Christmas

Okay, seriously? Christmas is 4 days away? Are you kidding me? It totally doesn't feel like it. Sometimes I do a double take at our Christmas tree thinking - surely not! I'm so excited though! I don't know if I'm more excited about Christmas itself or about having over a week off from work!! Today and yesterday were Christmas parties at Kaitlyn's school. She has had more sugar than she (or I) can handle! It's been so much fun talking with her about Santa coming, seeing family, opening presents... but last night when I was putting her to bed we talked a lot about Baby Jesus - the real meaning of Christmas.

She loves her tiny white bible that she got when she was born. It is TINY, and has no pictures, but she loves to "read it." Last night she "read" to me (her bible was upside down). She said, in one long sentence, "Mary and Josep are baby Jesus Mommy and Daddy he was borned in a manger with all the cows and he looked up and saw a big star and then he went back into his tent." How precious is that. Her favorite Christmas song is Away in a Manger. She sings every word and it is so cute to hear her sing the higher notes. She loves to turn on the Christmas tree lights and make sure all the ornaments are in the right place, and that all the presents have bows on them so that "Santa doesn't get sad."

I'm so excited about starting Christmas traditions with her. This year we are going to about 4 different houses over a 2 day period. Crazy!! Next year we will probably stay home and start new traditions within our family.


Kaitlyn has also learned the words to Aretha Franklin's "RESPECT." Not even kidding. For about 2 weeks now in the bathtub she will just say, "What you want momma?" For some reason when she said that it made me think of that song, so I would just sing back "Baby, I got it! What you need..... and continue throughout the song." Oh the things you will do to make your kids laugh. Well, last night she again said, "What you want Momma?" This time I didn't respond, and she proceeded to sing the entire song with LOTS of "Sock it to me's." I laughed so hard.

Pictures

Here are more pictures from the weekend. The recap is below!!

Roommates!!!

I had such a FUN weekend with two of my dearest friends - Sara and Sara. Two roommates from college that I have not seen since they have had babies!!! Sara H. I never even saw pregnant!!! Insane... you should not let that much time go by without seeing friends!! They both have the absolute sweetest boys. Chase is 5 months old - and I swear never stops smiling. Cooper is 2 months old - SO fun to hold and love on a newborn baby!!

We just hung out on Thursday night - and by the time we got all 3 kids to bed it was close to 11:00 pm. We then watched a little Christmas Vacation, they helped me wrap some presents, and we just sat up and talked. How did we stay up late night after night in college??

On Friday we got some Christmas shopping done at the mall - then back home to feed and play with babies!! Let me just say right here how IN LOVE Kaitlyn was with these boys!! She loved them - constantly patting their heads, and giving her "baby brothers" hugs and kisses. She will be a good Big Sister someday.

Friday night Sara W. went to Body Step with me!! Her cousin Holly teaches the class - it was so fun working out with her. This was her first time to do this class and she did not miss ONE step. Don't get in her way, she will kick your booty.
What better way finish off a work out than to go eat Abuelos?!? Yum, yum!!

Another late night Friday night... I told James to go put Kaitlyn down at like 10:00!! Well, around 11:00pm, Kaitlyn comes into the living room - and James is asleep. Nice. When Kaitlyn gets really tired, she gets VERY talkative - and very scatterbrained. She just went off talking about 100 different things. I can't even remember what they were - I just remember laughing really hard.

Saturday we all had to say good-bye until February!! I am so thankful that they came to visit!!! I can honestly say that those two girls would do anything for me. They are the kind of friends that I will have my whole life. Love you girls!!

Saturday afternoon I braved the mall and finished up shopping. That place was a mad house!! But, I am proud to say that I have all but 2 Christmas presents bought. They are all wrapped and under the tree. Is Christmas really this weekend? Wow!!!

We went to lunch with some friends on Sunday after church and then home to take a nap. Ladies and Gentleman I took a 3 1/2 hour nap!!!! You read that correctly. I haven't done that in FOREVER!! (Thank you James!)
Our small group Christmas party was Sunday night. We hung out, had a fun gift exchange, and played Cranium. That is a fun game - and of course the girls won. Was it really even a competition?

James hasn't sent me pics yet of the weekend - but hopefully soon they will be up so you can see for yourself how dang cute Chase and Cooper were.

But here are a couple from our party last night. I am so blessed with such fun friends!!



I love pictures of people laughing. Especially Stephanie. That girl cracks me up.














Kaitlyn getting in on a little Cranium action:














The guys tried numerous times to cheat, but the girls won - of course.














Fun friends!!

Let Down

Wow. I'm pretty disappointed. I'll just cut and paste Sam's comment about it - he said exactly what I thought when I watched Alias last night:

MAN! What an incredible let down. They brought him back in a glorified dream sequence! Emille called it in the first five minutes. I was very disappointed. I just knew that when Jack and the lady rounded the corner and acted shocked it was because they were looking at vaughn in a hosptial bed, not some stupid baby nursery. They better bring him back for real for the Finale, or I'll never watch the show again! That will teach em!

I totally agree. The only cool part was seeing Sydney's mom. We'll see how it all comes together in March, but I'm not holding my breath.

Okay - so here is the random post/question of the day. Anyone who reads this please feel free to comment - all views are welcome!! This is another one from Sam. He asked me to ask this question on my blog b/c he doesn't think anyone reads his...whatever. Again, I'll just cut and paste the question, and you can leave your comment. It's a good one:

Recently I have had a few conversations with christians about drinking alcohol. Obviously, getting drunk is wrong. But what about having a beer or a glass of wine now and then? Can a christian do that? I would ask this on my blog but the only person who reads my blog is my mother, and frankly, I already know her opinion on the subject.

Watch the Pilot if you Have It!!

This is for all of my Alias fans out there. I know this is kind of last minute - but pay attention if you watch! This is from Chad Darnell's blog. He was a casting director for Alias - tonight is the last episode he did. It's also the last new episode for 3 stinking months!!!! Anyway.. here is what he has to say about it....


It all comes down to this.

After five years, my last episode of "Alias" airs tonight. Wednesday night.

DO. NOT. MISS. IT.

Even if you've never seen it before, watch tomorrow. It's one of those episodes that brings the entire story full circle in a lot of ways.

Fortunately, the ending has not gotten out. (Come on, you know there has to be a twist... it's going off the air for three months!)

I can not WAIT to hear what you have to think. I'm so excited. I'm having a party just because I want to see their faces. West Coast people - do NOT talk to East Coasters or read ANYTHING during the time change.

You know what I think I might do right now... I might watch the pilot... Yeah. I'm going to rewatch the pilot. You know. Just to rewatch the pilot. Cause it might be fun to rewatch the pilot.

Weekend rundown...

Pretty boring post, but here's what we did....

Friday:

I left work promptly at 5:00, ran home to get my workout clothes and went to the gym. Did Body Step with my good friend Rene.. and had some seriously sore calves by the end of the hour. (Body Step is not one of my regulars, but I LOVE it).
Went back home to get James and Kaitlyn and went to Wal-mart to get Kaitlyn a princess dress for a birthday party she was going to on Saturday.
Had a nice, healthy dinner from Arby's. Riiight.
Went home and watched Kaitlyn's new Leap Frog video. She was addicted to her Leap Letter Factory video and learned all the letters and their sounds pretty quickly, so we thought it was time for an upgrade to the "Storybook Factory." 2 years old is not too early to learn how to read, right? :) It's a cute video none the less.

Saturday:

Got up and made some biscuits for James and Kaitlyn - and I went back to the gym for more Body Step. I tell you that place is so addicting.
Came home and got Kaitlyn all ready for her friend Emma's princess birthday party. Kaitlyn looked so cute in her dress and tiara. I need to be better about posting pictures.
Emma's parents went all out for this party. Their house was decorated so cute and there were fun games in every room: duck pond in the bathtub, magic carpet rides, face painting, crown decorating...
The best part about it was - all the parents left! We totally expected to stay and join in the festivities - but she had it all planned so the parents could go out and enjoy a morning of Xmas shopping, or whatever else... how fun is that?! (That hour and a half went by WAY too fast)
We picked Kaitlyn up and took her home for a nap.

James went to the Abilene High/Pierce basketball game. Our friend Justin Reese coaches for Pierce, so he and his wife Hollie and their precious daughter Riley were in town. He had fun seeing him and a bunch of other people that went out to support Justin!

When he got back, it was off to get more Christmas shopping done! We went to Toys R Us and took turns watching Kaitlyn and picking stuff out for her. We had so much fun! We, or Santa, ended up with an awesome doll house, the Dora version of Candyland, a pink baby doll (that is the only thing she has asked for), and some dog who's nose actually gets cold when it gives you kisses. (James picked this one out.) We also got her some "big girl underwear" - James hates the other word. My goal is to have this girl potty trained by New Years. I have one whole week off of work, so that is my plan. Wish me luck!
For dinner Saturday night we went to James's favorite - Texas Roadhouse. Yummy.

Sunday:

Kaitlyn had a hard time getting ready for church on Sunday. She's lazy like her Mommy in the mornings. I mean, who really wants to put a dress on at 8:00 in the morning?
After church, we were invited to Jim and Jody Reese's house to join their family for lunch. This was probably the highlight of our weekend. It was so much fun to be a part of that awesome family for just a couple of hours. James and I enjoyed visiting with Justin and Hollie - and Kaitlyn always loves going somewhere new to see what she can get into.

After lunch all the Reese boys came over to our house to play poker. They chose our house so that Kaitlyn could take a nap while I did some more shopping. That didn't work out so well. No nap for Kaitlyn! But James was the big poker winner so that was nice!

We ended the weekend with our small group and dinner at Joe's. I didn't cook all weekend! Wait.... I never cook.

Monday morning - back at work. Campus is dead b/c all the students are gone for 5 weeks of Christmas break. So, it's pretty quiet around here.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend!

A much better day...

Well, things have been better for Kaitlyn the past 2 days. (We'll see when we pick her up today what her note says though). I went yesterday during my lunch hour and talked with her teacher. I just needed to feel better about it - which I TOTALLY did when I left.

I just wanted to make sure that Kaitlyn wasn't turning into one of "those kids" that every teacher dreads having. Sharyl didn't feel this way at all. She said if she had time to write notes about all the good things the kids do, she would - but unfortunately all I hear are the not so good. She also said that (and I'm not saying this to be one of those braaaaagy moms) Kaitlyn just talks so well, that the other kids can't communicate back with her, and that frustrates her. She can't figure out a way to express her frustration. Of course, this isn't the only thing that makes her mad - 2 year old's just fight with each other sometimes!

Anyway, Sharyl had Kaitlyn help her make something that she could take her "anger" out on. This is hilarious. She decorated an empty 2 liter Coke bottle and put a bunch of rocks and stuff in it. Whenever K gets mad, she can just go get it and shake it or something. I totally didn't think K would understand this concept - but she gets it! Sharyl said she uses it almost every time she gets upset. I can just picture Kaitlyn growling at herself, walking over and furiously shaking or hitting the table with this bottle. Hilarious.

Anyway, she had a MUCH better day at school yesterday - and a great morning this morning, so we will see.

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This weekend Kaitlyn is going to a birthday party for one of her new friends, Emma. It's a princess party - so we need to go out and buy her a little princess dress today. It should be fun to see all her little friends all dressed up.

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We just had a Christmas party with the University Relations department here at ACU. They gave everyone gift card to the mall! I'm so pumped about that!

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It is supposed to get in the 60's on Saturday!!!! What is with Texas weather. I mean, seriously. No wonder everyone has sore throats and runny noses.

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Today is finally Friday!! I'm looking forward to a weekend at home with no major plans. I feel like we have been going and going on the weekends, it's nice to just hang out and relax.

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Last night when Kaitlyn and I were laying in bed she just cupped my face in her hands and said, "I love you Mommy... you're so pretty." That was by far the best part of my week.

Christmas Lights and Santa

Kaitlyn had an especially hard day at school yesterday. She has been really temperamental, bossy, and moody lately at home, so I sort of expected this to happen at school. My precious, beautiful, smart, funny girl was sent to the office yesterday. Twice. She was sitting in there when James went to go pick her up. Apparently she had a problem with scratching other kids AND her teacher. This is the worst feeling as a parent. This is when I hate having to work the most. How am I supposed to discipline her consistently and get her on the right track if I only see her for 3-4 hours a day? My heart is seriously heavy about this and I just cried and cried this morning when we were getting her ready to go. Any full time working moms out there with any advice???? I could really use some.

ANYWAY... since she had a such a hard day, we decided to go do something fun. We drove around and looked at a bunch of Christmas lights and then we drove out to Celebration Park. This is about 10 minutes outside of Abilene. It's like $15 per car load and you drive through literally a million Xmas lights. It's really fun to look at. They added something new this year - the Igloos. One of the enormous igloos is a fun gift shop and snack area. Outside of it is a big fire pit and you can buy the stuff to roast marshmallows. Also, Santa is there. This Santa looked so real! The real beard and everything. Kaitlyn was pretty shy at first and would not go near him, but once she saw other kids do it, she was a little more brave. (Especially when she noticed that you get a toy if you go sit on his lap) She sat there with her head down most of the time, acting totally shy. He guessed that she wanted a baby doll and that made her perk up a little bit. That is ALL she has asked for so far - a pink baby doll with pink hair. She lifted her head up and smiled long enough for a picture. It turned out pretty cute - but not worth the $7.50 we had to pay for it. Rip Off!!!!! She was also pretty proud that Santa had a beard "just like Pappy!" (I'll scan the picture in when I get home - so check back)

The other igloo was a lazer show. It was pretty fun too. Again, she seemed terrified at first going into this huge dome that was dark, but she warmed up to it. The lazers were just pictures of angels, Mary and Jesus, stars, wise men, etc. You could buy the 3D glasses, but we didn't and it was just as neat. It was so sweet to hear her little voice say over and over, "There is Mary and Baby Jesus!"

We spent about $25 bucks - but we were there for well over an hour and she had a great time.

It is FREEZING today!!!! Yikes! Too bad it is supposed to be like 60 degrees again by the weekend. No wonder everyone is getting sick.

Have a great Wednesday! And if you think about it, say a prayer for Kaitlyn, Rainbow School, and her frustrated Mommy. Thanks!

Arbonne, Movies, and Naps

I don't think I can stress enough how tired I am this morning! I don't know what my deal is. Just the fact that it's Monday I guess.

We had a pretty good weekend. Kaitlyn started to perk up about the middle of Saturday. She was pretty weak and lazy for a good day and a half.

This weekend was my Arbonne launch, and the best part about it was getting to see Meredith!!
I am so thankful that she drove the incredibly boring drive to Abilene to do this for me. What a great "sponsor!" Both of the "parties" went really well. It was good just to let people know this new venture that I'm getting into and enjoying some good food at the same time! This also allowed James and Kaitlyn some quality time together.



On Friday night James took Kaitlyn out to see Chicken Little. She LOVED it. She sat and watched the entire movie. James said it was so much fun to watch her get into it, laugh, and get to know the characters. I wish I could have gone too! On Saturday during the party they went to Chucky Cheese. She was excited about giving that big "chucky mouse" a hug.

Saturday afternoon we just hung out. James and Kaitlyn took good long naps - I snoozed a little bit and watched some TV.
When Kaitlyn woke up we enjoyed some time outside with our neighbors. They have a little girl that is just a few months older than Kaitlyn. Her name is Kelly and they love playing together. (When they are not arguing over who's bike is who's) So we went out in the 80 degree weather in our flip flops and talked to them while they put up their Christmas lights. There is something wrong with sweating and putting up Christmas lights at the same time. It's December people. (But is sure is cold today!!)

It was good to be at Highland yesterday. We've been out of town the past 2 weekends - so it felt good to be back at our church.
Last night at our small group we discussed the idea of splitting. It's really large right now, and it kind of defeats the purpose of a SMALL group. I immediatly thought back to our group in Dallas when it split. I really think it is so important to meet with a smaller, more intimate group. Everyone seems really excited about it, but we are just not sure on exactly who goes where. In Dallas it was easy to just split by location. In Abilene - you can get anywhere in 10 minutes. Anyway, I'm anxious and excited to see how it ends up, and I look forward to seeing how God works in the changes ahead!

I hope everyone had a good weekend! If any of you get a chance, go read www.canon.webhop.org. This little boy's story is amazing. He just received a liver transplant, and the way it came about is nothing short of a miracle. James and I went to school with Chandra - his mom. Her journal entries are amazing to read.

Have a good Monday!

Poor Kaitlyn

I hope this blog makes sense. I am going on about one hour sleep from last night.

I knew something was wrong right when we got Kaitlyn from school yesterday. She was complaining of her tummy hurting. She is NOT a complainer, and she is a pretty tough girl, so I could tell she really wasn't feeling well. We had to make a quick run to Sams, and she just wanted to be held the entire time. When we got home, you could tell she was just really uncomfortable - she didn't want to be held, she didn't want to lay down, etc.

James and I had plans with my work to go listen to Lester Holt speak at a dinner (MSNBC anchor). My office had spent good money on a table, so we had to go. My cousin Brenna came over, but when it was time for us to leave Kaitlyn just cried and cried. Broke my heart into about a kagillion pieces. I told Brenna that if she got sick to call us and one of us would come back.

Ten minutes later she calls. I wanted to go home so bad, but felt that I needed to stay b/c we're sitting with my boss, his wife, and like 8 other people. The dinner was on campus so it wouldn't take me long to get home if I needed too. James called once to tell me that she had thrown up again, and by the time I got home she had thrown up 6 times.

The rest of the night is history. She didn't sleep hardly at all and threw up probably 5 more times. We tried Pedialite during the night with no luck.

The morning she looks horrible and just kept saying, "Because I'm so thirsty." "Because I'm so thirsty." As I was getting ready for work (I'm only here for 2 hours then going back home), she had gone to the kitchen and grabbed the huge jug of Apple Juice and carried it into our room saying, "Because I just NEED this!" Sweet girl....

I gave her about half a sippy cup of half apple juice and half water. She drank it in like 2.3 seconds. Bless.

James said she has kept that down and seems to be a little more cheerful - so hopefully this won't last for long!

There is nothing worse than seeing your baby sick.

AHHHHH!!!!

This is how hard it is to get a 2 year old to actually look at the camera while trying to take Christmas card pictures.






Fortunately, our friend Hannah did a great job and we got some really cute ones too.

A few things from Kaitlyn...

I planned on writing this post this morning, but didn't get around to it. About 5 minutes ago I read the same idea on Alyssa's blog! Great minds think alike. Anyway, here are a few of Kaitlyn's favorite things/funny things she has said over the past few days.

- A friend of mine, Rachel, got married 2 weeks ago. Last night Kaitlyn was playing with one of her belts and she had it wrapped around her head where the long part of it was hanging down in the back. I guess she was pretending it was a veil b/c she said, "I'm getting married. I'm Rachel."

- We have 2 pecan trees in our yard. Kaitlyn loves going out with James to "pick the good ones." She loves to yell, "CRACK!!" when James opens them up for her.

- Kaitlyn likes to pretend that she is Buzz Lightyear and I am Woody. This is especially evident in the car when we are going somewhere. She will say things like, "Look at those trees Buzz Lightyear!" "We're almost there Buzz Lightyear." And I HAVE to respond with "Wow, Woody!" Or she gets mad.

- The girl loves popcorn. My mom got us one of those big tins with the cheese, butter and caramel corn separated in it. Kaitlyn will only eat the cheese and butter. She graciously passes out the caramel to whoever wants it, but you better not go near her "favorite kind."

- She prefers taking showers over baths.

- Her favorite songs to sing right now are the books of the bible. She loves to say Philippians (she sticks her tongue out real far on the "L" part) , and Micah (this was my brothers roommate in college that she had a crush on). She also likes to sing Jesus Loves the Little Children, Seek Ye First, Santa Claus is coming to Town.

- She says "probly" (probably) a lot.

- At night she has to read "a couple two books", and say her own prayer before going to bed.

- Her paci. I don't know when the paci will make its departure. We lost her favorite one a few weeks ago, so she has been sucking on a different kind that she found stashed away in one of her drawers. When we got to James's parents house over Thanksgiving her Nana gave her the one that we thought we lost. I guess we had left it there last time. Kaitlyn got so excited and just said quietly, "This is my comfortable paci."

- She loves wearing hoods on jackets, her pink plastic rain boots, or just nothing but her pull-up.

Kaitlyn is so funny, smart, sweet... we are just so incredibly blessed!

Thinking about some random questions.....

Another one that I read on someone else's and just felt like considering myself tagged:

Do you wish on stars? I did just the other day, with Kaitlyn for the first time.

When did you last cry? This morning when I read the online journal of Chandra Perkins. Little Canon got his liver transplant and it was a success!!

Do you like your handwriting? Sometimes.

What is your favorite lunch meat? Honey Ham.

When is your birthday? July 7, 1979

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip. No question. Cappucino chocolate chunk is pretty dang good as well.

If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Absolutely!! I mean, do I get any cooler? Which leads me to the next question....

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Umm, yes.

Would you ever go bungee jumping? Of course.

What is your favorite cereal? Honey Nut Cheerios. Though I don't buy them very much, they are probably my favorite.

Do you untie your shoes before you take them off? Nope.

Do you think you are strong? I'm not doing Body Pump for nothing!!

Shoe Size? 9. It used to be 10 until I had Kaitlyn, then my feet shrunk an entire size. Not even kidding.

Red or Pink? Pink.

Who do you miss most? My great-grandmother, Mam-ma.

What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Black, and black. Shocker.

Last thing you ate? It was Taco Tuesday at Rosas. So for $3 I got 3 tacos, beans, rice and 2 tortillas! But, actually, I just had a 5 peanut M&M's.

What are you listening to right now? East Mountain South.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue.

Who was last person you talked to on the phone? A prospective student that was worried about getting a "cool" roommate when she comes here in the fall.

Favorite Drink? raspberry Ice Crystal Light or Sweet Tea from Chicken Express.

Favorite Sport? Basketball.

Do you wear contacts? Yep.

Favorite food? Spaghetti with garlic toast and corn.

Last movie you watched? Derailed. Don't see it!

What is your favorite day of the year? Any day that I can spend the whole day with Kaitlyn.
But, other than that, probably Christmas.

Scary movies or happy endings? I like both of these!
Summer or winter? Fall and Spring.

Hugs or Kisses? Hugs.

Favorite Dessert? Brownies.

What books are you reading? Sadly, none at the moment. I'm about halfway through Blue Like Jazz, and The Sacred Marriage.

What is on your mouse pad? It's just plain red.

What did you watch last night on TV? Oprah, Ellen, and Gray's Anatomy that I had Tivoed.

Favorite Smell? Kaitlyn after her bath when she is all snuggly in her PJ's.

Favorite Sounds? Kaitlyns bare feet on the hard wood floors running through our house.

Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles.

Furthest you've been away from home? Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, China, and The Philippines.

Thanksgiving Weekend

This is when I dread posting the most for some reason. I have so much to write about, but don't know what to say. Do I tell you every single detail about our Thanksgiving and completely bore you to death? Or do I just slap a few pictures on here and say we had a great time and ate lots of food? Hmm... I'll do my best to be brief, at the same time recording memories for Kaitlyn to read someday.

We spent Thanksgiving in Dallas this year with James' family. We shared Thanksgiving Day with his mom, stepdad, sister Jennifer, her boyfriend Brian, and Brian's parents. And we can't forget the cats - "Busy" and "Tinkerbell". The cats, I'm afraid, were Kaitlyns favorite relative. She chased and tormented them the entire time we were there.
Anyway.. there was an abundance of food: turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, bread, sweet potato casserole, fruit salad, broccoli and cheese casserole.. I can't even think of everything. But it was all good! (And don't get me started on the desserts.) It was a very relaxing day watching the parade, football, playing frisbee outside, cooking, knitting. Yes. I said knitting. I'm making a scarf, thank you.

The rest of the weekend was a blast. I got to see 2 movies! I saw Rent with James' mom. Excellent music! I could have done without all of the homosexuality, but the songs were amazing. They should all be rock stars. James and I tried to go see Walk the Line, but it was sold out. So, we saw Derailed. Don't see it. Very disturbing, and I didn't like seeing Jennifer Aniston in a role like that. Yikes.

June and I also went to the mall to do some shopping. Well, I chased Kaitlyn and she shopped! But Kaitlyn made out well! She got some fun clothes, a really fun pair of shoes, an awesome "interactive" princess vanity set from the Disney store (for Christmas), a lot of play time in the mall playground, and a $2 train ride. Pretty fun!

And then there was Sunday at church. We went back to PC to see all of our friends that we miss so much. Kaitlyn was excited to get to see Hannah, Avery, Sam, and Megan. The highlight of our time there was when Kaitlyn escaped from the pugh. The girl is fast. The first time she got out she ran to the front of the auditorium and proceeded to go up the stairs on the side that lead to the baptistry. Nice. This was in the middle of the sermon at a very large church. I ran to catch her. About 15 minutes later when I was looking in her bag for something, she takes off again. This time sprinting to the back of the church and running completely to the other side before I could finally grab her and drag her out the door to the foyer. I mean, seriously. After church, people I didn't even know came up to me saying, "Wow - you have quick one on your hands!" Not one of Kaitlyns finer moments. But one to remember.

On our way back home we stopped in Ft. Worth to say hello to my "Grandmama", one of my cousins and my parents. I was so glad they decided to stick around so we could see them for even just a few minutes. It took us forever to get back to Abilene due to construction that had the highway down to one lane, and 2 enormous grass fires that went on for miles. Insane. But we were so glad to be home in our own beds. Kaitlyn even slept ALL NIGHT in her own bed. That hasn't happened in well over a month.

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend:


Enjoying some pumpkin pie with Papaw:

Make a wish!

She loves her rocking chair!

I LOVE ME SOME TURKEY!!

Thankful

I waited until today to post what I am thankful for. I have enjoyed reading everyone else's list! First, let me say that I am thankful that Kaitlyn has finally found a man in her life. Here is a picture of her new love, Boston. How cute are they. They hit it off on the family retreat. Boston's mom snapped this picture as they were holding hands. He's almost exactly one year older than Kaitlyn, but she's just about as tall as he is. How cute are they?



Okay, so in honor of this Thanksgiving, 2005 here is my list of what I am most Thankful for.

~ I have the most wonderful immediate and extended family ever.
~ My most beautiful daughter that makes me smile every day. I'll never know how I got so lucky.
~ My most wonderful husband, who lately has done way more around the house than I have, tells me I "look good" every day, plays nonstop with Kaitlyn... I could go on and on. I'm thankful for you.
~ A nice, warm house to come home to at the end of the day.
~ An AWESOME church home and church family.
~ Wonderful new friendships that have formed since we moved here.
~ Hendrick Healthclub - the funnest place to work out.
~ Great music.
~ Nothing bad has happened in our house, even though our address is 666.
~ My job. The fun people that I work with.
~ Rainbow Bible School and the teachers that take such good care of Kaitlyn, and make it a fun place that she enjoys going to each day.
~ Good TV shows like Lost, Gray's Anatomy, Extreme Home Makeover, Oprah and Ellen. I used to like Alias, but I won't even go there.
~I can get anywhere I need to go in 10 minutes or less. It takes me 23 seconds to drive to work, or 4 minutes to walk. James and I are both home by 5:00 everyday at the latest.
~ God. His unconditional love. His forgiveness. His patience. His grace.

And of course, I am thankful for blogging - as silly as that sounds. I love reading about what is going on in my friends lives that I miss so much! (And even the ones that live right here in Abilene!)

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Thanksgiving holiday! Don't eat too much!

Tired

I'm tired! We had a very fun weekend in Lubbock visiting my parents. We got there pretty late on Thursday night. We were planning on leaving straight from work, but I refuse to come back from out of town to a messy house, so I straightened up before we hit the road. Kaitlyn did so good in the car. It was dark outside by the time we left, so we just read books, did some stickers, and sang songs. I began teaching her the song that goes with the books of the New Testament - and she had that down by the time we got to Lubbock. Pretty cute.

Friday morning James had to go to a meeting for work. (The home office of SYSCO is in Lubbock). While he was there, we went to eat at George's for breakfast. My parents are regulars there. They have the same waitress, Stella - everytime they go. She calls everyone "Mama." Kaitlyn looked at her like, "I am not your mama." Either the waitress really loved Kaitlyn, or she was trying to get us to leave - but she gave her a dollar out of her tip money. Later that afternoon Kaitlyn and I went with James to his company's Thanksgiving lunch. This is when it is good to work for a food company - they had soooo much good food!! Kaitlyn loved the dessert. She's a chocolate girl. Side note: My mom gave Kaitlyn a piece of chocolate this weekend - and when she opened it she said, "Oh, this is my faaavorite color brown."

Friday night James and I went to the Abilene High football game. They are undefeated and in the playoffs and this game just happened to be in Lubbock!! It was soo much fun. We thought it was going to be a blowout - but it went into overtime! We won 28-21. It was awesome. Cold. But awesome. We may even go to Waco on Friday night to see them play Southlake Carroll. THAT will be a good game. Anyone want to go??

On Saturday morning my parents and my brother went skeet (sp?) shooting, while James and I went to the mall. Kaitlyn had a lot of fun playing on the indoor playground. There was a woman in a wheelchair that was there, and this was the first time that I have ever noticed Kaitlyn stop and "stare" at something like that. The lady was just given a bunch of chocolate and it was kind of drooling out of her mouth. I didn't want to tell Kaitlyn to stop staring, b/c I didn't want the lady to feel bad. So I just told Kaitlyn to tell her hi, and I told her that she likes chocolate just as much as Kaitlyn does!! She was pretty excited by that answer, and just kept playing. But that was one of those moments as a mom where I was like, what is the appropriate thing to do in this situation?


A friend that I grew up with got married on Saturday afternoon, and I was asked to stand at the sign in table. I liked this job because I got to see lots of old friends as they came in.




As far as the ceremony goes, I'm sure Kaitlyn's voice made the wedding video at least once. When the groom was saying his vows she said, "What's that little guy talking about?" And then another time she just blurted out, "I want some cake!" And she also noticed my corsage on my sweater and said (when the brides dad was giving her away) "Those are pretty flowers mama!!" Sorry Rachel!







On Sunday we went to this amazing park. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen. It was all built by people in the city that wanted to help out. It was a lot of fun - Kaitlyn loved it.




It was there that we noticed that our tire was going flat due to at least one nail that was stuck in it. So, this delayed our departure. Wal-mart had a 2 hour wait to get it fixed. So, we got Kaitlyn all bathed and in her new pajamas (thanks mom). She slept the majority of the way home.



Whew! That was most of what we did, but I'm so tired today! I guess traveling just takes it out of me. We are here today and tomorrow, and then Wednesday we leave for Dallas!! We will be there visiting James' family until Sunday! We are looking forward to seeing them, and maybe even some friends while we are there!

Happy Monday...

Two Things

This one is for you Kelly:

Two names you go by: Sis, Mommy

Two parts of your heritage: Ireland, and I have no clue about another one.

Two things that scare you: Kaitlyn - every day of her dare devil life, large spiders.

Two of your everyday essentials: lip gloss, lotion

Two things you are wearing right now: bracelet, shoes with high heels (not a regular for me)

Two of your favorite Bands or Musical Artists: Bethany Dillon & Kelly Clarkson

Two things you want in a relationship: honesty & laughter

Two truths I have: I don't really understand this question, but two things that I know are true are God's unconditional love for His children, and Starbucks pumpkin spice latte's are really good.

Two things you hate (or rather dislike with a passion): When bad things happen to children, when I get goose bumps on my legs right after I shave.

Two physical things that appeal to you: Really fun jewelry, mint chocolate chip ice cream

Two of your favorite hobbies: Blogging & Working out

Two things you want really badly: To have another baby & furniture for my house that is not passed down or come with "some assembly required."

Two places you want to go on vacation: New York, Hawaii, and D.C to visit Kelly and Travis (sorry - I had to put three!)

Two things you want to do before you die: Do mission work with my family in another country for a summer, pay off all of our debt.

Two ways that you are Stereotypically a chick/guy: I enjoy buying trendy clothes, I cry at everything

Two things you wouldn't normally admit: Yesterday when I was home for lunch I listened to the theme song to Little Einstein (one of Kaitlyn's TV shows that we have tivo'd) because I love the tune! That should count as two b/c it is so humiliating!

Two people I am tagging to do this: I don't care who does it, but Meredith Clayton HAS to because she complained that Kelly didn't tag her.

Have a good weekend!

What's going on...

Not much to post about these past couple of days. It's been pretty uneventful around here lately. And I am NOT complaining about that!

My sweet James buckled and let me get a membership to Hendrick health club. Man, I am addicted to that place!! It's the funnest place I have ever worked out! When I signed up I got a gym bag, Tshirt, water bottle, and a free shake! Yum!

Kaitlyn still ventures into our room in the middle of the night - every single night. I don't know why, but we just let her stay there. We talk about doing something about it, and say things like "This has got to stop." But the truth is, it doesn't really bother either one of us. If she feels safer, and warmer in our bed - then great. At least she STARTS in her own bed - right?! Someone validate my feelings here, please. Anyone?

She had a pretty hard day at school yesterday. Her note from her teacher was VERY long. She did not listen, scratched another kid and the teacher, had to sit in time out a couple of times, told the teacher no a few times - and I can't really remember what else. I don't know what that is all about. I just know that everytime I get notes like that I wish I wasn't working. Surely if I stayed home with her she would not act like that. It's hard for me to get notes like that. I want her to be the kid every teacher wants to have in their class! I don't know if that's a normal thought with moms or not. I can just tell when Kaitlyn just misses being at home and not doing anything.
Which leads me to my next topic....

Arbonne!! My good friend Meredith got me sucked into this. My ONLY motivation for doing this is the remote possiblitly that I could replace my income and stay home with Kaitlyn. I am getting really excited about it! She sent me one of Arbonne's product lines, and I'll be darned if this stuff doesn't really work!! I love it! And I am excited about telling other people about the opportunity. I'm having my "business launch/holiday party" in a couple of weeks. And I am most excited that Mere is coming to Abilene!! I am NOT into sales at all, so I am a little nervous about this venture, but something just keeps telling me to step out of my comfort zone and go for it. It just might pay off.

Kaitlyn took her first shower all by herself on Monday night. I was just getting her bath ready and she said, "No, I would like to take a shower like Mommy." Okay then. That was hilarious. She wanted the shower curtain closed and everything. It was pretty cute.

We are going to Lubbock tomorrow night for a good, long weekend in Lubbock. A friend from high school is getting married. I love going to weddings! Kaitlyn will love seeing Mam-ma, Pappy Neil and Belle. (The dog)

I have sneezed probably 37 times this morning, and my eyes are all puffy. I am NOT getting sick. I'm not. Go away right now!

Weekend in review...

Good Monday morning to you! How is everyone feeling today?? Gooood....

So, our weekend was nice! We are still enjoying 80+ degree weather in mid-November, but whatever.
Friday night we did absolutely nothing!!! James cooked out bbque chicken, we played outside for a little while, Kaitlyn went to bed and we enjoyed just hanging out on the couch for a couple of hours. It's so nice to not have any plans sometimes!
Saturday morning I went up to Hendrick where they were launching the new Body Step class. Two words. Sore calves. Ouch. It was an awesome class though! Unlike any other step class I have taken. A true full body work out. Sadly, I am mourning the loss of my 10 day free trial membership. Today is my last day. Where do I go from here? I weighed myself this morning and have lost 5 pounds in 10 days, I feel better about myself, I have been working out with a bunch of my friends.. it's so fun... but now we have to pay for it - IF James gives the okay. We'll see.....
After Body Step we went to help a girl from our bible class. She has a lot of health issues and is needing a new place to live - so our class and another class at Highland are helping her fix up (paint, lay flooring, tile bathroom and kitchen, carpet, plumbing...the works) a rent house. It's looking really cute! James stayed over there most of the day while I got some quality time with Kaitlyn. I really cherish my weekends with her since I work full-time. We had fun playing outside, picking pecans out of the grass - eating a lot of them, coloring, dancing, watching a video... just hanging out. She is so much fun right now. Being able to carry on a conversation with her is hilarious. A few times during the day this little conversation came up:

Kaitlyn: "Guess what mama?"
Me: "What?"
Kaitlyn: "I love you very, very much."

So sweet, that girl.

Also, last night when she was getting out of the bathtub she said:

Kaitlyn: (groaning) "I'm sore!"
Me: "What are you sore from?"
Kaitlyn: "Working out."

I guess I need to quit complaining.

Sunday was a good day at church - have I expressed enough how much I love Highland? We went out to eat with some friends. (10% off at El Chico when you show your church bulletin.) I had a baby shower to go to... fortunately El Chico is in the mall so I hit JC Penny for my gift. I got a really cute "Baby's First Christmas" outfit that I was very proud of. So, I go home to lay down for a few minutes before the shower that starts at 2:00. I BOLT off the couch at 1:35 having just realized that Wendys baby is due AFTER Christmas -so a Christmas outfit is pointless. I am the biggest NERD. Total Leslie moment right there. I run to Walmart so fast and get a Praise Baby DVD, some cute little shoes and some wash rags. I was pretty pleased with that.

After the shower I go home so James can go back and help with the rent house some more. I took Kaitlyn and her friend Kelly that lives next door to the park. It was so fun to watch them play together. They are 2 funny girls.

The final event of the weekend was helping our friend (who's house we're fixing up) pack up all of her things so that she can move today. Kaitlyn pitched in by carrying a few empty boxes up and down the stairs - to which she repeatedly YELLED out, "I'm a good helper Mommy!" Yes you are.

Home for a bath and off to bed she went. I went to the couch to watch an awesome episode of Grey's Anatomy. I love that show.

I ran 2 miles this morning with my good friend Stephanie. A great start to the day!

Is this post long enough for you?? Have a good day!

A Few Things About James

I love stealing ideas off of other peoples blogs. This one I saw first on Hollys then on Kristens. So without further adieu, here is James:

~ His love for rap music is absolutely insane. He can tell you anything about any rapper or song.
~ He loves Coke. REALLY loves it.
~ He is 6'7" and has to duck in every room of our house b/c the ceiling fans are so low.
~ Because he is 6'7", I can wear any shoes I want and still be shorter than him.
~ He can't play basketball. But he can kick by butt in soccer or air hockey any day.
~ He loves kids.. so much that he would coach a girls soccer team, even though his own daughter wasn't on it.
~ He is addicted to CSI. Some of his other favorite shows are the Chapelle Show, Family Guy, Seinfeld, and the Simpsons
~Instead of using a napkin, he wipes his hand on the opposite shoulder.
~He got his front tooth knocked out while playing hockey in soccer. It has fallen out three times since we've been married - and hopefully now it is permanently in there!
~He has awesome blue eyes.
~ I like his hands. Especially the scar on the right one.
~He did not grow up going to church. He was mad because he couldn't play with his friend Jay on Sundays b/c Jay went to church. So James started going with him in middle school.
~He really fell in love with God when Jay was spending the night at his house. There was a thunderstorm and Jay and James prayed that if God were real he would "knock that Michael Jordan poster right off the wall." The next time it thundered, the poster fell.
~ He loves lanterns.
~ He LOVES Mark McGuire. We got married on September 8th because that is when Mark hit his 62nd homerun.
~ He loves playing with Kaitlyn and making her laugh. She loves her daddy.
~ He gets Kaitlyn ready for school almost every morning. This means, getting her dressed, packing her bag AND her lunch. And sometimes they even walk to school together.
~ He can make every single dish that we have fit in the dishwasher.
~ He makes really good eggs.
~ He would do anything for anyone. He is extremely generous.
~ He loves his family.
~ He chose to come to ACU over a full ride soccer scholarship somewhere else.
~ I grew up knowing about God, and he chose to seek a relationship. He has recently taught me, in ways that he probably doesn't even know, to truly seek a relationship with the Lord.
~ We have had our fair share of hard times, but I love James with all of my heart and can't wait to learn even more fun things about him in the years ahead.

Weee!

You can click on the picture to see it bigger. I just thought it was a fun picture. Kaitlyn's favorite thing is swinging, and my favorite thing is Kaitlyn - so there you go!

What's going on..

I did it again. Body Pump, that is. And this time - James did it with me!! He did awesome! He didn't quit near as many times as I did the first time. It was really fun, actually. One of the instructors is a good friend of mine, and there were 5 or 6 others from our class at church that were doing it. We were all on the backrow together. (Except for over achiever Kate who was a few rows up.)
It was really fun working out with James! Kaitlyn enjoyed the play area outside where she got to play with her friends Emma and London while Mommy and Daddy "eshersized."
I'm not even that sore this morning! James on the other hand knows how bad I hurt last week.

After working out we went home and ate a yummy meal of pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits. Man were we hungry!!

James went and played poker last night at 10:00!! Yes - they didn't start until 10:00 in the PM. No thanks. He didn't get home until 1:30. Man is he gonna be feeling that today. I forgot to ask him if he won any money.....

Poor Kaitlyn is not feeling well. Her voice has been really hoarse and raspy the past few days, but her cough this morning was horrible. She has a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Hopefully we'll get some good antibiotics and kick this cold in the bootie.

I'm going to a luncheon today where the featured speaker is Pat Summerall. Not that I'm a huge fan or anything - but it's something different and fun to do. We can even get our picture taken with him - and an autographed photo. Too exciting. I can't even contain myself. Right. Anyway... it's a free lunch - and I guess he's somewhat of a celebrity, so I'm excited.

Happy Tuesday!

Family Retreat

What an awesome weekend! We went on a family retreat that Highland does twice a year. We went to an HEB Encampment called Echo Valley in the Hill Country. It was soooo pretty. The weather was beautiful. Here are the highlights:

~ Getting there late on Friday night and watching Kaitlyn help James light the lantern.
~ Having our own HEATED cabin full of bunk beds for Kaitlyn to climb around on. We pushed 2 beds together and all slept long ways.
~ Waking up with the sun on Saturday and Sunday and looking out to a most gorgeous view of big trees and crystal clear water!
~ Watching all of the kids turn a sand volleyball court into one huge sand box. They had a blast.
~ Watching huge catfish swim around in the clear river.
~ Making sure Kaitlyn didn't jump in the river.
~ Going canoeing. Almost tipping the canoe over. Getting mad at James b/c I thought he was trying to tip the boat over on purpose.
~ Watching Kaitlyn and her new "boyfriend" Boston play together.
~ Playing tennis, volleyball, and basketball.
~James beating me in PIG. First time in 4 years.
~ Swing with Kaitlyn on a huge tree swing that went out almost to the river. Hanging on for dear life.
~ James being the MC for the Talent Show on Saturday night. (I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of that)
~The Talent Show. Hilarious songs, skits, and just plain talent! I mean, who plays the harmonica without using their hands, or one of those things that straps around your head? Awesome.
~Church on Sunday morning. Serving communion to one another. Seeing an old man cry and about an 8 year old girl cross the room to go and hold his hand.
~Holding Kaitlyn as she slept on Sunday morning. She wasn't feeling well, but it's been awhile since I've held her like that.


~Getting to know more families at Highland. And spending quality time with mine.
~Yummy food.
~KP duty.
~Warm fires.
~Singing songs.
~Playing games.
~Getting away.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. But we were ready to sleep in our soft bed last night! Here are a few of the pics. The rest are on the Flickr link.

A New Link

Don't worry every one, Leslie will be back to posting soon. In fact she might even have a contribution this morning about our amazing weekend.

I wanted to take this opportunity to point out that there is a new link under the heading "His Links". If you have the time I would suggest you take the time to check out Chris Campbell's blog site. Why would you want to do such a crazy thing, you don't even know the guy. That's fine, but he is one of the main factoring reasons I am where I am today.

Jay Potts invited me to church, Chris Campbell made me love church. He was the summer intern at Waterview C of C for a summer and made it fun. We went to these Tuesday night devotionals at other churches and then we did this service project called Work Camp. I remember thinking that no 0ne this cool could e a Christian and such a good person. I mean he was really funny to us. I also remember how the prime seat to any event was the backseat of some old RX-7 or something like that. He also created a standard for summer youth interns that was going to be tough to beat. That was the time when Bill Hunter was out youth minister. I think he moved to TN or something after he left. That was really hard on everyone

I remember at the time, summer seemed so long and he finally did have to leave. I thought he would be back the following year but wasn't. I forgot the guy that came after Chris but I know he works on ACU's campus as well. Then there was Darren Hollingsworth (these are out of order) and Pat Adams. These men impacted my life in different ways each summer. But to be completely honest the youth group always tried to welcome the new interns with their hearts open and try to make them feel at home the whole time I was at Waterview. I think we all did this for the same reason, I think its because of all the fun we had with Chris and anticipation of a wonderful summer.

So Chris, you don't read this blog, but that doesn't matter. I want to thank you from the tips of my toes to the receding hairline I call Florida. You truly are a wonderful man and know that God put you in my life to make me see the how easy and fun it is to love the lord.

Thank you.

Ouch

Not much to write about this morning. Other than the fact that I can't sit, stand, walk, lay down.. anything w/o clenching because my poor body is so incredibly sore. My friend Stephanie teaches "Body Pump" at Hendrick Health Club. She got me sucked into going last night. (Using the excuse that the class would be free and I could have the pleasure of having dinner with her after). OH MY GOSH. This class kicked my bootie. I've been running a few times lately, but I don't remember the last time I did anything with weights. It's a really fun class with really fun music, but parts of my body that I didn't even know existed are sore. And NOW she is trying to get me to get a membership there. (Again, using the excuse that ACU employees can just have their discounted membership fee taken directly out of their paycheck.) What is she trying to do to me? (My face was NOT as calm and relaxed as this girls is)

However, I am trying to work out more. Another thing she got me sucked into doing is joining this club called "Mom's on the Move." A bunch of young mom's get together and run a few days a week. Once every 3 months you travel somewhere in Texas and run a 5K. This I am excited about. Each time a different chooses the location and makes the travel arrangements, and the other girls don't know where they are going until they get there. Anyway....

This weekend we are going on the Family Retreat with our church. It's somewhere down in the Hill Country. I've heard it's super pretty and a lot of fun for all the kids. We'll see how Kaitlyn does sleeping in a cabin with her sleeping bag! And I'm sure we'll have to keep an extra close eye on my fearless daughter.. there is a large river that runs through the campsite, and I'm sure lots of other things she can explore and get into. There are a lot of other families with young kids - I know Kaitlyn will have a blast. The weather is supposed to be nice.. we're looking forward to it!!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend!!

Fly away Butterflies

Last night we had the Butterflies over. This is James's 5 and under girls soccer team that he successfully coached to a second place finish this year. I had a fun cake made (that included some sweet soccer ball rings for the girls to take home), and we had ice cream and a very nice, impromtu trophy presentation from the Mayo himself. Kaitlyn proudly wore her own pink and blue jersey in support of her daddy's team.

I was a little worried about having this many little girls (and their families) over, but it went really well! James cleaned, and I mean CLEANED the house yesterday afternoon. It looks great! Kaitlyn loved playing with all of the girls and showing them her Halloween candy. They had a lot of fun playing in her room. James told a little story about each of the girls as he passed out their trophies. It was really sweet. The parents really enjoyed that. Many of the girls even brought cards or pictures that they had made for him. He also got a gift certificate to Bette Rose (his fav. bbque place).



It was fun to watch these girls look up to James. (Literally.) Spring season starts in February and everyone is already so excited about it! They are planning on staying together as a team as long as they can. I'm proud of James and his patience with them -and for the example that he was to them. It was really fun to watch.

Trick or Treat

We had so much fun last night. We went trick-or-treating just to our neighbors house to get Kaitlyn all warmed up. Then we headed for Christian Homes. This is a retirement home that we live right down the street from. They go all out. All of the sweet old people sit outside their doors with candy to give to all the kids. There are a TON of kids that come here to trick-or-treat. It was evident that it meant SO much to these sweet people that all these kids would come see them. Many of them even cried!! Kaitlyn LOVED it... she loved saying trick-or-treat, and Happy Halloween! She gave many of them hugs. It was so sweet to watch - I even got a little teary. Shocker.


From Christian Homes we went to the carnival at our church. It was pretty small, but Kaitlyn had a good time. She jumped in the bounce house, did the duck pond, went fishing for candy, and even threw the bean bag right through the pumpkin's mouth at the bean bag toss.

Here are a few more random pictures from the past couple of days:

Happy Halloween!

Another fun weekend has come and gone. My mom came in town while my dad went on his annual fun trip with his friends. Friday night she babysat Kaitlyn while James and I went with some friends to the Abilene High/Cooper football game. It was sooo fun! There were over 15,000 people there easy. Too bad it was a blowout 40-0 AHS. That's who we were going for, but I like to see some competition!! We had fun though, watching all of the CRAZY fans, cheerleaders, students, and the game, of course. While we were at the game, Kaitlyn wanted to be a clown - her halloween costume. My mom put her in it for the first time - painted face and all. She said she just kept looking in the mirror at herself - not quite sure of what she was looking at!






Saturday morning we hung around the house and played with Kaitlyn. She loves when anyone comes to visit!! We made a good breakfast - Kaitlyn's new favorite thing is to crack eggs into a bowl. She is pretty good at it! As soon as she went down for her nap - mom and I went on a mission to find Kaitlyn her "big girl" bed. We started off with just some used furniture places... ads in the paper, etc. I wanted to get her a full size bed if possible. However, as we looked we remembered that we already had some queen mattresses that were being stored in our shed in the backyard. SO.. if we didn't have to buy mattresses, we could get a nicer bed! So, we found the cutest rod iron queen size head board and footboard at Gallery Furniture. I love it!! They even delivered it and put it together that same day! It's a huge bed, for such a little girl - but she will never grow out of it! :) It looks really cute in her room. She's just getting so big.... I want her to stop growing up!

Saturday was also James' last soccer game with the Butterflies. They did great! I don't even think the other team scored! They came in second place for the season - only losing 2 games. Those sweet girls (and their parents) really loved James. Many of the girls don't have good father figures in their lives, and it was neat to see them latch on to James. We are having an ice cream party at our house on Tuesday to celebrate and pass out their trophys. Until next season...

Saturday night we went to Mr. Gatti's for dinner. It was a mad house in there! They were having some Halloween costume contest that we did not know about. Sensory overload! Kaitlyn loved playing the games. Her favorites were ski-ball (where she tried to just walk up the thing and drop it in the highest hole), and the game where you bang the alligators on the head when they pop out. It was fun watching her play and have a good time! Some nice people even gave her their tickets - so Kaitlyn got to pick out some fun toys from the prize counter.

Sunday was good at church. She lasted until halfway through the sermon!! The longest ever! At that point she just said, "I'm all done with this. I need to go to class now." And off she went!! She has really loved her bible class - and even yelled "I LOVE YOU!" to her teachers as we left. Sweet girl...

We went to the park Sunday afternoon where she almost knocked herself out like 37 times. She has no fear. She will just jump off the tallest thing and hope she catches a bar to swing on. She found a fake spider ring on the ground that she attached herself to.

Sunday night was our small group Halloween party. It was so fun to see everyone dressed up in their costumes! All the kids looked so cute. James and I weren't going to dress up, but we feared we would be the only ones that didn't, so at the last minute we threw on 2 of his Manchester United jerseys and went as soccer fans. Original. I know.





Back at work now. Tonight is our carnival at church and maybe some Trick or Treating after.

I will post more pictures to our Flickr thing during lunch time, so check back for some cute ones!

Have fun today!!

Going to work with Dad

Kaitlyn went to work with her Daddy today. She was SO excited. James usually has a very light day on Fridays, so he thought it would be fun to have Kaitlyn tag along. I'm anxious to hear how it goes, and if James' customers bought more food because he had a sweet little girl with him. She is pretty persuasive!

I remember getting to go to work with my dad. He drives around in a big truck - and I mean BIG - and sells electrical supplies. He has done this faithfully for over 20 years. It was so much fun to get to ride with him, and sit up high in his truck. Sometimes he would even let me type the invoices on his computer. (That's a high tech way of saying he let me push "Enter" a few times) But that made me feel special. I even got to go inside some of his customers buildings with him. He was always so proud to tell people who I was - and that, too, made me feel special!

There was a time in my life though, where my dad had to take me to Jr. High in his enormous truck. Any of you remember your Jr. High years? I mean, who wasn't the biggest dork? I know I was. I made my dad drop me off way over on a side of the school where no one could see. That makes me feel so sad now! I remember there was another girl who's dad drove a truck similiar to my dads and we would sometimes be dropped off on the side of the school building together.
But looking back now, I am so proud of my dad and the work that he does. He can take me driving in his truck any day - and I will totally think it is cool.

Kaitlyn got to ride in her Pappy's truck last time we were in Lubbock. Yes, he sure did strap her carseat into the seat right next to him. It was quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever seen. They both had huge smiles on their faces when they drove back up in the drive way. I'm sure she will continue to love playing in his truck as she grows up. My brother and I used to play "ambulance" in the back of it. When Neil and I moved away to college - a little boy down the street asked my dad to come speak at his elementary school about his job. This little boy said he wanted to grow up and sell stuff like my dad. He was so proud of it! My dad went - and I'm sure did an awesome job. This little boy would come down to my dad every once in awhile with a dollar or two in hand, wanting to buy stuff off my dads truck. My dad was so good about making that little boy feel special - and giving him just the right item for whatever project he was working on.

All of this to say - I love you Dad! I am so proud of the work that you do! But more than that - what you taught me and Neil about loyalty, making work fun, ministering to others through your job, and not letting your job take prioritiy over your family.

I am thankful that Kaitlyn is with James today. I hope there are many more days like that in the future. I pray that she grows up with an appreciation for what her dad does to support our family.

Ramblings

I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments, and seeing who stops my to read about what is going on in our lives.

I have severe "bloggers block" as Kristen once called it. I can't think of anything interesting to write about, and I haven't taken any new pictures lately. I guess I'll just list a few things that are going on...

1. It's POURING down rain. I love the rain!

2. Kaitlyn has somehow made it into our bed every night for the past 2 weeks. We just wake up in the morning and she's there with whatever stuffed animal or toy that she brings.

3. I still have not bought a Halloween costume for Kaitlyn. My next opportunity is tomorrow during lunch. I hope there is still somewhat of a selection! I doubt it though...

4. Friday night James and I are going to the much anticipated Abilene High/Cooper football game. It's already sold out... West Texas football is so much fun!

5. I went to church by myself last night so Kaitlyn could go to be early.. she only had about a 45 minute nap at school. (I guess that is what you get when you have a Fall party with lots of sweets right before nap time) But, when I got home she was still awake, so I went into her room to lay down with her for a little bit. She is always so talkative late at night. This was our conversation - not really funny, but just sweet:

"You went to church Mommy?"
"Yes, I did."
"You sang songs?"
"Yes."
"You read your bible?"
"Yes."
"Did you see Jesus?"
Totally choking back tears, "Well, Jesus lives in our hearts, but I saw a picture of Jesus, and we talked about Jesus."
"Oh. Okay. Did you sit in your chair?"
"Yes."
"Did you see Scott and Canyon and Teacher Sheryl?"
"No, but I saw a lot of other people."
"Okay. Bye. Bye."

So sweet... I love this time in her life where she talks so much, and asks so many questions! I'm afraid of the day when I don't know how to answer a question that I should know the answer to.

Why God thought I deserved Kaitlyn is beyond me. There is no greater blessing!

Who Are You?

Okay, I've seen this post on several other blogs. I can't think of anything to blog about today, so I'm using this as a cop out. Plus, I really do want to know who all reads this blog. I have had over 1,100 hits just since the 14th. So, if you are reading this - take just a second and leave me a comment, so I know who you are! (Sara D., this means you too.)
How did you find my blog and why do you read it?

Have a good Wednesday!

Blessed

What an amazing weekend! Our family was, yet again, in three different place. I went on the Ladies retreat with our church, Kaitlyn spent the weekend with my parents, and James stayed home for some much deserved rest.

The ladies retreat was incredible. I could write and write about everything we did, but it's just one of those things you just have to experience. There were 6 girls from our class at church that went, and then many other women of all different ages. It was so neat to get to interact with these amazingly smart, wise women. The weekend was spent looking at the story of the Woman at the Well. I have read that bible story numerous times, but left the retreat with a much fuller, in depth appreciation for it.



I literally feel closer to Jesus. I think that I have just been carrying him around in my back pocket - only choosing to take Him out when I need him - not allowing him to be with me every second. He longs to be with me always... He wants me to meet him face to face, and not run past him - as the woman at the well did.

I feel like I made 6 new best friends! It's amazing what just 2 days can do to a friendship! I also feel like I have about 50 other women at the church that I can call on for anything. Highland is such a personal, inviting, warm, friendly church. I truly feel like this is where James and I are supposed to be. I feel like I can finally say - this is our home church. This is where we are welcomed by others, and this is where we will serve. This is where Kaitlyn will grow up. This may be where our children will be baptized. This is where many strong friendships will be established, and grow stronger through the years.


I came home from the weekend, totally exhausted and emotionally drained. But I also came home to a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, and a clean house!!




Have a good Monday!