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Don't have a whole lot to say this week! It's been a pretty uneventful week filled with just work, school, and hanging out in the evenings!

We did go to church on Wednesday night. We are going to try and get in the habit of going on Wednesdays because in August we start leading our Huddle group - which consists of meeting every Wednesday night for 4 years! We are really excited about that...

The Butterflies had soccer pictures last night. Kaitlyn sure did wear her jersey and jump in the team picture, as well as a special picture with just her and her Daddy. It was pretty cute. We then took advantage of $1 chopped brisket sandwiches at Bette Roses with the Beards. Kaitlyn and Kaylee had fun running around.

We leave today for the Highland Family Retreat. We had such a blast in the Fall, and can not wait to go back! The weather is supposed to be beautiful! Hopefully we will have a fun weekend of fishing, hiking, wading in the "pebble beach", spending time with friends, sand volleyball, frisbee golf,canoeing and much more! It's absolutely beautiful there - sure doesn't look like Texas!


















Have a good weekend!

Where are people without Church?

Have you ever had "one of those Sundays?" Where you feel like God is saying, "Are you listening, (enter name here)? This is for you!!!!" Everything about church yesterday was great. The funny thing is, I almost didn't go. James was out of town, and I knew beforehand that we would be taking communion at the front of the auditorium. This is not something I usually enjoy doing. Especially by myself. A little out of my comfort zone. But, I sucked it up and went anyway. I took Kaitlyn to "her church," and listened to God. The songs we sang were great. I really tried to focus my attention on the words, which I don't do near as often as I should. Mike's sermon was on being "A Place of Non-Condemnation." Not judging others. Forgiveness.
It was just really convicting.

The Lord's Supper was wonderful. They didn't dismiss us by rows, but instead just said that the table was open - come share. I thought people would be more hesitant, but everyone just hopped out of their seats, eager to commune together. I really enjoyed watching everyone do this. It was neat to see families with young kids go down together, or an elderly couple hold hands as they walked down. I don't know the older couple who served me the bread and the cup. But the wisdom behind their eyes and the sincerity in their smiles was special. It was an awesome communion experience.

I love our class. I don't know why I was all sappy and emotional yesterday, but it seemed as though everything set me off. A couple that I had not yet met announced they are pregnant with their first baby. The wife started crying while her husband was announcing it.

I looked across the room and saw a friend who I know had a really hard week, and shocker - got teary eyed.

The leader of our class got really emotional talking about his daughter who has made tremendous strides in her life lately. Got me again.

How do people survive that don't have the love of Christ and the support of a church family? How can people not believe in God?

Our teacher in class taught about confession and prayer. Confession is another thing I am uncomfortable with, but need to do more. One question that was asked that I am still thinking about is, who do you confess to? How wide do you go? Confess only to God? To your best friend or spouse? To the person you sinned against? To your class as church? All of the above? Just something to ponder....

I am so thankful for my parents. I am thankful for the faith that they instilled in me. I am thankful that they started this path for me to follow. I hope that I can do as good of a job with Kaitlyn.

Sorry this post was so deep - again, not usually like me.

Farewell Mr. Purple!

Mr. Bob Hunter's office is a few doors down from mine at work. The sweetest man you will ever meet. He gave his secretary a purple fish 2 years ago to keep on her desk. His name was Mr. Purple. Since I started working here last June, Kaitlyn has loved going to see Mr. Purple. (Granted there was also a candy dish right next to him, but whatever)

I just went to rinse out my coffee cup, and I found a sad sight. In the break room was Mr. Purple's home for the last two years, next to the sink... completely empty. Poor little guy.

"All drains lead to the ocean" - or so Nemo has Kaitlyn convinced. So, I'm sure this will not phase her. The candy dish will still be there! But, I got a little sad! Mr. Bob Hunter is retiring soon, and I guess Mr. Purple just couldn't bear to see him go.

It's been awhile.....

It's been 7 days since I last posted. Yikes! I don't even know where to start! Let's just do a little play-by-play....

Friday: My mom was in town keeping Kaitlyn... it rained ALL day long, and Kaitlyn got a haircut. It was looking more and more like a mullet every day. It was almost to the middle of her back in the back, and a little past her chin in the front. Time for a change! She was SO excited to go get a hair cut, which made it really easy! Here's what it looks like now:



Saturday: Mom and I got up and went shopping in the rain. We got Kaitlyn lots of new clothes that she REALLY needed. At noon we went to a birthday for one of Kaitlyn's little friends, Sophia. Here, she had her first pinata experience! She smacked it pretty good 2 times! Check out her stance with the bat!

On Sunday it rained all day again.. so we just layed around all afternoon. James taught our class Sunday morning - his lesson was about silence and solitude. He talked about how we need to make an effort daily to spend quiet time alone with God. He did a really good job of stepping out of his comfort zone to lead class. It was so nice to have a long afternoon to listen to the rain and thunder, and just spend time with God.

Monday it was bright and sunny - but really cold. I was not expecting that! Here is our crazy story from Monday evening:

When I got home from work, James and Kaitlyn went to play in the backyard. About two minutes later James starts yelling at me, "Leslie, get your shoes on right now and come see this thing before it moves!!!" So, I put my shoes on and go out there and James said, "Just start walking towards the trash can and tell me what you see." I was like, ABSOLUTELY not!! You tell me what's out there, and I'll decide if I want to go see it or not. So, he pointed it out to me and said, "See that huge thing with it's head sticking up?" I saw it pretty quickly. Is it sad that the first thing I thought was, I have to take a picture of it - this is a good blog story!! I'm a huge dork, okay? So, I went in the house, grabbed my camera and climbed on top of Kaitlyn's playhouse. Here is what I saw:


I was freaking out. This whole time we are trying to keep Kaitlyn away from it. She wants to go touch it and hold it. Right. After I get a good look at it, this is James and I's conversation:

J: "Does it have teeth?"

L: "Yes it has teeth!! It's mouth is wide open. I think it's in attack mode. It's not shutting it's mouth."

J: "Okay. I'm gonna throw stuff at it to see if it will run away."

So, James starts throwing anything he can find at it. After a few failed attempts with throwing pecans, he grabs a plastic yellow bat and hits the thing right on it's back. It doesn't move. Which makes me look closer at it. I said, "James it's not even breathing or moving at all."

This story could have a totally dramatic ending, but Mr. Lizard man was FAKE. That's right. And when James realized this, he began beating the heck out of it with the plastic bat. Then Kaitlyn said, "Now can I hold it?" Hilarious.

Have a good day!

Date Night/Video

We had a fun date night last night! James agreed to go walk around Target with me - I could do this for hours. We had a good time, and I did good - I only bought new shampoo, conditioner and some make up. I didn't even go to the clothes section. I was pretty proud of myself! After Target we went to eat at Chilis. I could eat chips and hot sauce every single day and not get tired of it. Then we went to go see Failure to Launch. It was a pretty cute show. I do have to say that Sarah Jessica Parker just bugs me. Her tan was so fake and uneven, and she wore WAY too much make up. I think Rachel McAdams or Kate Hudson could have played that part better than she did. But Matthew McConauhay - that's a different story! Then we came home to a very quite house.. strange! We watched American Idol and went to bed!

Here is another video for you. This one is of Kaitlyn saying the Lord's Prayer. Pretty cute!



Video Sharing at DropShots.com

Trip to Midland

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL!!!! (Sorry, got tired of changing the colors)

I am just a little bit tired this morning! We drove to Midland last night to celebrate my brother's birthday. The big 2-4!! Crazy...
We met my parents down there and all went to eat at Olive Garden and then back to his apartment for cake and ice cream. It was fun to see him - we haven't been to visit since we moved him in last summer. His apartment was all clean and nice! I was so proud!




Kaitlyn had a fun time singing Happy Birthday and "helping" him blow out the candles. After the par-tay was over, my parents took Kaitlyn back to Lubbock with them for the rest of the week! James and I are trying to decide what to do with ourselves the next couple of nights... any good suggesstions for movies? I heard Failure to Launch is good, but that's about it.

By the way, did anyone watch "Miracle Workers" on TV Monday night? That show was amazing! I think this will be another regularly recorded show.

Here's a couple more pics from the day....

Never mind... blogger won't load anymore pictures.

*%!#@$&!!!!!

I just typed an ENORMOUS blog with pictures and everything and it somehow got deleted. I'm about to drop kick this computer across my office.

I'll be back when I cool down.

Hello!

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!

I'll write more about our weekend in a little bit, but for now check out the video below:

Testing this video thing out

Here is Kaitlyn singing Away in a Manger. One of her favorites. This was really late last night - she seems to not remember the words so well. Sorry the video is kind of dark:


Video Sharing at DropShots.com

Totally random thoughts...

Can it be a little more windy outside today? K, thanks. Seriously. Why did I even brush my hair this morning?

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I accidentally bought 5 pair of earrings from Sammoon.com yesterday. Oops. I thought by clicking "continue" it was just going to tell me how much my total would be IF I did decide to purchase. But nooooooooo, somehow my credit card information was saved on there from a few months ago, and when I clicked "continue" it said, "Thank you for your purchase." YIKES!! I was so nervous to tell James. But, being the awesome husband he is, he didn't really get that upset. So now I'm really excited to get them! (And really, is $28 that bad for 5 pair of earrings plus shipping?)

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Two words. Super Suppers. I know all of you Dallas girls are familiar with this place, but we just got one in Abilene. It's actually a couple from Highland that opened it. James was able to get them as an account! This place is awesome. They have a different menu each month, and you can go in and cook up to 12 meals. There are fun little kitchen areas, and all of the ingredients/supplies are there for you to use. So, because James has hooked these nice people up, they let him cook a couple of things for free! So, we had cream cheese chicken enchiladas, and some kind of braided bread with lots of delicious stuff inside of it. He did a good job!

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I really love the people that I work with. I love that I work in a place where we can meet every Wednesday morning for a devotional. I love working in a place where people make me laugh on a regular basis. I love talking to high school students that are so excited about coming to ACU this fall. I love thinking about the awesome experience that they will have here and the lifelong friendships they will make.

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Here is my question of the day: Besides being a parent (if you are one), what has been your favorite job? Or, if you could work anywhere or do anything, what would you do?

Weekend happenings....

I wish it was still Saturday!! Or Sunday even. Anything but Monday. My hair looks nasty, I'm so tired, and I totally need to go home and re-think my clothing. But, I had a fabulous weekend!

Friday after work I went to Body Step - I haven't done that class in forever. It was good to be back! It was wonderful, except for the part that my friend next to me totally passed out. That was scary. I guess that's what happens when you work out while having PNEUMONIA!! Crazy girl. But, she's okay.... a little embarrassed, but okay. Friday night we just stayed home and enjoyed doing nothing! We just had sandwiches for dinner and called it a night.

Saturday morning we took Kaitlyn to Wal-mart to spend her Valentine's Day money from her Grandparents. She picked out a Dora jump rope, a Cinderella/Belle pillow case, and a Tweety bird Pez dispenser. Cheap toys are her favorite I'm afraid! She will only sleep on the Cinderella side of the pillow. She thinks Cinderella has "chapped lips" because they are red.

After Wal-mart I was off for my 2 hours of pampering! I got to go cash in my gift certificate for an hour massage and facial. I've only had one massage before, and I've never had a facial. I loved every single minute of it! (Except for the eyebrow wax. That hurt a little!) When I left, I felt like I had been asleep for like 4 days. My voice even sounded like it does when I first wake up. What is up with that? Anyway, it was wonderful! Thanks James for such a great present!

Sunday afternoon was the Butterflies first soccer game of the season. It was pretty much sooo windy, but a lot of fun to see the girls back in action again. I made the mistake of letting Kaitlyn wear her jersey - she thought she could be out there with the team the whole time. But, we had a lot of fun. For a play by play of both games and some cute pictures, check out Erica's blog!

On the way home from the soccer game, I got pulled over. Nice. Kaitlyn was like, "HI!! What's going on? What's that little guy doing?" I swear, she said hi to the officer like 7 times, and he never said hi back! Oh well, I could have gotten like 4 different tickets (speeding, no seat belt, incorrect address on license), but he only gave me one for my inspection sticker being one month past due. Thank you!!!!!

Sunday was a great day at church... we found out that the Spring family retreat will be the last weekend of this month. We're so excited to go back! The place is beautiful, and Kaitlyn had an absolute blast. We are looking forward to making these retreats family traditions.

We got to see my parents on their way through town, and give my dad his birthday present. Kaitlyn had fun coloring, stamping and putting stickers on Pappy's card. She loves getting to see them so often!

Sunday night, our small group was finally able to meet again! I was so proud of Kaitlyn for sitting quietly for most of the time. For those of you that know our sweet Kaitlyn, she is not the "sit quietly" type of girl. But she did great.. worked on her puzzles and sticker books. She did sit next to our friend Eric for quite awhile. I think she has a little crush. And every time someone read a scripture, she would bow her head and fold her hands in her lap. I guess she thought we were praying. Bless her little heart.

I hope all of you had a fun weekend! Have a good week!

Boz the Bear

OK - all you moms out there looking for something new to show your kids.... Go to www.bozthebear.com

These DVDs are about to be released in a couple of weeks to Christian bookstores like Lifeway, Mardel, etc. Boz the Bear was created by a company in Dallas (that my uncle helped start) and by the same people that created Barney.

They are great, faith building, funny and educational shows. You can go to the website and request a sneak peek DVD to be mailed to you for free. (You'll get it really quick too)

Just something fun for you to check out!

Here's my question of the day:

What was your favorite TV show/video growing up?