Whew! I'm Tired!

What a weekend.... to say that I am tired is a HUGE understatement. We had so much fun - but I am beat! Here are the highlights:

* Friday night carnival on campus at ACU. So many fun things for kids - bounce houses, face painting, games, food... all free!! Kaitlyn was terrified of Willie the Wildcat. That was a funny picture.

* Our friends Andy and Amy Bowman came to stay with us Friday night! Amy turned our guest bedroom into a hospital. She was popping all sorts of pills, giving herself shots, hooking herself to some breathing machine.... good grief!! Stay healthy for that baby Amy!! We were so glad they stayed with us!




* Friday night Kaitlyn (after about 2 1/2 weeks) realized her fish, Gill wasn't in her room anymore. That totally took me off guard. She just asked, "Where did Gill go?" Amy chimed in - your daddy took him away. Nice. Kaitlyn just said, "Oh, okay."

* James enjoyed lots of "guy time" with his friends.

* Siggie breakfast at 6:30 Saturday morning. It was fun to see my cousin Brenna singing her little tired heart out on the steps. Only 4 girls were there from my class, but I hung out with all the girls that are a year or two older than me. Shout out to Amanda, Ginger, Becky, Sarah C., Kacy, Rene.....



* The parade around campus was great. Kaitlyn loved it. We taught her how to make the Wildcat sign with her hands and say, "Go Wildcats!" Pretty cute.

* It's always fun to walk around the parade and see tons of friends that you never get to see. It was such a pretty day - we had a blast out there. Siggies float was pretty dang cute - but Kojies won. Siggies got homecoming queen though! :)

* Saturday afternoon James went to his soccer game and I hung out at home with my Grandmother and my cousin Taylor. I even squeezed a 20 minute nap in while I was there. Later, Ashley and Cody Nelson came over to get ready for the 5 year reunion dinner. I love that girl!! She cracks me up. It was neat to get to chat with Cody for awhile too!

* The reunion dinner was fun. James has some WAY fun girls in his class that I got to hang out with. Another shout out to Jennifer, Shanta, Kacy, Katie, Kimberly.... We took some pretty funny pictures.




* When we got home, Kaitlyn was still awake. She was smiling so big and just kept saying, "I was born!! I was born on my birthday! I was born!..." Totally random, but pretty funny.

* Also, on Thursday night when I was giving Kaitlyn a bath she was counting 1-10... so out of the blue I just said, can you count to 10 in Spanish? We have been working on it just a little bit here and there - but nothing consistent. The girl just took off and said it perfectly. It was pretty funny. Now, everytime she counts anything - she counts in spanish.

*Church on Sunday was awesome as usual! Mike talked about blessed are those who are persecuted, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. He showed this video of a married couple who were held captive for their belief for an entire year. The husband was eventually killed. She has just written a book about her time there. Just when I thought I had a lot to worry about....

* After church I got in the car and drove to Lubbock for a wedding shower of a girl that I grew up with. I saw some good friends that I had no idea would be there. So fun! After the shower my parents took me to Applebees for a nice dinner.

* After my dad picked a few nice apples off their apple tree for me, and cleaned the windows of my car, I was on my way home!

* I went straight to bed and am still trying to wake up.

* One of my roommates from college - Sara Hejl - had her baby on Sunday!!! Happy Birthday Cooper!!

It was a totally packed, but VERY fun weekend!

Need Some Understanding

Leslie complains EVERY season about having nothing to wear. I complain about her complaining every season about her having nothing to wear.

My question to her is this, "Why do you need to go shopping every season?"

Her response, "I'm a girl"

She said if I didn't believe her that I should make a post about it and see what comes up. You see what this crazy blog has done to my ability to make points. I am now incorporating the opinion of "crazy women" to back me up on this. No way!

When I shop I purchase neutral colors and patterns that do not look trendy and cannot be dated. On the othehr hand, she likes to buy prints and designs that will never be worn again because they are dated. We have homecoming this weekend and apparently her closet is empty and shows no signs of winter clothes (it has done this every winter we have been married). My winter clothes just recently came out of the box she put them in.

Am I crazy or does it really take the opinion of women to help me sort this out.

PS I am a tough guy.

Memories!

This weekend in ACU Homecoming. I am totally excited, but really sad that many of my girlfriends from my year can't come back! Coming to work today I noticed purple and white streamers on all of the light posts, huge canopy tents all over campus, buildings decorated.... everyone is in the spirit! It is also ACU's Centennial year - 100 years!

On this memorable occasion, I thought I would just share some of my favorite memories from college.

Freshman Year:

Feeling totally overwhelmed at Welcome Week
I went pot-luck on my roommate who transfered out of ACU at semester. She didn't like the rules.
Meeting Meredith Speck (Clayton) on the basketball court. (I had just got a REALLY bad haircut)
I worked at TCBY
Went on a Spring Break Campaign to Chicago
Went with a totally random group of friends to my uncles lakehouse at Possum Kingdom.
Meredith and I went back by ourselves and had a near death experience with a dog named Killer.
For Sing Song we were teeth. Wore huge cardboard cut outs of teeth. We though we were awesome. Not so much.

Sophomore Year:

Pledging! I pledged Sigma Theta Chi.

Bid Night - my bid-night buddy was Meredith. She put so much afro sheen in my hair - it was greasy for weeks.

This is the year that I met my best friends. Friends that I will have for the rest of my life.

Went on a Spring Break Campaign to Nashville, TN where a bunch of us got tattoos. (We all got an Icthus (sp?) on our ankle. That was a fun experience.

Road trip to Muleshoe!

Porch parties outside of Sara and Noelle's room. Listening to awesome 80's music.

For class Sing Song we were police officers, for club we were Annie. That was a bad year for Siggies.

Junior Year:

I lived in the L-house with Sara, Sara, Noelle, and Stacy. SO much fun! It had an awesome porch with 2 swings. We hung out out there practically every night.

I remember the night we all waited nervously before finding out that Sara made Sing Song hostess!!

Road trips to Emory, San Antonio, Galveston, Tennessee

Watching FRIENDS on Thursday nights at Angie, Hayley, Julie and Cara's house.

I took a summer mission trip to Asia where I visited Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Phillipines.

Was a counselor at Leadership Camps.

James and I started dating 2 weeks before school was out.

For class Sing Song we were Egyptians, for club we were Chili Peppers.

Senior Year:

I lived with Cortni in Riatta Ranch apartments. (I moved a lot!)

I remember having so much fun playing intramural football and basketball. James and his friend Brandon Stover were our coaches. That was the funniest thing ever. They went to Goodwill and bought yellow sweaters to wear for the games. Or they dressed in their nicest suits.

I developed an awesome friendship with Julie!!

Cortni and I DROVE from Abilene to Virginia for Travis and Kelly's wedding. That was a great experience - one that is recorded on video.

For class Sing Song we were Greek People, and Siggies were Cowgirls.

Going on walks with Meredith around campus.

These are just a FEW of my memories. I absolutely loved ACU and wish everyone could experience college here. I loved going to chapel everyday at 11:00 and listening to4000 people sing. I loved having professors that knew you by name, and you could call them by their first name. I loved that many of my professors prayed before class, and often had us over for dinner in their homes. I loved listening to the bell tower play hymns before chapel. I am truly blessed and thankful for my parents that allowed me, and sacrificed so much for me to get a Christian education.

Happy Homecoming!!!

No Tears from Kaitlyn!

So, yesterday Kaitlyn and I went to watch James's soccer practice. It was perfect weather outside! Kaitlyn usually does really good and just runs around a plays with whatever kid feels like playing with her. I was keeping a good eye on her while I was talking with one of the moms that was there when I noticed her laying down in the grass. She would lay down, sit up, lay down, sit up. Strange, but Kaitlyn does weird things sometimes. She started walking toward me just staring at her hands and kind of walking funny. When she got to me I noticed that she was COVERED in fire ants. The girl was not crying at all, just watching the ants crawl all over her. Me and this other mom start freaking out, stripping her clothes off and swatting them off of her. By the time it was over she had no less than 20 bites all over her back, tummy and in between all of her little fingers. This mom that was helping me just happened to have Benadryl cream in her bag. The bites look much better today, but her little hands are still kind of swollen. Poor girl!

WOW

WOW. I don't even know where to start. It's been so long since I posted! What a weekend.....
The Zoe Conference was absolutely awesome. It was so refreshing to just spend time in prayer, praise and worship and really refocus my attention on what is important in this life. The singing was great, Mike Cope and Jeff Walling were awesome.. and it was SO good to see friends that I haven't seen in a long time.

HOWEVER.. getting to Nashville was the hard part. I am telling you, this was one of the worst travel experiences I have ever had. And I've been a lot of places! The plan was to fly out of DFW to Little Rock, Arkansas at 7:10AM.. arrive at 8:10AM, rent a car and be on my way to Memphis to pick up Julie. So, I get to Little Rock and proceed to rent the car that I had reserved 2 weeks in advance. I was all ready to go when he says, I'm sorry - "I can't rent you this car because the debit card is not in your name." (It just had James Mayo on it, not me) I told him I thought that I was an authorized user, so he calls the bank and they say I am NOT an authorized user. Nice. So.. I ask if I can just give them the money in cash. Nope. Okay - from there I ask the other NINE rental car places if I can rent with either my debit card or cash. All of them say no. I'm sure. I don't understand the problem here. I have money - you have a car. AHH! At this point, I try calling James to see if he has any bright ideas. The cell phone is shut off b/c the bill didn't get there on time. What next??? At this point it is about 10:30. I could have already been in Memphis. I call Sprint to pay the bill and they said they would have my phone turned back on in the stellar time of 4 hours.

I go BACK to Enterprise where I started and literally begged them to find a way for me to rent a car. They tell me if I can give them a $300 cash deposit and a copy of my boarding pass for the flight home, then I can do it. Great. I go to the ATM and withdraw the money. I go to the Southwest ticket counter where they can only print out an itenerary (which I already had). You can't get a boarding pass unless you are 24 hours away from your departure time. I trek back to the nazi's at Enterprise where, shocker, they won't accept an itenerary - it HAS to be the actual boarding pass. I tell them I can't get that because I'm not returning in less than 24 hours. He says he's sorry. He's about to think sorry.

I then begin to freak out. I can't call anyone b/c the phone doesn't work.. I can't leave the airport. I ask the man behind the counter what in the world I am supposed to do and he just says, "Taxi?"

Right. Take a taxi 2 hours to Memphis. Just to humor myself, I go and ask how much that would cost and he said $300. No thanks. I go to a bench and just sit down and cry. How the heck am I going to get out of here? The taxi man came and found me and said he could take me to the Greyhound bus station for $17 and from there I could take the 1:00 bus to Memphis for about $25. What other option do I have?

I get to the bus station. To say that I was in the "hood" is a nice way of putting it. I was the only white person (I am not racist, I promise) and, more importantly, the only girl. I was immediately approached by this scary man that kept saying, "Hey beautiful.. smile." He followed me around everywhere. I bought my ticket and tried to ignore everyone around me. As I am waiting, I am offered cocaine twice, and had a really nice invitation to join a man in his car. A police officer came in with 2 parolees (sp?) that would be traveling on my bus. This is when my brain kicks into gear and I think - I can use the pay phone!!! I don't know why I didn't think of this in the airport. I guess I was just too flustered.

I call my friend Julie - I was totally crying and freaking out. She said, "Call me back in 10 minutes and I will have you a ride." This is where I am SO extremely thankful to be a part of the "church family." Julie and her husband Charles lived in Little Rock before they moved to Memphis. Within 15 minutes, the youth minister of their old church showed up with a car that belongs to another member of their church. They let a perfect stranger take their car to Memphis!! It turns out that the lady who's car I borrowed was already in Nashville at the conference. I could NOT believe it. SO... finally at 1:30PM, I am was my way.

Yikes. Talk about a travel experience. I'll post more about the weekend with some pictures later... just thought I should go ahead and record that story!

I'm a little Freaked Out

My daughter is freaking me out. She has been doing this for a couple of days now. Every time I put her diaper (pull-up) on her she says, "I want my belly button to show!" She pulls it down just enough to where it shows. This morning, she did the same thing when I put her jeans on. She literally cried until she got her pants lowered just enough for her belly button to show. She kept lifting her shirt up to make sure that her pants didn't move up any.

WHAT THE HECK?!?!? What in the world is she going to be like when she's 13?? Is this a sign of what's to come? Did she learn this from some other punk girl in her class??

I'm just a little shocked that at the young age of 2, she is concerned about having low-rise jeans.

Sidenote: I'm so proud of myself for figuring out the Flickr thing. There aren't any new pictures on there, but those are the ones I had at work that I could upload.

ALSO... James, Kaitlyn and I will be 3 separate places this weekend. Pray that we all stay safe! I will be in Tennessee for the Zoe conference, James will be at the lakehouse with his friends from ACU, and Kaitlyn is staying with Nana and Papaw. (James' parents) . We are all leaving tonight and not coming back until late Sunday night. I'm taking Monday off to hang out with Kaitlyn. What will I do with no blogging for 5 whole days??? Surely I can find a computer somewhere in TN!!!

First and Last

I didn't get Tagged or anything, I just saw this on another blog and thought I would do the same. It may be fun to read a few years down the road.

First Memory:
I have a horrible memory. I vaguely remember sharing a room with my brother and we would throw his baby blanket back and forth.

First Kiss:
YUK! This random guy named John something. It was in the 7th grade at the park behind my house. I'm sure my mom was watching the entire time. I remember just running home and swishing my mouth out with sweet tea.

First Concert:
Does Sesame Street Live count? I was 5.

First Love:
My first TRUE love is James. I never truly loved anyone before him. I did have a "boyfriend" a couple of years in Elementary school named Aaron Fowler. In the bottom of one of my drawers in Lubbock it still says, "I love Aaron and he loves me!" Hilarious.

First thing you think in the morning:
How many more times can I hit snooze before I HAVE to get up?

First book you remember loving:
The Three Billy Goats Gruff

First pet:
Jessie Blue. He was some kind of a husky dog. I don't really remember him too much. I do know that my Papa gave me a chick for Easter one year, and Jessie Blue ate him.

First question you'll ask in Heaven:
I have absolutely no idea. Maybe, how in the world am I deserving of this?

First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation:
Here's a few words: sleep, relax, sun, beach, reading lots of magazines, peaceful...

First best friend:
Probably Anna Maria in Elementary school. I haven't talked to her since the 6th grade, but I remember loving spending time with her. She always had really fun toys. I remember very well when her dad died. That is one of the first times I remember being truly sad!

Last time you dressed up:
This morning. I have to dress up every day for work.

Last thing you ate:
Chocolate chip cookie. There is ALWAYS food up here.

Last CD you bought:
Bethany Dillon. I bought it for my parents, but I totally forgot to give it to them when they left on Sunday. Oops. (She's awesome if you're into Contemporary Christian music. She's only 16, but she has an amazing voice)

Last time you cried:
About 2 hours ago. One of those days....

Last time you told someone you loved them:
I told Kaitlyn this morning when I dropped her off at school.

Last really fun thing you did:
Two nights ago I played with Kaitlyn for a really long time. We painted more pumpkins, colored together, made puppets, danced, sang, did puzzles, read books.. man - that girl just has my whole heart!

Last thing you watched on TV:
Oprah. I tivo it and watch it at night before I go to bed.

Last Halloween costume:
Last year our block had a halloween party. I was a hula girl. Thanks to Meredith Moore for lending me the costume!

Last Concert attended:
Ray Charles. James's mom won tickets on the radio and gave them to us. It was actually really good!

I'm not going to TAG anyone, but If you would like to join in, I would love to read it!

I'm Back...

Sorry, I haven't posted in awhile! We had a busy weekend and I was out yesterday, so I am just now at a computer! Let's see...

Friday night we walked over to campus and ate dinner in the Bean Sprout. This is a restaurant-type setting on the bottom floor of the campus center. It is actually really good food, and really cheap! They have a big stage down there for concerts, and even a bowling alley. Kaitlyn loved running all over the stage. After dinner we took Kaitlyn to see Freshman Follies. (A production kind of like Sing Song, except on a MUCH smaller scale that just freshman put on) She loved it! It was actually pretty entertaining. They had free Dr. Pepper and 25 cent popcorn that we enjoyed throughout the show!

On Saturday morning we straightened up the house a bit and ran a few errands. I bought a pumpkin decorating kit for Kaitlyn. It came with paints, stickers, stencils (didn't so much use those) and even a small pumpkin. As soon as we got home she wanted to "paint her pumpkin." It looks pretty dang cute! I'll post pictures tonight.

My parents came in later that morning. I LOVE having them here. My dad is always looking for projects to do - and boy did he have plenty of them! Within 30 minutes of them arriving he had finished replacing the heating element on our drier. Yay! No more laundromat! The other big project was replacing two of our doors. Our bedroom door, and a closet door that is in our dining room. All of the interior doors are very old and just plain brown. So, I was ready for a change! So after much measuring, sawing, and painting, we have two brand new doors. It makes such a difference! Thanks Dad and James! I can't wait to replace the rest of them.

Mom and I had fun chasing Kaitlyn around. She is so much fun right now. (Besides her sleeping - or should I say Non-sleeping habits) She has such a funny personality, and it is so fun to just listen to her talk, sing, pray.... We are so incredibly blessed. I appreciate her life and our love for her more and more every day.

I have a new favorite snack! KETTLE CORN!! I was just introduced to this at work on Friday afternoon. It really is one of the greatest things in the world. Why did I not know about this until now?? I have been deprived for 26 years! I just went on and on about it.. so James bought me an $18 dollar box of it from some Boy Scouts that were selling it outside Walmart on Saturday. Too bad he forgot that we still don't have a microwave! But never fear..my cousin Brenna is near!!! (Okay, that was totally gay) One of her roommates moved out and left her microwave, so I took it! She'll never know....

Anything for my new favorite snack!

Another Post!

Top 10 Things Going on Right Now: (Can you tell I'm kind of bored?)

1. I went and had lunch with Kaitlyn at her school today. Friday is pizza day. Sharyl (her teacher) is the most punctual person ever. When I got there I asked Kaitlyn, "Are you having pizza today?" And Kaitlyn said, "Yep, when the timer goes off." Wow.. her teacher literally sets a timer to go off at 12:00 on the dot, and then all the kids cheer, and she passes out the pizza!

2. Kaitlyn has 2 PRECIOUS little boys that were evacuees from Katrina in her class. They are so cute. I could tell when I went up there today that they just crave attention. So sweet....

3. My parents are coming in town this weekend! I always look forward to them visiting. (Kaitlyn really likes it too!) It's been awhile since they have been here, so that should be fun.

4. Kaitlyn as not slept through the night in her own bed in over 2 weeks. What is going on??

5. Gill (the family fish) went belly up today. Poor Gill. Should we tell Kaitlyn? He did live in her room.....

6. I have a cavity that hurts really bad. Go ahead and get mad at me Meredith.

7. James hasn't had a coke in almost one week! Way to go!

8. Tomorrow is picture day for the Butterflies (James's soccer team) That should be fun. Kaitlyn has her own uniform, so maybe we can sneak her in the picture. Game time is at 12:15. Hopefully it's not a repeat of last weeks game.

9. I am still trying to figure out ways Michael Vaughn is still alive.

10. It's Friday!!!

Hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend!

My Predictions

Okay, so if Vaughn is really dead, then there is no more Alias for me. I will only continue to watch if I can see that there is hope of his return. My prediction is he is still alive. Here's how:

When he was about to "die", Jack said he would do anything he could to help Sydney and Vaughn. The next thing you see is Sydney giving Vaughn something to drink. My vote is that whatever she gave him would make him appear to be dead...only to be transported elsewhere. (Remember Emily Sloan?) At the funeral Sydney and Jack just kept looking at eachother in an odd way. Either they were just both in shock, or they have another agenda. I choose to believe the latter. AND, Sydney never cried. Sydney cried at EVERYTHING.

Anyway, just my prediction. Anyone else that watched it have any thoughts?

The Saddest Thing Ever

I just left to go grab a bite to eat for lunch, and on my way back I drove by Kaitlyns school to see if her class was playing outside. Sure enough, they were - so I decided to inconspicuosly drive by and watch her play for a minute or two. Well, nothing slips by my little girl. She spotted me. I tried to drive away quickly so that maybe she would just THINK that she saw me. So, I cirlced around and peered through some other cars to see the saddest thing I have ever seen. Kaitlyn (wearing her pink sweater jacket with her hood on) clinging to the chain link fence looking as if she was about to just cry her head off and I could see her just saying "Mommy, Mommy..." I seriously started crying. So then I was faced with a decision. Do I go back and let her see me and hang out with her for a little while? Then she would really freak out when I had to leave. Or do I just drive away with my daughter inside a chain link fence crying for her momma? My heart was just pounding. Still is as I write this. So... I decided to just kind of hang out where she couldn't see me until I knew she was okay. If it looked like it was going to take her awhile to stop calling out to me, then I would go in. But, within probably 30 seconds she was back to playing in the sandbox. But, even then, I just wanted to go back in and say, "Yes, I was here Kaitlyn! I just came to check on you and watch you play, and make sure you were having a good day, and tell you that I love you, and I wish I didn't have to work all day every day, and that I would be back real soon to get you...."

I feel like SUCH a horrible mom. I mean, I can't stop crying about this!! Ridiculous, I know - but it was heartbreaking that I had to leave her there and couldn't take her home.

Okay, I have to stop writing about it. What would you mom's have done?

My good friend Jennifer..

Well, my good friend Jennifer Garner totally did something I would do. I thought I would share this news. By the way, the season premiere of Alias is tomorrow night. Watch it or pray for forgivness.

Mommy-to-be Jennifer Garner isn't being quite as secretive about her baby's alias as she originally intended.

On Tuesday's Tonight Show, while telling Jay Leno about her and hubby Ben Affleck's impending arrival, Garner revealed in a highly noticeable slip that the baby is a "she."

"You can just start to feel really pregnant, like you are the hugest person on the face of the planet. ... I felt bigger and bigger like she ..."

Garner then quickly (and conscientiously) covered her mouth with her hands, and the crowd cheered.

She then paused, regained her composure, and took a sip of water. "Anyway …," she said. The actress and Leno then picked up their conversation.

She's awesome!

What's in my bag

This should win the award for most random post, but I just have to share with everyone what I am carrying around with me everyday. I am horrible at cleaning things out. My bag that I bring to work is no exception. It is full of just junk. Here's what's inside:

1. wallet
2. empty eye glasses case
3. empty contact holder
4. a pair of Kaitlyn's shorts
5. ipod shuffle
6. 2 different bottles of perfume. I guess I stink.
7. a journal that I occasionally write in when my thoughts get a little to personal for you people!
8. a stack of bills that I have already paid but not filed away.
9. make up bag
10. about an entire package of empty starburst wrappers
11. receipts, receipts, receipts. hmmm.. have I recorded those?
12. a bottle of bubbles
13. 2 church bulletins
14. an electronic Yahtzee game
15. 2 things of lotion
16. a few batteries
17. a bag of cough drops
18. Burts Beez hand salve
19. Mouthwash
20. Floss (Mere will be proud)
21. Lots of pens
22. A Tinkerbell McDonald's happy meal toy.

I mean... am I Mary Poppins or what?

What's in your bag? Come on.. I know some of those diaper bags have random stuff in them!

Weekend and Pictures

We had a fun and relaxing weekend! No big plans, we didn't go out of town, no one was here. We just hung out. It was great! The balloon festival was in town and we were planning on going on Saturday. However, Friday night sounded better instead. It was so much fun! They had a ton of fun things for kids to do: inflatable bouncy things, a HUGE inflatable slide that Kaitlyn absolutely loved, pony rides, yummy food, live music, and of course hot air balloons. The balloons didn't lift off until Saturday and Sunday, but we got to watch them inflate on Friday night. It was really pretty seeing like 5 balloons in front of a West Texas sunset!

On Saturday James coached his Butterflies again. They got stomped by this team of 4 year old's that had to have been on steroids. They were monsterous, and so fast! James's girls hung in there though, and we later learned that we are the first team that hasn't just quit on them yet this season! Alright!!Saturday afternoon while James and K took naps, I caught up on Oprah and Ellen that I had Tivoed. (sp?) I later regreted not taking a nap though. Oh well. We didn't do much on Saturday night. Just hung out and had dinner at home, did some laundry, Kaitlyn watched some of Toy Story, and off to bed we went.

Another good Sunday at Highland. Our class is reading The Sacred Marriage right now. It's a really awesome book - I recommend it! It's not your typical "How-To" book. It's more just like, this is how it is. Anyway.... last night I went to the movies with 4 fun girls from church. We were deciding between Just Like Heaven or Flight Plan, and saw Flight Plan. Save your money. It was great getting to go out though!

I got my camera back and my computer working, so here are quite a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment!

I've been trying for 30 minutes to try and arrange these pictures differently. It's not letting me change the size of them...therefore all of my links to the right side are all the way down at the bottom. This is insane. I'm about to drop kick my computer across the room. Anyway, enjoy the enormous pictures b/c I'm tired of dealing with it!

Hanging out in the Christmas closet. (She put the bow on herself)

Kaitlyn leading the pack through the tunnell!

James tying their shoes....

At the balloon festival...

Going down the enormous slide all by herself! (After going like 3 times with Mommy)

Chowin' down!

Sweet Tucker. (That was the pony's name)

Does this thing go any faster?

My sweet girl.

Picture

Kaitlyn trying on my sunglasses!

McDonalds

I know I posted already today, but I have to share my frustrations about McDonalds. I know they are all about customer service, and "We love to see you smile," but I'm so annoyed. I am very appreciative that the drive thru line always moves very quickly. But when I am still at the first window paying for my food, and I look up and see some employee literally hanging out of the window holding my bag of food - as if I am supposed to just drive and grab it without even stopping - I get so annoyed!!! I don't know why this bothers me so much. But, please. Just sit tight, and when I pull up to the second window, then you can hand me my food and I will be on my way. There is no need to hang it out the window.

Date Night

This is ACU's Centennial year. All year long all these "big name" people are coming to Abilene to speak. Last night our office had tickets to go listen to Lester Holt. I had no idea who he was, but turns out he is a weekend anchor on NBC. Anyway, we had my cousin (Squig Brenna) all lined up to babysit. Well, Lester got stuck in Galveston covering the hurricane, so he cancelled at the last minute. Darn. I was so incredibly excited. However, James and I were looking forward to a night out, and Brenna, being the college student she is, was counting on the money - so we decided to go out anyway.

We first went to eat at my all time favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. I actually tried something knew, Chicken Giardino (sp?). It was so good! After a nice dinner w/o sippy cups, smashed crackers, and things getting spilled - we were off to play BINGO!!

That's right. Bingo. We played a couple of times when we were in college. It really is a lot of fun. You can actually win some big money. Bingo has gone pretty high tech on us, however. Most people now play with computers and some other little machine. We were waiting in a long line to get our cards and noticed a line with no people in it. The lady that was standing there said, "This is for paper cards only." So, wanting to play Bingo completely old school, we jumped over there and got our cards. I mean, what is the point of playing Bingo if the computer does it all for you? Plus, my hot pink "dobber" was pretty awesome. By the end of the smoke filled night, we had not one any money. But the most precious old couple behind us took home the $750 black-out prize. Good for them.

When we got home Brenna had Kaitlyn all tucked in bed asleep. Way to go!!

Last Night

So, last night before we began eating dinner we say a prayer. Kaitlyn usually says the prayer, or is really good about holding our hands and being still while one of us says it. Last night, I guess she was just starving. James had barely even begun the prayer and Kaitlyn just says, "Okay, Amen," and lets go of our hands and starts eating. That girl.... We had to go get introduced and prayed over at an elders meeting last night (standard for placing membership) - and I was sooo worried that Kaitlyn was going to do that again. But, she remained calm, thank goodness.

Kristen already posted about the amazing Lost episode last night, so I won't say much about that - except that it was AWESOME. I'm so glad my shows are back on!!

Last night at church we talked about being a "missional" church. Mike Cope played a song by ZOE that is on their new CD, and I thought I would share some of the words.

Live in our hearts, fill this body.
Stir our spirits, help us serve.
Walk with our feet to the hurting.
Let us be You, revive your church!
Let us be You on this earth.
Let us be You when a wounded soul cries out for hope.
Let us be You when the lonely need to know they're not alone.
Just as Your stars pierce through the night, let us forever shine Your light.
Let us be You on this earth.

It was a good reminder that not just as a church, but as Christians, we are called to be like Jesus while we are here on earth. Though we may not be missionaries in another country, we are called to serve and reach out to others during our short time here.

Anyway, the CD is really good for any of you that are fans of ZOE.

Oh, by the way - "JB" that posted the calorie content of slushies comment the other day is none other than my mother-in-law!!! She said she was not meant to be ugly, she just thought they sounded good, so she looked it up to see how bad it was. She said, "Burst my bubble! I have to stick to the Diet Limeaid!" I just thought that was funny. Thanks June! :)

A Few Things That I Love

I couldn't really think of anything to post today. James is out of town for work until tonight. Kaitlyn slept in my bed with me last night. I'm a sucker. It was really sweet though. We laid down, watched one episode of the Wiggles. Then I turned off the TV and she said her prayers - always remembering to pray for bears and ponies. Random, but she always says that. Then she just said, "Night, momma," and rolled over and went to sleep. She has my heart, that Kaitlyn.

I thought I would just share a few thing that I absolutely love:

1. Strawberry/Pina Colada slushies with extra FRESH strawberries from Sonic.
2. Vanilla Dr. Pepper from Sonic.
3. Holding a newborn baby.
4. Traveling
5. Going to the movies
6. Olive Garden
7. York Peppermint patties
8. Reading blogs!
9. Listening to Kaitlyn laugh.
10. Highland
11. Seeing old friends that I haven't seen in a long time.
12. Alias
13. Sleeping late
14. Mexican food.
15. James
16. Christmas
17. Taking pictures.
18. My Ipod shuffle.
19. Music
20. Shopping
21. New socks!
22. Singing at church.
23. Candles.
24. Sno cones in the summer
25. Peppermint hot chocolate in the winter.
26. Scary movies.
27. Reading magazines.
28. Brownies!
29. Watching gymnastics on TV.
30. Laughing.

Random Weekend

Let's see.... Friday night I had BIG plans to go and observe my cousin Brenna in her bid-night activities. That did not so much happen b/c our drier went out and we had a TON of laundry to do. When I say a ton, I am talking like at least 10 loads. I've been a little lazy lately. So off I go at 8:30 at night to the Laundromat. There are some classy people that hang out up there, let me tell ya. I was a little afraid. I spent $23.00 on laundry. Awesome. So much for my cajun cone quarters. But, hey - getting 10 loads done in an hour and half isn't so bad! I even played a game of Pac-man while I waited.

Saturday morning Kaitlyn and I got up and headed to Midland to help my brother move. We had some of his stuff at our house that we needed to take to him. This is the first time Neil has lived alone, and he seemed pretty excited about it. We got him all settled in and even took him to Target and bought some "necessity" items. Does everyone know how much I LOVE Target? It's one of my favorite stores. Kaitlyn especially loved the Halloween section. She was obsessed with all things scary. I tried a Care Bear costume on her, but she didn't seem to like it too much. We did buy her a green, sparkly pumpkin that lights up. She slept with it last night. She named it Jack.

We didn't get back home until after mid-night Saturday night. So, no church for us on Sunday. In fact, I didn't even leave the house! We all took super long naps, watched some football, ate a good dinner, and cleaned up the house a bit. James took Kaitlyn to the mall for a little while so that I could get some cleaning done a little easier. Last night I watched the Emmy's in it's entirety. I love awards shows. I was pretty excited that JJ Abrams won for Lost... but too bad Jennifer Garner didn't pull through on Alias. Oh well, last season was horrible anyway.

Okay - enough rambling. Hope everyone has a good Monday!

Kaitlyn Stories

I don't have much to post on this much awaited Friday.... so I thought I would just share a few funny things Kaitlyn has said this past week:

1. Anytime you ask her what time it is, or if she hears the bell tower at ACU ring, she says, "It's 45 o'clock!"

2. She has really been interested in her bible this week. It's the bible that the Prestoncrest elders gave as a gift when she was born. Those of you who are familiar with this know that the pictures aren't that great - they are really detailed...anyway - she is obsessed with any picture that has someone hurt, laying down, sick, etc. She always asks, "What's that little guy doing?" She will just stare at the pictures for ever. James was trying to get her to go to bed the other night and she said, "No! I'm reading my bible!" How do you compete with that argument?

3. When she was eating dinner two nights ago she just said, "Mmmmm, I'm healthy."

4. For her birthday, my parents gave her a plastic set of golf clubs. My mom told her what each one was: The driver, the iron, and the putter. That was quite awhile ago, but the other night when she was playing with them she said (as she handed them to me) "Here is the putter.... Here is the driver..... and here is the iron!!" James was especially impressed.

5. She's been getting out of her bed almost every night and coming into our room saying, in the most pitiful voice, "I"m scared." Right. Somehow, she is not scared enough to walk back through a pitch black dark house to get her stuffed animals and bring them to our room. Over, and over again. Time for a lock on her door I guess.

I guess that's all I can think of right now. I can not begin to imagine my life without Kaitlyn. I can't even think of the right words to express my love for her. So, I won't even try.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend! Have fun at Bunko tonight, Dallas girls!

Golf

Well, I played my first round of golf yesterday. An entire 18 holes!! I am so sunburned and sore it's not EVEN funny. Our office was closed yesterday for "Admissions Fun Day." We all went and did fun stuff with each other to celebrate ending another enrollment year. So, those who chose to play entered in a Scramble tournament - and those who didn't play rode around in "spectator" carts and cheered for the ones like me who needed a little encouragement. I was one of 4 girls that chose to play. (If there is any kind of athletic event involved...I'm not one to sit around.) Anyway, my team was really fun...we got last place, but we had a good time doing it! I even hit a shot out of the sand pit! Or is it called a bunker? I have no idea. Anyway, I look forward to playing again sometime. I was so exhausted though. I could have easily quit after 9 holes. I don't know how the pros walk the entire course either. That is just insane.

Anyway - back to the real world, I'm here at work. I will now proceed to read all of the blogs that I daily frequent. I feel so out of the loop having missed an entire day!

(By the way - did anyone else notice that Brandon Scott Thomas commented on my blog? How awesome is that? I don't even know him - I feel like he is a celebrity!) BST - if you are reading this, thanks for stopping by! I look forward to maybe meeting you in October at the Zoe conference. Also, I used to work with Stephen Bailey at Reel FX. So, we have a mutual friend.

One more day until Friday!

A Good Weekend for the Camera

This weekend could have produced some really cute pictures, but I left my camera in Lubbock last weekend!!

Well, The West Texas Fair and Rodeo has made its stop in Abilene. Friday night we went to the fair, spending WAY too much money...but watching Kaitlyn have an absolute blast. She rode all the rides that she was tall enough to ride. I'm not sure which one was her favorite, but James and I really liked the huge slide that you go down while sitting on potato sacks. Kaitlyn sat with me and James rode beside us. We did it twice! She also enjoyed, the train, the elephants that go up and down, the man on the insanely tall unicycle that juggled fire-lit torches, a yummy funnel cake, and going "fishing" to try and win a cheap prize. Oh, and she also met "Abby", a four-month old cow that she could not get enough of.

When the fair and rodeo come to town, they kick it off on Saturday with a big parade downtown. So, we took our chairs, (Kaitlyn proudly carried her plastic Dora chair) and picked our "seats" to watch the show! It was really fun! There were a ton of people there. All of the high school bands marched, there were horses and cows (only in West-Texas would there be people riding cows in a parade), clowns, fun old-fashioned cars, firetrucks, and even a couple of floats. Before the parade started Kaitlyn and walked down the street to buy a drink. On our walk, in the middle of a crowd of people, Kaitlyn saw someone she knew. She just looked at her and said, "Hey Summer!" And just kept on walking! On our way back to our seats she did the same thing - and this time the girl replied back, "Hey Kaitlyn!" Me and the other mom just died laughing - and it turns out they go to Rainbow School together. I thought that was pretty cute.

Saturday evening was James's first time to coach the Butterflies. James LOVES coaching soccer. He was all set to coach a 13 and under boys team, but when that fell apart, he was offered the fun job of coaching 5 and under girls. He jumped at the opportunity. These girls are the cutest things I have ever seen. It's their first year to play soccer. It was so fun to watch these tiny girls with their pink and blue uniforms that are way too big run around the field. James is so good with them - and they all love him! Kaitlyn likes to run around out there with them as well. She gets in their huddle, and practices kicking the ball in the goal. It was so fun to watch.

So, like I said earlier - would have been a great weekend for the camera!

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Stolen Thunder

First of all everyone needs to read the post under this one first.

I had this nicely written out statement that I wanted to post before she posted anything and was surprised to see that I was too late. That's fine, but I wanted my take on the significance of September 8. Here we go. . .

Some said it could never be done, others only speculated. However, on September 8 my life has been changed. It was a sense of excitement, it was a day I will never forget. I know exactly where I was when it happened and recall all the storylines that led up to this wonderful event each time.

You see, when I was a kid I had dreamed that I would be alive when this moment occurred. I was and this single date has been more spectacular than I could have ever imagined.

Mark McGwire has been my favorite baseball player since 1987. I collected every single card he was on up to 1993. He was awarded rookie of the year honors and won 2 world series. Many people thought he would change baseball his rookie season with 49 homeruns, 10 more thann the previous record. 50 would have been inconceivable. Which is why he is my favorite player.

He averaged a homerun every 8.3 at bats that season. However, with 3 games left in the regular season he stopped playing. He wasn't injured, he was perfectly healthy but his wife was due with their first born son (Matthew). So Mark missed the last 3 games (approx. 12 at bats) of the season to be with his wife before their baby was due and missed out on 50.

Fastforward to 1998, on September 8 at 9:18 PM EST he hit #62 breaking Roger Maris' record of 61. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were two of my mom's favorite ball players. My grandfather loved Mickey Mantle and so naturally I did too. That homerun record is probably the second most cherrished record in baseball next to all-time homeruns. The first person Mark hugged after that 62nd homerun was his son.

Numerology fact: If you add up the digits of when Mark David McGwire hit his 62 home run it equals 62.

Leslie thinks I wanted to get married on Sept 8 because of Mark McGwire's record. She's right. but the reason is because 4 of the 6 greatest days in my life have fallen on that day. A .666 average will get you in the hall of fame. Which is funny because our address is that number too.

Leslie, I love you so much and I know I already BUZZED into Mystery Match, but I would BEE honored if you would let me BEE in love with you for the rest of my life. I don't know if you alreadyd have a date, I guess you can me around 8:00! Remember this?

Thank you for saying YES! You are the reason I am.

4 Years and Counting....

Well, today is James and I's 4 year anniversary. September 8th. That's the day Mark McGuire hit his 62nd homerun - and that was the day James suggested we get married. Hey - whatever helps him remember the day is fine with me! We've lived in four places in four years - and I can finally say that I think we are where we are supposed to be. I'm pretty sure James would agree that we are the happiest we have ever been in our marriage. I'm proud of James as a husband, father and as the main support for our family. I'm so proud that he chose to go to ACU, and chose to have a relationship with God. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him!

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Kaitlyn is in a "growling" phase. She literally growls like a lion when she is upset or doesn't want to do something. James kind of thinks it's cute - but I can not stand it. I got growled at like 10 times this morning. She started crying at 4:00AM, so I went in there to see what she needed. She growled at me and said, "Not you! Daddy!" It kind of hurt my feeling for a second - until I realized that it meant I got to go back to bed! James graciously took care of it for me. They were both asleep on separate couches when I got up this morning.

----------------

I am not a fan of the Health Department. I remember having to go there when I was little to get a shot, and I did not like it. Well, Kaitlyn had to go there on Tuesday. Rainbow school required her to get a Hep. A vaccine. We haven't been "established" with a pediatrician yet, and my PCP does not give that particular shot. So, James had the fun job of taking her to the Health Department. (They closed at 4:00, and I had to work until 5:00, so I couldn't go) James said the saddest part was before she even went into the room she said, "I'm scared." Just go ahead and rip my heart out of my chest. AND, being the awesome, responsible mother I am, Kaitlyn had to get not one, but three shots b/c she was behind on the final dose of 2 other vaccines.
By the time she talked to me from the car, she just kept telling me, "I'm okay, I'm okay." Sweet girl.... But no more shots until she's 4. I'm sure that's when the real battles begin.

My response to being Tagged

7 Things to do before I die:
1. Walk Kaitlyn down the aisle
2. Watch Manchester United play in the "Theater of Dreams"
3. Take Leslie to Prince Edward Island
4. Be on a game show
5. Eat Lobster in Maine
6. Own a boat and 2 jetskis
7. To be decided

7 Things I can do: (I wish it wasn't seven because I may stretch it alittle)
1. Hold a soccerball on eat foot for a minute
2. Change out lightbulbs in most houses
3. Add large numbers in my head
4. Remember most dates, times and clothing of all the significant events in my life
5. Type 40 words a minute without using homerow (jealous)
6. 10 pushups
7. take very long naps

7 Things I can't do:
1. Pick up clothes
2. Biting my nails
3. stop listening to rap music
4. dunk a basketball or shoot one
5. keep Kaitlyn from falling down
6. understand why Leslie loves People magazine
7. Apologize enough for all the stupid things I do

7 Things that attract me to the opposite sex.
I will just say things that attract me to Leslie:
1. Freckles
2. Red Hair
3. Her heart
4. The way she is with Kaitlyn, such a special bond
5. Her passion for God and how she is always looking for ways to help
6. Her uncanny ability to beat me in any sport she chooses
7. She loves me like the song

7 Things I say most often:
1. Interesting
2. Sweetheart
3. I'm sorry, I'm an idiot
4. Don't do that
5. Hmm
6. You're right, I'm wrong
7. Is the TV bothering you?

7 Celebrity Crushes:
1. Ali Latier
2. Amanda Peet
3. The chick from "The Notebook"
4. Elizabeth Shue
5. TBD
6. TBD
7. TBD

7 People I want to do my list:
Brad
June
Kevin
Lane (clean version please)
Any othere male that admits they read this blog

A Very Restful Weekend

Well, here I am at work on Labor Day. ACU is in session, therefore I am at my desk trying to get motivated to do something productive. This is as productive as I am going to get I'm afraid.

We had a fun, relaxing weekend in Lubbock. Kaitlyn is still there since James and I both have to work. We are meeting my parents halfway tonight to pick her up. Kaitlyn LOVES going to Lubbock, so she was not sad at all to have to stay there without us.







On Saturday I took my mom to see Must Love Dogs. It's a pretty cute show. I love going to the movies and it seems we only go in Lubbock when we have a free babysitter! So, Saturday night James and I took advantage of it again and went and saw Red Eye. It was really good. Suspenseful for sure! Saturday afternoon/early evening we celebrated my moms birthday with my parents best friends and their grandson, Connor. It was fun watching Kaitlyn and Connor play together. He is a cutie!

Funny story: Let me first preface this story by saying that Connor had a really bad diaper rash and Kaitlyn was witness to him crying and getting upset when he was getting his diaper changed. Anyway, when Kaitlyn woke up on Sunday morning, she went into my parents bedroom to wake them up. They have a pillow on their bed that has some "saying" on it. Kaitlyn started pointing out the different letters and said, "F, G, S, K.... That spells Connors bottom hurts." We thought that was pretty funny!

Happy Labor Day....I hope all of you non-working people have fun today!

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures I found on my computer. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Labor Day weekend! We will be in Lubbock for my mom's birthday. James and I both have to work on Monday - no fun! Kaitlyn is going to stay with my parents until Monday night..she will love that! TGIF!

I've been Tagged.....again.

Thanks again Kristen!!

7 Things to do before I die:

* Have at least one more baby (the answer is no Holly)
* Watch all of my children grow in their relationship in the Lord, and someday give their life to Him
* Travel to Europe
* Go skydiving
* Go to the Oprah show
* Go scuba diving
* Spend a summer doing mission work.

7 Things I can do:

* type 75 words per minute
* Dance to veggie-tales music just the way Kaitlyn wants me to
* play basketball
* easily take a 3 hour nap on a Sunday afternoon (when the opportunity presents itself)
* read People magazine cover to cover every Friday
* Love Kaitlyn with my entire heart no matter what she does or will ever do
* wear my hair curly or straight

7 Things I can't do:

* Touch my toes while keeping my legs straight
* eat meatloaf
* Math. Of any kind
* Sew
* Watch Seinfeld or The Simpsons. Those are two of the most annoying shows ever.
* Stay in a bad mood when Kaitlyn and James do things to make me laugh
* Stop watching hurricane coverage.

7 Things that attract me to the opposite sex.
I will just say things that attract me to James:

* His big, blue eyes
* The way he plays with Kaitlyn
* His love for God, his family and his friends
* His height! I can wear any shoes I want and still be shorter than him.
* His sense of humor. He can make anyone laugh.
* His prayers.
* His desire to support and lead our family.

7 Things I say most often:

* "Admissions, this is Leslie"
* "Do you need to go potty?"
* "I love you"
* "Did you have a good day?"
* "Nice." (Sarcastic tone)
* "Are you serious?" Kaitlyn says this one quite often as well.
* "No." I feel like I say that WAY too much.

7 Celebrity Crushes:

* Michael Vartan
* Topher Grace
* Vince Vaughn
I can't think of any more!

7 People I want to do my list:

James
Mom
Sara W.
Sara H.
Becky
Shanta
Kelly

Have fun!

New Classes for Men Only!

My mom sent me this in an email. I got a few laughs out of it. James - this is not a shot.... I just thought I would share the humor.

NEW CLASSES FOR MEN!

ALL ARE WELCOME!!!
OPEN TO MEN ONLY!!!!

Note: due to the complexity and level of difficulty, each course will accept a maximum of eight participants

The course covers two days, and topics covered in this course include:

DAY ONE

HOW TO FILL ICE CUBE TRAYS
Step by step guide with slide presentation

TOILET ROLLS- DO THEY GROW ON THE HOLDERS?
Roundtable discussion

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAUNDRY BASKET & FLOOR
Practicing with hamper (Pictures and graphics)

DISHES & SILVERWARE: DO THEY LEVITATE/FLY TO KITCHEN SINK OR DISHWASHER BY THEMSELVES?
Debate among a panel of experts.

LOSS OF VIRILITY
Losing the remote control to your significant other - Help line and support groups

LEARNING HOW TO FIND THINGS
Starting with looking in the right place instead of turning the house upside down while screaming - Open forum


DAY TWO

EMPTY MILK CARTONS: DO THEY BELONG IN THE FRIDGE OR THE TRASH?
Group discussion and role play

HEALTH WATCH: BRINGING HER FLOWERS IS NOT HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH PowerPoint presentation

REAL MEN ASK FOR DIRECTIONS WHEN LOST
Real life testimonial from the one man who did

IS IT GENETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SIT QUIETLY AS SHE PARALLEL PARKS?
Driving simulation

LIVING WITH ADULTS: BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR PARTNER
Online class and role playing

HOW TO BE THE IDEAL SHOPPING COMPANION
Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing techniques

REMEMBERING IMPORTANT DATES & CALLING WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE Bring your calendar or PDA to class

GETTING OVER IT: LEARNING HOW TO LIVE WITH BEING WRONG ALL THE TIME Individual counselors available


We all love and appreciate our spouses......

No Self Control

I have ZERO self control when it comes to biting my nails. I have been trying to grow them out for 2 weeks!! They looked sooooo good. I could actually see the white part at the top! I even made an appointment for my mom and I to get manicures next weekend as a reward to myself for "kicking the habit." (And a birthday present for mom) Well, I just shot that idea. They are gone. Totally gone. Why can't I stop biting my nails? I mean, it's just gross!

Any ideas? I'm sure I've tried them all...but who knows.

The Weekend

We had a good weekend. Let's see...Friday night my brother had to defend me when 4 punk kids started throwing rocks at our house. I was sitting on the front porch. I saw a little bit of my dad come out of Neil. I'm sure they didn't see me sitting there, but you would have thought they were shooting me the way Neil reacted! It was great....

Saturday was Operation: Clean the house. That took most of the day/weekend, but it looks great now! James took Kaitlyn to the new Super Walmart that just opened by our house to get a new toy. She picked out skates. That's right. Skates. I'll let you know when we go to the Emergency room how excited I am about this purchase. She really likes them though, and they have three different settings. Setting one is you can only skate forward and one of the wheels doesn't turn. Setting two releases that one wheel, and setting three you can go forward and backward. But anyway you set it, Kaitlyn on wheels is just scary. I got some pretty good video of it though.

Saturday night we took Kaitlyn to see March of the Penguins. She lasted for about an hour, which is more than we thought, so we were okay with that. She really enjoyed it, and I would have liked to see the rest of it. It was really cool. James wanted to go because it is the second highest money-making documentary next to Fahrenheit 9-11. He felt he needed to contribute his money to try and overtake that title.

Sunday was a great day at Highland. We LOVE that church and are really liking our class there. We have just felt so welcomed and taken in. We went to eat with about 12 couples after church to Abuelos - yum! Kaitlyn did the best she ever has at a restaurant. She stayed in her high chair, ate a good lunch and then actually ASKED if she could get down and play with her friend Boston when she was finished! I was way impressed. Now, Sunday night at our small group - it was back to the 90-mile-per-hour Kaitlyn that we all know and love.

So, all-in-all, a great weekend.

The Squirrel, Kaitlyn, and Potty Training

ACU squirrels are not like regular squirrels. They are friendly - they don't ever run away from you. They sit outside office or classroom windows and peek in, and some of them even let you feed them from your hand. This particular squirrel was just chilling outside a window during a meeting the other day, and someone was smart enough (or just really bored in the meeting) and snapped a picture. I thought it was pretty funny.

A funny Kaitlyn story: Yesterday Kaitlyn decided to weigh herself. She stepped on the scale and said, "Wow....I weigh 20 pounds!!" (She really weighs 34 pounds, but for some reason she said 20....already lying about her weight.) Then she said, "I'm a BIG Kaitlyn!"

Also, Kaitlyn is now completely potty trained at school, but not at home. Any shots at our parenting? Go right ahead. We're lazy. That's basically what it comes down to. But, starting today we are going at it full force. I just don't think I'm ready for the days when it takes 30 minutes to get dressed, packed up, in the car, and 5 minutes later hear, "I have to go potty." Or when I'm in Walmart with a basket full of groceries, or in the middle of church..... Anyway, maybe it's just because I'm not quite ready to let go of the things that are still keeping her a baby! We'll see how it goes......

Wedding pictures and Kaitlyn's first ponytail.

Here are a few pictures from Meredith's wedding. (Could I look any more LARGE???) Also, I put Kaitlyn's hair in a ponytail the other day and she was so proud of it...so she told me to take a picture. She calls it her "pony." The one of her and James I just thought was a neat picture.

By the way - I still need to add more links to the blogs that I frequently look at! So, if yours isn't on there yet...it's coming!! Not that ya'll care, just thought I should put that out there.

Happy Thursday!

Your Father in Heaven

This is a song from a CD that I got when I was pregnant with Kaitlyn. I listened to it again the other day and remembered how much I enjoyed it! Thought I would share the words to this one.


Our precious little one, hello
Hope you don’t mind if we watch you grow
Today we saw you focus your eyes
And look at us with such surprise
Could you see we were giving thanks
To your Father in heaven

Soon you will learn to touch your nose
To giggle whenever we tickle your toes
And we can’t wait to hear you coo
And then you’ll talk and when you do
We hope you know you can always speak
With your Father in heaven

There’s a world of wonders
Waiting in store just outside our door
But the greatest thing that we ever will do
Is kneel at your bedside and introduce you
To the One who first thought of the wonder of you
Your Father in heaven

First you will crawl and then you’ll stand
We’re gonna cheer, we’re your biggest fans
You’ll take a step, and then one more
We hope it’s not too long before
You understand you can always run
To your Father in heaven

You’ll learn green is green and blue is blue
God’s crayon box comes with every hue
You’ll learn to make angels in the snow
To catch a frog and let it go
May you know that all good things come
From your Father in heaven

We pray that you’ll always run To your Father in Heaven

A Super Funny Blog

Okay, I don't even know these people, but somehow I stumbled upon their blog. It is soooo funny. I think the dad is writing it from the baby's view point. It seriously made me laugh out loud! Take a look! (I hope this isn't wrong, or illegal or anything by posting this on here! :) )

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=miareese

Husband of the Year/ Wedding

Well, I think James deserves an award for husband of the year. He successfully took care of Kaitlyn all by himself for 5 days and 4 nights. He did GREAT. When I got home the house was picked up, Kaitlyn was just finishing up her nap, and he had even done some laundry!! I thought I would have some scary/frightening stories to tell of their time together, but thankfully I don't. Instead, I now have stories of their time at GattiLand, the Abilene Zoo, working in the yard, watching movies, making shadows with flashlights inside tents that they built in the living room, bedtime stories, cooking breakfast together, and taking naps on the couch. I'm so glad they had this daddy/daughter time together. I'm so thankful that Kaitlyn has a daddy that loves to play around on the floor with her, sing with her, dance with her, swing her, and just be silly. I love watching them together. I hope and pray that their relationship continues to grow deeper as Kaitlyn gets older. Thanks James for being who you are, and for being the best daddy ever for Kaitlyn.

Okay, enough sappiness. (Is that a word?) I had a WONDERFUL time in Tennessee for Meredith's wedding. Mere is one of my best friends from ACU and was the maid of honor in our wedding. Let me just say, Tennessee is absolutely beautiful. Huge trees, everything is SO green, lots of hills...just gorgeous. We hit the ground running when she picked me up from the airport on Thursday. Lots of last minute errands to run, things to drop up, gifts to pick up. I forgot the craziness surrounding a wedding!! Thursday night we had dinner at her parents house (which is absolutely beautiful) with her family and a few friends. Meredith's dad is the one who married James and I, so it was good to catch up with him.

On Friday we went and got manicures and pedicures - it's been so long since I've had either of those. (Maybe that will help me to stop biting my nails!) Then we went to this place called All Fired Up where all of the bridal party painted dishes, vases, picture frames, etc. for Meredith and Ashley. They put them in a big burner thing (my technical name for it), and it ends up looking really neat. I thought that was a great idea, and we had a lot of fun doing it. The rehearsal dinner that night was really good. The video was great of the two of them. Then there was the "open mic" time when anyone could get up and say something. I thought I was going to get out of it, but I look over at Mere and she is giving me this look of, "You better go up there and say something." Great....then all my emotions come out. I try and get through what I had to say without crying, but turned into a blubbering idiot by like the second word. Oh well..she has it on video and now can laugh at me forever. Thanks Mere.

The wedding day was awesome. We went for a long walk that morning, and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast when we got back. Meredith's sisters-in-law and I then made a Sonic run...they don't have Sonic where either of them live. (Washington D.C. and Michigan) Can anyone believe that??? Why would you live somewhere where there is not a Sonic?! I don't get it. Anyway, the wedding was absolutely beautiful. Meredith looked amazing, and her groom could not have looked happier. Her brothers sang at the wedding, and sounded wonderful. The reception was a blast..lots of dancing. Mere's mom actually got on the dance floor and busted a move to "Baby Got Back." Nice. We had a great time.

I will try and post pictures soon. Something is up with our computer, but hopefully James can get all of that worked out.

Happy Monday! :)

Day Two of Four

Today was going to be a hectic day from the begining. I had a District meeting this morning at 7:30. Rainbow school starts at 7:30. My early morning problem.

I arise at the wonderful time of 6:15, Kaityln awoke 5 minutes later. She was in a great mood and knew that daddy needed to get some things going in order to leave by 7:25. So she wouldn't put on her clothes, wouldn't eat her food and decided that loafing in our bed watching the morning news is how it was going to be. I was able to get myself ready this mroning and have her ready to go by 7:15, promises of chocolate milk work wonders.

I arrive at Rainbow bible school promptly at 7:17, the stop signs held up my goal of less than a minute. The school still had 13 minutes till it opened, however, if her teacher was present I could drop her off early. 7:38 Ms. Cheryl arrives. Kaitlyn decided that she didn't want to let me go and 7:45 I am able to leave the parking lot. Meeting started 15 minutes ago.

I arrive at work at 7:53, meeting had started late and I had only missed 13 minutes. Saved.

This day Kaitlyn wore her jean skirt, with the shorts underneath, and a stripped shirt that went with some other outfit. i thought she looked cute. Her normal kicks were worn and I packed a lunchable. I forgot today was pizza day until I picked her up and saw what kind of pizza she had on her shirt.

FREEDOM !!!!!!!!!!??????

Leslie is out of town. This morning Kaitlyn wakes up and says "Mommy go tennis."

So since Leslie has been gone for less than a day and Kaitlyn went to school in a cute dress and her kicks. I like to put her in tennis shoes because I know she will be running around and getting inot trouble. Plus they look more comfortable than sandals. However, Leslie would frown on this behavior because sandals would match the outfit better.

So today I will hang ouot with kaitlyn when I get off work at about 3:00 today. Usually this means going outside to swing for hours and then going to a park and chasing each other.

I think this weekend we will probably go fishing and then go to the zoo.

Saturday will be a yard work day with an evening at Sonic.

I will update often in order to let Leslie know how her beautiful daughter is doing

Good Night Dear Diary

On the Road to Recovery

Well, our little Kaitlyn has been quite sick the past couple of days. The night before last after dinner she got to be pretty cranky and whiney. We put her to bed around 8:30 or so and she fell asleep for a little while, but woke back up pretty quickly. She just cried and cried and would not sit still. Finally, she said her tummy hurt, so we tried sitting on the potty for awhile to see if she would, well...you know. Around 11:30 we gave her a warm bath. (I remember my mom doing this, so I thought I would give it a shot) After her bath, we came to the conclusion that she was just cranky, not in a good mood, etc. So, we went for a drive in the car to try and get her to go to sleep. She was out like a light in less than 5 minutes. Got home, put her to bed, we go to bed as well.... and 30 minutes later she starts crying again. We go get her up and she says her tummy hurts again. This time it's for real b/c she threw up all over James. (Sorry, sweetie!) Anyway, by the end of the night she had thrown up 5 times, taken 3 baths, James took 2 showers, and we had changed the sheets on her bed twice, and our bed once.

Yesterday morning she was still not feeling good. I tried to feed her oatmeal, but the second it touched her mouth, she threw up. I stayed home from work yesterday morning, and James came home in the afternoon. She just layed around all day. We are just not used to her being still! She started complaining again last night of her tummy hurting, so we gave her a bath and put her to bed. She slept from 7:45 until we had to wake her up at 7:15 this morning.

This morning she jumped right out of bed, ran all around the house, and gave us her usual huge smile that we haven't seen in 2 days. She said, "My tummy feels better, yes it did!!"

In two years we haven't had to deal with her getting sick like this, so I'm not complaining. We are just glad to see her better!

Mr. Mayo Addicted

My wife writes on this blog about once a day. I love to read it because she can say things in a more polite way than I can.

By the way, Kelly Speck, Thank you for the card! It made my week.

I must look at this web site about 3 times a day and gete somewhat upset if I see no movement on it. Sure I could do something proactive and write on it but I don't enjoy reading what I write. I like to read someone else's interpretation of what happened.

For instance: Kaitlyn's trip to Lubbock

You read her post about all the funny things Kaitlyn said, my story would have had how many times she said each of those cute sayings in a row.

Kaitlyn this morning got off to school ok, but I am begining to feel that she acts different when different people take her to school. Leslie talks about how Kaitlyn will go and put her little person in the slot it needs to go in that marks she is present. I would write about how I have to peel her off my leg to leave.

Leslie brings up cookies or somethings for the teachers on Friday's, I make sure that I don't talk to anyone unless its about Kaitlyn and why for the third time this week she has a black mark on her forehead.

I guess its just how you see things.

All is great in Abilene because it has rained for 3 days straight and the grass is growing.

Brad is supposed to send me a link for fantasy football and I have not recieved it.

Good Night Dear Diary

Kaitlyn's Thoughts

We drove to Lubbock yesterday after work. James has a company golf tournament and awards banquet tonight. I love that all of his company "stuff" is in Lubbock because we get to see my parents. Another great part is that James and I get put up in a nice hotel and Kaitlyn gets Mam-ma and Pappy all to herself! (Or should I say Mam-ma and Pappy get Kaitlyn all to themselves?) Anyway, on the drive down here I thought it would be fun to write down the things that Kaitlyn said. Not everything, but the funny things. I wrote down more than I thought I would. So, here is Kaitlyn's conversation to herself, her Woody doll (from Toy Story), and to us:

"Look at the big tower!"

"It's daytime outside."

"Look! Dots!" (A few speckles of something on the inside roof of the car)

"My head, umm, yes, get my head. It's stuck...oh, that's better." (trying to put a necklace on)

"Mam-ma and Pappy loves me."

"It's hot in here!"

"Look at the birds!"

"I need gloves for me! He took my gloves!!" (James had to stop at one of his customers in Sweetwater to drop off a box of gloves)

"See the clouds up there Woody?"

"You want to sit in my lap Woody?"

Sings Holy, Holy, Holy (still one of her favorites for some reason)

Sings I'm in the Lord's Army.

Covers Woody's eyes and says "Peek-A-Boo!"

"Tickle Daddy's eyes!"

"Tickle Daddy's mole!" (James has a mole right under is eye)

"Uh, oh! Don't get me rain!"

"I saw a rainbow!"

"Just a few more minutes!"

"I'm gonna tell Mam-ma and Pappy about that rainbow."

"That's Mommys James and Kaitlyn's Daddy."

"I'm a big girl Daddy! I'm Kaitlyn. I'm a big Kaitlyn."

"This is Daddy, I'm Kaitlyn. This is Daddy, this is me!"

She saw a sign for Bealls (a store in the mall) and said, "This is B and E and L and S!"

"I'm Kaitlyn Mayo - This is Daddy Mayo."

"God made the moon, God made the stars, God made the clouds, God made...... I saw fireworks!"

"Where'd my Mam-ma go? I'm going to Lubbock."

"Almost there Mommy! I'm gonna say Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!"



She's a pretty funny girl, that Kaitlyn. I wonder what the rest of the weekend has in store.....

I'm a Slacker

I'm a slacker... I haven't posted in awhile. I am at a blog stand still. I know, it's bad. I just can't think of anything fun to write!!! I haven't even found enough energy to post a comment on any one else's blog!! What is my deal?? Well, I'll give it a shot.
This past weekend was soooo busy. My brother graduated on Friday night, so we had a house full of people. Kaitlyn did pretty good throughout the ceremony. They had some of the band that played the traditional "Pomp and Circumstance".... Kaitlyn loved that. She kept saying "One more music, one more music!" She didn't make it to see Neil walk across the stage, but she let everyone know who she was supporting by yelling "Yay Neil!" every few seconds for the first 5 minutes.
We had fun on Saturday just being with family. My cousin Taylor was adopted into our family and she recently learned that her birth family lives in Abilene. They met for the first time in June, but our whole family got to meet Taylors mom on Saturday. It was really neat to see how alike they are! Everything from the way they look to their personalities. I could write a lot more about it...but that's a whole other blog.
Fast forward to today....Kaitlyn started the fall semester of her preschool. She is now in the Ducks classroom. (She was a lamb, but she got promoted :) ) In the ducks room they sleep on mats. This is a whole new world for Kaitlyn. I was anxious to hear how she did her first day. Kaitlyn's teacher evidently lays the kids down and goes around and rubs the backs of those that have a hard time going to sleep. Well, Kaitlyn took it upon herself to help the teacher. So, she started going around to the other kids and rubbing their backs while saying, "It's okay, your mommy will be here soon." How sweet is that? After Ms. Cheryl (and Kaitlyn) got the other kids to sleep, Kaitlyn said, "It's my turn on my mat." Ms. Cheryl rubbed her back and she fell asleep. I don't know if this will be an everyday thing for Kaitlyn, but I thought it was pretty cute.
What wasn't cute was how Kaitlyn was up for 2 1/2 hours last night. We had bad storms that included very loud thunder. She asked, "What's that noise?" about 500 times before I finally turned on Care Bears and she fell asleep on the couch. She woke up very happy though, which I guess outweighs my crankiness.

Happy Tuesday!! (I'll post pictures tonight)

My Brother Neil

My brother is graduating from ACU this Friday. I am so excited for him, as he begins this new phase of his life. He is living in Midland right now working for Cingular. He is thinking about becoming a firefigher, which I think would be totally awesome. Anyway, as he is on my mind, I thought I would share a few memories about my brother with you.

(In no particular order)

I vaguely remember when we shared a room. I was in a big girl bed, and he was in his crib and we would throw his blanket back and forth.

I lied alot to Neil. I used to tell him there were leprechauns under my closet that made things for me.

I remember going on vacations in our suburban, laying the seats down and making tents. Seatbelts anyone?

I also remember road trips where I would complain that his headphones were too loud, or that I could hear him breathing.

I remember us making our dining room window a drive through restaurant for our bikes. The only thing we made and sold was pickle juice.

I remember my birthday party when I was 9 or 10.....we were trying to bust the pinata and Neil's mouth got in the way of a swinging metal bat. Lots of orthodontic work after that.

I remember watching all of his friends surround him the day he was baptized at Greenlawn in Lubbock.

I remember playing Super Mario brothers for hours in his room. He was always one level farther than me. (But he pushed the buttons too loud)

I remember reading stories that he wrote about wolves, and being amazed at his creativity.

Going on family vacations to the mountains, hiking around the creeks, racing each other through the trees.

Waking each other up on Christmas mornings to go see the presents Santa left for us.

I remember chasing him around the backyard with my cape on. (Really a blanket, but it was my supergirl cape.)

I remember coming back from a spring break campaign and learning that he was in the hospital in California with pneumonia. I remember the constant tightness I felt in my stomach until I knew he was okay.

I love listening to him play the guitar. When he was first learning how to play, I remember being excited for him when he picked it up so quickly.

I remember waking him up in the middle of the night when I went into labor with Kaitlyn. He was sleeping on our couch. He was like, "Are you serious? Right now?"

I remember how much fun it was to see him around campus when I was a senior and he was a freshman at ACU.

I remember how much it bothered/bothers him when I tell him his hair smells like bacon and eggs.

I know there are so many more memories....these are just ones that I thought of really quickly. I am so proud of Neil. I am proud that he is my brother. I am excited about where he is headed. He will be good at whatever he chooses to do. I pray that God will pour down blessings from heaven as he continues this journey called life.

Weekend Highlights

I know, it's Tuesday and I'm just now writing about the weekend. Oh well, here are some pictures and highlights below:

























We had a really fun weekend. James went to Dallas to play poker with some friends and was planning on coming back on Saturday. But then his friend Clay drove down all the way from Missouri to play, so he ended up staying until Sunday. That was my cue to go to Lubbock for the weekend. Kaitlyn and I drove down and spent some quality time with my parents. When I woke her up Saturday morning to tell her we were going she said "Ohhhhh, yes!! Mam-ma's gonna get my sugars!!" (That's what my mom always says when she is kissing on her). Anyway, here are some highlights from the weekend:

1. Listening to Kaitlyn sing "Let Us Have a Little Talk with Jesus" about 20 times in a row in the car.

2. Enjoying my dad's hammock. Except for when I fell out of it. Twice.

3. Going to the park and watching the ducks eat the bread right out of Kaitlyn's hand.

4. James getting to see his die-hard poker friends. James sleeping on the couch and Clay sleeping on the Bow-Flex. That's a lovely picture.

5. Shopping with my mom. I love getting new make up!

6. Eating yummy food.

7. Listening to this conversation between my mom and Kaitlyn:
Kaitlyn: "I want to see Christmas."
Mom: "What?"
Kaitlyn: "What's Christmas?"
Mom: Blank stare...wondering how she came up with this thought and wondering what to say.
Kaitlyn: getting impatient..."Christmas!!"
Mom: "Christmas is when Jesus was born."
Kaitlyn: "What happened to Santa?"

That's my girl. Always in tune with what's important!

8. My dad and I sharing stories from the books we are reading.

9. Kaitlyn made it all the way through church on Sunday!!

10. Watching Kaitlyn put on my mom's socks and golf shoes. She loved walking around in them, but it made a pretty funny picture!

If you have time, write a quick comment about your weekend!