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: