of I's in this post, but its just me being thankful to God for all he's done.

Another thing I am thankful for are my friends here in Bartlesville, around the country, and even around the world. Friends of all kinds. Not one is by chance!

If you made it this far, thanks for baring with me. Maybe next time will be more interesting or funny.

the red book

2008-02-29T12:30:00.004-06:00

Just when you think your 'past' something, it comes back. For the longest time we were having a terrible time at night getting Katie to cooperate, obey, and go to sleep. Then, naps started to come to an end and the night time routine was much better. However, the tantrums have started again and last night I found myself frantically looking for the 'red book'...which is Dobsons "Strong Willed Child"(because it has a red cover). I know some of you are thinking that is over kill with Katie, and even though (so far) she is very good at school, church, and generally out in public, she sure knows how to push my buttons at home! I just love Dobson's advice combined with his humor and experience. Everyone has their favorite author on this subject, and most have very good advice, but my favorite has to be Dobson. Fortunately, some of his advice came back to mind and after the tantrums we had some sweet snuggles and quietness. But, boy, getting to that point was rough!

On a lighter note, she is so funny. I can't believe how some of her gestures and comments seem and sound so 'grown up' or 'big girlish'. I'm sure Grandma and DonDon will enjoy this next part more than anyone...
* she asked who I had been talking to on the phone, I told her grandma, then she asked "Grandma Emma or Grandma Grandma(meaning her real grandma)"
* the salmon patties we had the other day she called 'sammy panies'
* the road construction on 75 and Camelot she is convinced that they are building her a pink castle...just for her and Big Hanna and Sara
* one of her tantrums last night was because I started singing 'Jesus loves me...' and not 'Jesus loves the little children of the world'
* school pictures this week went really good. I think we got some good smiles!

28 pages done...

2008-02-24T20:27:00.002-06:00

What a great weekend. I got 28 pages done which got me up through Katie's 9th month. Still way behind, but a little bit further ahead, and much revived!

I have to tell a funny story about my husband. Know before hand that he is a great dad and father and I am so blessed to have him...but, I always got the feeling he didn't quite get why her talking all day wore me out. So, Saturday him and Katie spent the day in Tulsa and that night after Katie was asleep we were talking and he confessed "I feel like I have been riding my bike ALL day long...and she talks NON-stop!" It was worth the $100 for the retreat just to hear that.

she's napping!!!!!!

2008-02-21T14:06:00.002-06:00

I was really dreading this day when I heard schools were closed, but it has turned out pretty good so far. I got little sleep last night and about 4:30 I decided it would be ok to turn off my alarm thinking I could sleep until about 7:30 or 8, which is when Katie usually wakes up. Of course not today...she wakes up at 7:00. Oh well, it was still later than my alarm would have been. We have had fun playing with her imaginary friends (Big Hanna and Sarah). Katie was in my bed with them looking at a magazine and when I finished what I was doing, I went and got in bed with her. She promptly told me I was laying on Hanna and Sarah and I needed to move. So, I scooted over so we all could fit.

Yes, the title is correct, she IS napping. The first time in almost 2 weeks. Could be she woke up early or could be the benedryl, doesn't matter right now.

I am so excited about this weekend! I am doing Cheryl's scrapbook retreat here in town and can't wait. This is something I really enjoy and I'm so glad I have a husband who doesn't mind me doing things like this. I really did not need a snow day because I needed this day to get ready, but I'm sure I'll manage anyway. Hopefully I can get Katie's first year finished. Then I will only be 2 years behind. Also I'll get to have good catch up time with Denise. I know she loves her work and its where she should be, but I really miss her, so this weekend will be good.

It will also give Katie and Dan lots of time together. It so hard now that Katie doesn't nap much because she is really tired in the evenings and needs to go to bed early, but Dan really does enjoy her and hates for his evening time to be cut short.

What to do now...clean, read, get scrapbook stuff ready, make phone calls, exercise, shower, nap, start dinner...

must have been the sugar...

2008-02-15T11:44:00.002-06:00

Oh my gosh! Katie had the biggest temper tantrum last night that she has had in a long time. Me and Dan were just looking at her and each other like 'who is this?'. It seemed to last an hour, but I know it wasn't near that. the only thing we can figure is that she must have fallen hard off a huge sugar high. We are pretty good about not giving her too much candy, but yesterday, Valentines, we didn't really keep up with it.

once she got quiet, she was out. And, even though she had been at school that day, I was exhausted!