A dream for Thomas

its time for a new post. i had a very relaxing christmas with my family. it was kinda cruddy that thomas had to work on both christmas eve and on christmas day, but it was workable. he didn't miss out on much. we just had to change a little bit of our traditional routine.

what am i looking forward to in the new year? Hmm, let see. The typical, i want to exercise more, eat healthier, figure out how to get my kids to eat more veggies. i want to better at cleaning and keeping my house 'guest' ready all the time. i want to find a way to spend more quality time with my husband. We will celebrate our tenth anniversary this July. Maybe finding a way to do date nite more often. I would like to have another baby this year, but we'll see what God has in store. i want to do better at emailing and staying in contact with friends and family that i don't see regularly. i also want this to be the year we are finally out of debt. we've worked hard over the last year and half, and we're almost there. Our van will be paid off this year, yeah no more car payments!

what i really want for this coming year, is for Thomas to FINALLY experience his dream. His dream of being in full time ministry. He has know he's been called since he was young. It has been many and many a year that his dream has gone unfulfilled. I have seen my childhood dreams, my marriage and my children. Not, that to thomas those things are not important, because he loves us all dearly. But, something about seeing him day after day trekking off to work towards one more day of an unfulfilled dream. For those who don't know, my husband has this awesome ability to teach. I promise, he knows EVERYTHING!!! he is so close to finishing his theology degree. However, its really hard to go to school at night, when your job mainly consists of working at night. i desire for him to realize fruit in his abilities. If you've ever seen him with youth, those kids adore him. he is not teaching his youth sunday school this year. the opportunity is no longer there. it truly breaks my heart that he has all this talent and love to give to the kids and yet it stays all bottled up inside him with no place to pour it out. A couple of summers ago, he got to fill in for a youth pastor at a small church. We had so much fun! Im telling you people, this guy would make the world's best youth/college pastor. he is a perpetual teenager. he loves his video games, staying out late, going to movies, hanging out with people, playing games... and so much more.

so, all of you out there is blogger world, if you know of or hear of a need, my hubby needs a job where he gets to daily pour into the lives of those who need to know about Christ. Youth who need to be equipped with the tools to lead and know why they believe. In our country where our faith is being squashed and diluted, where are our leaders going to come from? That's a whole different direction that i will leave for thomas to blog about.

will you keep thomas in your prayers? pray for 2009 to be the year that thomas sees the callings and the prophecies spoken over him to be realized and fulfilled.



i know its a hunting picture, but i promise, he will not hunt any kids or teach them to do so without parental approval.

Why oh Why

why oh, why does that googy guy always think he needs to butt his head in somewhere that it doesn't belong? huh? I guess because that's what he does. He is here to steal, kill, and destroy. Here I have been cruising along, getting ready for Christmas and "whadda ya know?" Here he comes rears his ugly head and tries to steal my joy! i could go on and tell all the little things going on that are not right. But, mostly i would be whining and he would be winning. i have so much to be thankful for!

well, I say: oh, no you don't! not this time! you may not steal my joy! i do not belong to you. i belong to God my Father! i am going to celebrate the birth of my Saviour and you can't stop me! you are under my feet, you dirty little snake! so, get thee behind me!

Girly

I am so stinking excited, I just had to blog about it. Thomas bought me a new hat today. I have been trying to find myself a camo hunting cap. I found one at wal-mart this evening. It is the traditional mossy oak pattern, but it has Pink stitching and Pink buttons on the top. Plus the underside of the bill is Pink too! Now I can go hunting with my husband and boys and still maintain just a little of my girly-ness! Yeah! I now have a camo shirt, camo coat, camo hat, and my gun. Next on my wish list is some camo boots.

Random?

well, I'm just sitting here trying to decide whether or not i should post something. I'm not sure if what I might have to say is worth a blog or not, but I felt like writing, or typing, I guess. Today, I made some stew/soup that I call Stoup. It's super easy to make. I have it in the crock pot so we can eat some for supper. It smells really good.

Nathan heard on the news that it snowed somewhere. He got really excited, thinking there was going to be some snow for him to have a snowball fight with his daddy. I explained to him that they were talking about some where that was not Lubbock. He was completely heart broken. So, "Lord, Please let there be at least one time that it snows enough for Nathan to have a snowball fight with his daddy."

I have been feeling very blessed the last couple of days. I am being constantly reminded about how blessed I truly am. I know of families right now that will have nothing to give their kids for Christmas. I have a friend who is going through a very serious pregnancy. She is a very private person, so I don't want to share her name, so I'll just call her "Sarah". Sarah has a very rare complication with the baby's placenta. It also looks like the baby (a girl) will need to be delivered as early as 27 weeks. She needs God's divine intervention and for Him to work a miracle in her body and in the life of her baby. Sarah's life and the life of her baby are in the hands of God. It's the only place they are truly safe. If she crosses your mind please, please, say a prayer for Sarah. God knows who she is and what she needs. Pray also for her many doctors, that they would make the best possible choices for her and her baby. The best scenario would be that God heals her, and that when she gets her next ultrasound, there is no evidence of a problem. And, no explanation other then God's miraculous healing. Then, Sarah could continue to carry her sweet little blessing to full term and deliver a healthy baby girl with no threat to her own personal health.

Anyone out there in blogging world have any ideas on how I can get my children to pick up their room. They have been in their room for hours now. I've told them they can not come out until there room is picked up. Except of course to go to the bathroom. I'm really not cruel. My children would beg to differ with you though. I'm just kinda clueless. This year for Christmas Thomas and I will not be buying our boys any toys. They are getting some other things, but not toys that have to be cleaned up and put away.

I guess I will close with this last idea and thought. I have heard a couple of times over the last week about women who are wanting to have a baby. Some are having struggles while others are not struggling necessarily, but wanting to become pregnant none the less. Myself included.
Lord, I come to you now, right here on the computer. As we celebrate Christmas, I thank you for Your Son, Jesus, that came to this earth as a baby. I pray for all women who read my blog today that are desiring their own precious baby. I pray for the medical issues to be resolved and the timing to be right. Most importantly, I pray that there be a peace upon the hearts of all the ladies. We know that you grant the desires of the heart and that the desire of a baby comes from You. I ask that we all find ourselves resting in this truth. Lord, I also pray that the time for fulfillment would be soon. Thank you for all the blessings You have bestowed upon all women, those who are mothers already and those who desire to become mothers.
I pray all these things in faith with expectation of receiving from You. In Your name I pray, Amen.

Long Time No Post

well, its been a pretty long time since i posted last, so i figured i'd fill in a few gaps over the last couple of the months.

Halloween flew by in a flurry of very crazy activity. Our bathroom wall completely feel down into the tub. I guess it was time to remodel. the water faucet was leaking and so we had to cut a hole in the wall to repair it. when i pulled 2 tiles off the wall the whole thing came crashing down. tiles and sheet rock and everything. we had been planning to redo some stuff after Christmas. so, we are in the middle of a giant mess everywhere.

just after Halloween we headed to San Antonio to go to a good friend's wedding. Luke and Jana's wedding was so sweet and adorable. they deserve so much happiness. i wish them and their 2 sweet girls many blessing.

Thomas went hunting on opening weekend. He shot a 6pt buck and a doe. i was so proud of him! thanks to my parents we now have a deep freeze and its packed full of deer meat. (Kristi, i promise i will not send you any, or hide it any food, haha!)

lets see... what else? oh yeah, we went out to dinner with some awesome friends. Nick and Tiffany. Had dinner at applebee's then headed to daybreak for some coffee. the guys couldn't handle the coffee so they had tea. it was good to get out for some adult conversation. never once did we hear the words "don't pick your nose" or "sit down and stop fighting." soooo relaxing.

Thanksgiving was really good. did a lot of relaxing and hanging out with family and course a bunch of eating. it was all so very yummy. i did the deviled eggs for both family dinners, boiled and made 3 dozen eggs. YUMMY!

Got my Christmas tree up just before thanksgiving. Thomas let me put it up a week early this year. i was having a little bit of peer pressure from all of you in blog world who put their trees up early. however, i have only put up the tree. for some reason, i just can't seem to get in the mood to put out the nativities. (i have 8) My Christmas animated dolls, Christmas pillows, snowmen, and Christmas dishes are all still sitting in their box. i am looking forward to doing lots of baking. Ummmm, fudge, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate peppermint sticks and so much more.
i can't wait! I'm sure I'll pack on extra pounds and have to pay for later, but i don't care. Christmas goodies only come once a year.

I've already watched White Christmas a couple of times. I still need to watch Elf, The Christmas Story, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

i guess that's all for now. I'm really sorry that i can't post any pictures. i just don't know how to use Thomas's camera.

About the Election

I was to say the least, very dissappointed and saddened by the results of the election last night. Somewhere in my gut, I knew it was going to be this way, but I was still hopeful that McCain could pull out a victory.

My husband posted an amazing blog about the state of our country. Nathan said something to him last night that was very profound. I REALLY, REALLY, suggest you go read it. I believe that if you do, that you feel better about our future president-elect.

this is Thomas's blog:
www.theoriginalthomashead.blogspot.com

It All Started with a Drip

I will say first that the house we have is an older home. We knew when we bought it we would eventually have to redo the tub surround in the front bathroom and the shower surround in the back bathroom. The back bathroom shower has been, well, let's say, non-functioning for about 5 years now. Why? I'll not go into that here because I really do love my husband and all the things that he DOES do around the house. (love you, honey!) Anyway, the tub does have a shower on it, so we shower there.

Wednesday evening: It all started with a drip. When you turned off the water, there was a little bit of a drip, like the water wasn't turned off all the way.

Thursday Morning: The drip is now really more like a small trickle. I called Thomas at work. He said he was aware that the valve on the faucet was broken and that when he was off later in the afternoon he would stop by Lowe's (shudder) and pick up a part.

Thursday Mid-Morning: The small trickle has now become a large trickle or a nice sized stream. I am a little freaked out about all the water just running down the drain. I am sorta trying to be a little more "green." At least, I'm trying to be better aware of what I'm doing to the environment. Not to mention, the water bill. So, i plugged the tub, and figured, when there was eventually enough water, I would give the dog a bath.

I called Thomas back, and he said that I should go turn off the water in the alley. I filled several pitchers of water, so we'd have something to drink or wash our hands with.

Bravely, i headed out to the alley to that hole in the ground where the valve is at. "I am NOT afraid of spiders, I am NOT afraid of spiders." I couldn't get the silly heavy cover off. I couldn't even lift it. Thankfully, because, I really am afraid of spiders. haha!

I called my brother, Adam, and he came to my rescue. He came over and got it turned off for me.

Thursday Noon: I headed to the mall for a very fun play date with Tiffany and her kids Trevor and Allison. We had lots of fun eating some Chik-fil-A and watching the kids play at the playground. We got a chance to catch up on things and talk about cake. ;)

Thursday Afternoon: I left the mall and headed to pick Thomas up from work. I noticed that the car hesitated a little when i accelerated. Hmmm, wonder why that could be? I am the car repair person in our family. Since I was the oldest in my family, when I was young I was always the one who got to help my dad when he worked on our cars. I am really grateful for that now because I do know how to do quite a few things under the hood. This is all significant, because, on Saturday, morning we are supposed to be leaving for San Antonio to go to Jana and Luke's wedding. We're not really having car trouble are we?

Early Thursday Evening: I find out that in order to repair the broken valve on the shower, we must remove some tiles and cut a hole in the wall. Therefore, our bathroom remodel will beginning a little sooner than we had planned. I mean, we were supposed to do the back bathroom first, so that we have a place to shower while the front one gets redone. I begin the whole thing by pulling on two loose tiles next to the knob. When, i pulled these off, all of the wall and the sheet rock behind the tiles, collapsed into the tub. Ahhhhh! Let me remind you, we are supposed to be going out of town. This was going to be a large mess!!

Late Thursday Evening: Thomas really was having some trouble figuring out what to do to all the pipes in order to get the water turned back on in the house. Mind you we still have NO water in the house. We have all taken to peeing in the backyard, like we do when we're camping. The boys thought this was great fun. I, however, was none too thrilled. Sometime around 10:30 the water got turned back on. At least now we can use the toilet and wash our hands. I also really need the washing machine so I get laundry done for our trip.

Friday Morning: Thomas is very, very sad. He was off today, but he had planned to go hunting. It is, by the way, opening weekend. But, instead, he is tearing apart our bathroom walls. Remember, we still have NO place to take a shower.

Friday Afternoon: We went to Bolton's to get the oil changed in our car. Maybe this would solve the hesitation issue. I think everyone in Lubbock was trying to get their oil changed because we waited in line forever. After getting it done, the station guy comes over and tells us that we have a large nail in one of the tires. GREAT! Just what we needed! Praise God, though, because when the guy pulls it out, turns out it's a screw and it's short and only in the tread. No need for a repair, so we weren't charged for anything.

Friday Evening: The boys are getting very excited about Halloween. Nana bought them Bob and Larry costumes. They were repeatedly asking me when it was going to be time to go. So, I told Nathan. "We are going to Nana and Pop's house to take a shower, since ours is broken. Mama really needs a shower cuz she kinda stinks." Nathan answered, "yeah, mom, you kinda do." How sad is that? Your own 5 year old son tells you that you stink.

Well, this is getting kinda long, so I guess I will post some more about Friday evening and the rest of our weekend later. Plus, I need to download a few pictures to go along with the post. I promise you the drama has only begun!

Why you're special!

Okay, so i just had to blog about this. It was way too cute and way too funny.

Here's the back story: Nathan and I were doing school. We were studying math, looking at different shapes, then counting their sides and angles. Nathan is very precise and particular when it comes to most things. The Rectangle was the new shape of the day. So, here's how the conversation went.

Mommy holding up rectangle.

"What shape is this?"
"Rectangle"
"How many sides?"
"4"
"How many angles?"
"4"
"Good Job!"

Continuing on through several more shapes......

Mommy again holding up a different rectangle.

"What shape is this?"
"Rectangle"
"How do you know?"
"Because it has 4 sides and 4 angles"

Mommy holds up the square.

"What shape is this?"
"Square"
"How do you know?"
"Because it has 4 sides and 4 angles"
"Then it is a rectangle, right?"
"NO, its a square"
"Did you know that a square is a special kind of rectangle?"
"Oooooowww, cool. Yeah, because it has 4 sides and 4 angles just like a rectangle."

(mommy moment of aha! he's getting it)

"What about the square makes it a special rectangle?

Nathan says nothing. Index finger on chin thinking.

"Why is the square special?"
"Because God made it. He made the square that way, and that makes it special."

I couldn't help but laugh. He was embarrassed, but later became very excited when i explained the mathematical reasons on why a square is special.

Later, when i told Thomas all about it, he said, "well, at least, we've gotten him to understand, that God made everything in creation, and all things are special."
Then we had argued over who was going to post it on their blog. Which by the way, Thomas now has his own blog. check it out in my blog list. I got to post though, because it actually happened with me, though i told him he could post it too.

Hope everyone has a refreshing weekend. We plan to do Nathan's soccer game this afternoon. Then, Thomas and i may try to catch a movie by ourselves. yeah, date night!

Away from Home School

Thomas was heading out to the hunting lease at around 6:30 this morning. For some reason, I thought, lets go with him. I grabbed the boys some jeans, boots, and jackets. Quickly loaded a backpack with our homeschool lessons for the day, and grabbed a jug of water and some fruit bars for the boys for breakfast. We loaded the boys in the car in their pj's and were on the road to dickens by 7:00.

The boys had so much fun. I bet Nathan learned more today then he has all week put together. He climbed up on the deer blind and Thomas taught him how to roof and lay shingles. We learned how to tell the difference between a turkey vulture and a hawk by looking at the markings on the underside of its wings. We saw all kinds of bugs: a dung beetle, katydid, trantula wasp (these are very scary looking), caterpillars, grasshoppers, and the coolest walking sticks. Thomas found the walking sticks and put them on the boys' hats. They crawled down and hung upside down from the bills of their hats, right in front of their faces. Then we put them in the tree and talked about how they protect themselves from predators by disguising themselves as sticks on the tree. We also got to see a white owl. This led to a discussion about why a noctural animal would be flying around during the day.

There was also a whole lot of rock throwing going on as well.

We did manage to get a lot of reading done in the truck. Nathan scored a 100 on his spelling test. But, I promise you, if you ask Nathan what he learned today, his first answer would not be something that came from a book. I am so blessed to be able to teach my children at home.

I have some pictures, but they are on my phone, and I'm not sure how to get them onto my computer.

My Wife Rocks!!!

She is totally awesome! Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that. She is a fantastic mother and soulmate. She puts up with all my "projects" and still loves me unconditionally! Just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone else know that she is AMAZING! And she TOTALLY ROCKS!!! Just so you all know. Thanks! In Christ Alone,
Thomas!

I Absolutely Did NOT!!

This will the be first of my absolutely did nots. It's a great way to vent all the things you "absolutely did not do" without any guilt. You should try it, its very freeing...

Okay, first of all, today, I absolutely did NOT eat half a can of pringles chips all by myself. Nope, not me!

Yesterday, I absolutely did NOT pull Nathan's only pair of soccer socks out of the dirty clothes basket, spray them with febreeze, and put them on him. No way was that me! I don't go to bed unless the dirty clothes hamper is empty.

This week, I absolutely did NOT let me kids go to sleep in their clothes that they wore all day without putting their PJ's on. Nope, didn't happen, not once! And, surely, NOT twice!

One evening, I did NOT feed my kids cereal for supper. Never happened!

absolutely, NOT even once this week, did i watch that old goofy repubate show on the CW, Roseanne. I promise I never laughed at the way she talked to her kids or her husband. How dare she!!

I absolutely, did NOT lock myself in the bathroom with a book to take a shower. I did NOT ignore the pleadings of my children, hoping Daddy would see to their needs. Even if I had, I absolutely did NOT stay in there for a hour. Who has that kind of time to waste?

Tuesday, I absolutely did NOT buy myself a Coke, and refuse to share with my boys. Coke is not for kids anyways, right?!

however, I absolutely DID:
pray over my children while they slept in their beds.
Worried in the night whether Noah was getting sick
wrote a love poem on the bathroom mirror for my hubby to find
get in the floor and wrestle with the boys
chased the dog around the house just to make the boys laugh hysterically
went to lunch with my best friends, My mom and my sister.
let my husband go to the hunting lease for 2 whole days without me
Cuddled with Nathan while we did homeschool
......and the list goes on.......

I guess i just really, really, loved on my family this week. it's what's most important anyway, right?

okay, everyone, its time for you to post your own I did NOT lists!

Mama can Shoot

Most of you know that my husband is an avid hunter. I love to go along when he goes hunting too. I've been saying for the last couple of years that I wanted to shoot something too. I haven't been able to shoot with Thomas's guns because they are all too heavy or too long. I'm pretty much a wuss when it comes to upper arm strength. I'm talking, I usually need help to hold and drain a big pot of pasta. I have zero strength in my wrists. So, a couple of months ago, while wandering around in Gander Mountain, we ran across a used youth shotgun on clearance. Thomas bought it for me. A couple of weekends ago, we took it out so i could practice shooting. Pretty much, I'm not good at shooting clays. I didn't hit even one of them!! Thomas on the other hand didn't even miss. I was so scared to pull the trigger the first time. I've shot guns before, but its been awhile. I was scared that it was going to really hurt my shoulder. Which it did by the way, I had a major bruise. Anyway, here's a couple of pictures.

Whewsw!

Okay, this is just a little rant. i'm pretty much over all of this but, i did get a good nights sleep to recover. Yesterday, my sweet, sticky Noah just plain wore me out!!

it started out with a milk incident. Noah decided he wanted to pour himself a glass of milk. and for those of you who are wondering, yes, i do have a child-proof lock on my fridge. however, noah is very adept at opening it without any help. he got the biggest cup he could find, (he used a chair to scale the kitchen counter), and poured the milk in, overflowing unto the kitchen floor. ugg, milk in the carpet, sooo gross. while, i was scrubbing the floor with a brush, i hear Noah laughing hysterically. my first thought: uh, oh. now what? my second thought: he's watching tom and jerry, something must be funny. I should have trusted my gut. His milk was now being spit and sprayed all over the dog. he was very amused by the way the dog was trying to "shake it off." bath #1

we are trying to get noah totally potty trained. some days, he's perfect, and others not so much. yesterday, he had about 4 "accidents" including one on the couch. again, its me with the scrub brush. bath #2

here's just a tragic part of the day. no matter how hard i tried, there was no nap for noah today. booooo!

one quick little note here: when i thought noah had finished a good portion of his lunch, i later discovered that it was all in shredded in very little pieces and littered all over the floor on the back side of the table.

for dinner, we had pizza in front of the tv. i know, bad mom, but thomas was at work and it was just me and the boys. so after, supper, i told the boys to put their plates in the sink and to wash their hands. usually, they can handle this task pretty well. they go into the bathroom and wash or get a baby wipe to clean their hands. i went to my room to hang up clothes. i did manage to get several loads of laundry done. when i finished, i came down the hall to find nathan crying and soaking wet. it went a little something like this:
"what is wrong?"
"i'm all wet" he really hates that
"how did this happen?"
"noah sprayed me with the sink"
sure enough, Noah was proudly standing on a chair at the kitchen sink spraying anything and everything. he was soaking wet, standing in a puddle on the chair, and there was enough water on the counters for a small fish to swim.

bath #3
actually, this time it was a shower for both of the boys. when they take a shower, usually, i sit in there with a book. its actually, a bit of a break for me. this time, though, thomas came home from work to grab a couple of things he needed and had forgotten. so, i came out and was talking with him and telling him about my day. after he left, i was headed back in to get the boys all soaped up and, when i opened the door i was was greeted with a very strong sweet tangerine scent. i knew exactly what had happened. it wasn't the first time, and i'm sure it probably won't be the last either. Noah had emptied the whole bottle of my shampoo and filled it with water. he likes to make bubbles. my mom tells me that i did this very thing to her many times, and that i am just reaping what i sowed. anyway, i was pretty mad, but took a deep breath and remained calm. in fact, i didn't even say a word. i just opened the curtain and started washing him off. the whole time he is saying, "i don't wanna spankin', i don't wanna spankin' " Then, still saying nothing, i got him out, and as i was getting him dressed in his pj's he's repeating over and over, "i don't wanna go to bed, i don't wanna go to bed." i told him, the sun is down, its dark and you're going to go to sleep now.

all dressed for bed, and wrapped in his blanket, we got in the rocker. Noah looks and me sweetly and says, "i love you, mama" *tear* In about 2 minutes, he is sound asleep. so, there i sat, rocking my sweet tangerine scented little boy, cherishing the moment of rocking him to sleep. i know that far too quickly, these days will be long past.

i got noah all tucked in his bed. thomas is now home and playing cars with nathan, so i headed to the bathroom for a relaxing hot shower for myself. i stood several moments soaking in the hot water and steam. after getting out, i kissed thomas goodnite and told him i was going to bed. he responded with,
"why do you smell like baby shampoo?"
"oh, you know"
"noah, empty the soap again?"
"yep"

i love motherhood. at the end of the day, you just can't help but be grateful to God for your amazing children, no matter how much mess you have to clean up or how much work they are.

its a good thing he's cute!!

see, i even give him his popsicle in the bathtub!!

Oldie but a Goodie

I thought I'd go back and post about this awesome time we had with our friends. I guess it was a couple of months ago. our good friends the Melton's joined us one Sunday afternoon for a day at the hunting lease. Thomas had gotten a new deer feeder for Christmas, and it was way past time to get it all set up. After church we all donned our camo's, grabbed some grub and headed out.

Thomas and Nick filling the feeder with deer corn



We hiked around looking for stuff. I'm not real sure we knew what we were looking for. The kids picked up lots of treasures consisting of rocks and sticks. mostly, Tiffany and I just followed around the kids to make sure they weren't going to get into a tangle with a wild pig. There are lots of wild pigs out there, which, by the way, have done a pretty good job of evading a bullet and the dinner table, causing Nick and Thomas many hours of utter fustration. Anyway, had one of those 300 pound pigs actually walked up, I don't now what Tiffany and i would have done, neither one of us was armed. Probably just scream our heads off, haha!

After the guys got the feeder set, they were testing the timer and the spinner. This particular event made for some HIGH QUALITY Redneck entertainment, I might add!

Hanging out under the feeder, waiting for the corn to pelt them. They had sooooo much fun! Who knew?

Thomas grilled hot dogs, the kids filled up on soda, and we all wished someone had brought brownies. Tiffany, the kids and I cleaned up dinner and put our chairs away while the guys headed up to their blinds in hopes of shootin' themselves a great big boar. Unfortunately though, they didn't see anything. Probably, because, the kids were not very still or quiet.

It was so good to get away from everything for awhile. Way out in the middle of nowhere, you can't help but feel closer to God. Out there, in all His creation, its just God and you, the beauty of His creation with the gentle wind, the birds, and the bugs, spiders, snakes, lizards.....


Then, God gives you a beautiful gift like this:

I just love west Texas sunsets, especially when you can watch one on a beautiful clear night.

Naked Boy Wonder

Well, recently we have had a couple of instances involving sweet Noah. He's always been one for being naked at home. At home, I really don't have an issue with this. Doesn't bother me. There's even been times when his Pop comes over, and annouces, "Hi, Noah, you don't have any clothes on." Or, friends have even shown up for LIFE Group and Noah is naked on the bottom half. Recently, he has figured out that he can put his clothes on "his-self," so that means he can take them off "his-self." I guess he just like to practice his new skill.

The first incident happend while we were in San Antonio at the zoo. they have this really cool riverbank area where the boys could play in the water and the sand. we didn't know they had this new feature, so we went there last and let the boys play. We took off their shirts and let them play in their shorts. The sign there said: Get Wet, Get Dirty, but Don't Get Naked. Swim diapers required. that was the only rule. I pulled off Noah's pull-up and told him, no peeing in the water. He's potty-trained for the most part anyway. I was taking pictures of Nathan and Daddy splashing around. When I turned around, Noah was stripping off his shorts. He wanted them off because they were wet. That was only the beginning. . .

Last Sunday, after church, we were at McDonald's with some friends. The kids were playing and the adults were visiting. Then, a lady walked up to our table and said, "is that little boy with the long hair yours?" I said, "yes." She then said, "well, he just took his pants off." Thomas jumped up and sure enough, there he was with all his buisness hanging out for the world see, proudly jumping up and down. all the while, swinging his shorts around in a circle over his head like a lasso and shouting "Whoo-hoo!" I laughed so hard my stomach was hurting.

On to the third incident. Today after the rain, it was so nice outside. Thomas was at work and I took the boys outside to play chalk on the driveway. My mother and I started texting back and forth about some stuff going on with my dad's accident case and trial. I looked up to check on the boys, and there he was half naked again. He was standing there, peeing into our fish pond. "Ahhh," I hollered, "what are you doing?" Of course I knew the answer, but its just one of those questions that comes out. kind of like, "do you want to sit in time-out?" But, that's a completely diffenent subject. Anyway, Noah states very matter of factly, "i needed to go potty." I guess that is kind of our own fault that he peed outside. We camped while we were in San Antonio and all 3 of the boys just went in the grass. Oh, well!

Have any or your guy's kids done stuff like this, or is it just my crazy little boy?
Hopefully, we wont have any more incidents of public indecency in the near future.

Vacation

So, we are back from our little vacation. It was so good to get away. We went to San Antonio. Our trip there was a little crazy. Thomas gets really sleepy when he drives, so I did most of the driving on the way down there. However, Thomas is HORRIBLE with directions!! Twice he sent me the wrong way out of towns. We had to stop several times for the boys to go potty. Noah is in the middle of potty training, and a long car drive, is a terrible time to keep reinforcing the potty thing. Thomas has here on out been banished from reading the map. l

We got to San Antonio pretty early and set up our campsite. Then, we had dinner with a very good friend, Jana. She is doing wonderful, and it was great to meet her new boyfriend Luke and his two precious girls. Sunday, We visited the zoo. we had been there several years ago, and it was a pretty dippy zoo. This time, though, everything had been updated and really nice. not too expensive either. On Monday, we took the boys to schlitterbahn. It was a blast! We took the boys last year, and had a great time, so we figured we'd better go one more time, before we have more kids and don't get a chance to go for awhile. all in all, we had a great time! course the drive home was really long.

we are spending the next couple of days just relaxing at home before thomas starts his new job on Monday.

Happy 4th everyone!

My Little Guy, Praising God

So, on Mother's Day, Nathan's Class sang in Big Church. They sang, God is Good and You are God. This was Nathan's first time to be performing in church. I got tears in my eyes watching him sing his heart out in worship. He also had a little trouble with his shorts too, hehe!