Finally!

We finally bought a new camera. Ours broke over Easter weekend. I'm more than excited to be able to take pictures again. Just in time for Kaitlyn's birthday party on Saturday! I can't believe she is about to be 3. I'll write more about this on her actual birthday.

Things with us are going good. Nothing big going on - just our normal day-to-day routine of work and hanging out in the evenings. I have been trying to walk at night as much as I can. This has helped me feel SO much better.

My parents came through town last weekend and picked up Kaitlyn on their way to Ft. Worth. James and I did not know what to do with ourselves! The World Cup started, so Saturday he went and watched a game or two with some friends while I enjoyed two paperview movies on my couch! I watched Rumor Has It (weird, but okay), and The Family Stone. That afternoon while James worked in the yard, I went out and did some Father's Day shopping and enjoyed spending time with my friend Felicia before they move away!

Saturday night we went on a dinner and a movie date to Texas Roadhouse and to see The Break Up. Not a fan of the ending, but it was a pretty funny movie over all.

Sunday it was awesome taking our time getting ready for church and being able to sleep an extra 30 minutes! We had a nice, 2 hour lunch with friends at the Olive Garden which would not be possible with our precious toddler present. We took long naps before welcoming Kaitlyn home early Sunday evening!

Thanks Mamaw and Pappy for making Kaitlyn's weekend a blast and ours relaxing!

Here are a few pictures I've taken the past few days:

More Exciting News!!

I get to go see Kelly Clarkson in Dallas on July 28th!! This makes me way too excited. I'm sure I will blog about it again before the actual day gets here. Just thought I would share!

The One

This morning I got up at 5:45 to go to a men's breakfast. Normally this would be passed up because of the early presence. Mike Cope was going to be leading this meeting and future meetings.

I like Mike Cope, he's got a good head on his shoulders and he is approachable. His wisdom is wise and I feel there is no situation I have been in that he couldn't relate to.

So we talked about stuff guys talk about. I can't give away that part of the meeting because then you girls wouldn't be a curious about what really goes on at these breakfasts. I would say it is similar to your book clubs.

He then asked us to do something today that I haven't ever done. It’s easy and simple and makes plain sense but being a guy if it's not in front of my face I can't find it.

Tell your wife that she is THE ONE.

She is the one. I knew on July 4th, 2000. She knows I knew on that date because I told her later on in our relationship. She doesn't know that I still feel that way today. I usually say I love you or that she looks attractive but I don't think I tell her she is still the one.

Maybe she doesn't think about it as she gets in one of her moods and decides to clean the whole house top to bottom after doing so several days earlier.

Maybe she loses sight that I think she's the one when I don't take out the trash the second it’s filled.

Maybe when I help her with the dishes she thinks that I'm just being nice and feel obligated to do it since she cooked a wonderful supper, not because I think she's the one.

But she is the one.
She is the one who chose me over any other.
She is the one who said I do
She is the one who makes this marriage work
She is the one who gave birth to our child
She is the one who challenges me to be a better man
She is the one who gives of herself for others so much that I sometimes get frustrated
She is the one who makes sure that we know how special God is to us, our relationship, our marriage and our children
She is the one I love and will love forever

Mike said it’s important for us to make sure that we let our wives know that with all the struggles we have, we need others to support each other and not go into any battle alone (in believe this is from Proverbs 4). We should all pray for each others marriage to be successful. I still support my earlier statement that Mike is bright man. I also pray for his marriage to be successful for the next 28 years.

However, the one marriage that is on my heart all the time is mine. I know that with time some things tend to get overlooked and sooner or later you realize that maybe more effort needs to contributed here or there or this hasn’t been addressed in a while. But I will try to not let those things go too long without being fixed.

Leslie is the one and no amount of metaphors or limericks will ever change how special she is to me and how blessed I am to have her as a friend, wife, spiritual partner and beautiful mother.

Fun in the Sun

We finally had a weekend where all three of us were at home together! Saturday morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast out, followed by a long trip to the park - before the day got too hot! Saturday night we watched with much excitement as the Mavs beat the Suns to go to the Finals!!! Can't wait until Thursday! Bring on the Heat!

Sunday after church Kaitlyn and I went with some other girls and a few other kids to swim. It was SO hot outside, and it felt so good to swim in water deeper than our plastic backyard pool! Kaitlyn had a blast. Slip those floaties on and she is good to go! She jumped off the diving board and went down the slide without hesitation. Somebody put some fear in my child!

Here are a few pics: Once again, blogger is not on my side - so we'll try again later for the rest.

The One I've Been Waiting For.......

I have been waiting to create this blog for a long while now! I wish I could think of some creative way to write about it, but I can't so - without further hesitation...

We are expecting baby #2!!!!

We are more than thrilled about this - and have been wanting this to be real for so long. I'm just almost 10 weeks along, and feeling every minute of it. I wasn't sick at all with Kaitlyn, and it's a daily thing with this one. Must be a boy.

My doctor gave us a "scare" at the beginning - telling me he was almost sure it was twins. My hormone level went from 350 to over 3000 in about 4 days. Yikes! So, a couple weeks later we had a sonogram and just saw one tiny heart beating!! We go again a week from today to double check though. Maybe I shouldn't say double check.

Anyway, I am so excited that the cat is out of the bag and I am able to share the news. My official due date is January fourth, but I let the doctor know that December would be preferred! January sounds so much further away than December. I mean, let's face it. It's a whole other year!

Kaitlyn's Program

I totally forgot to blog about this last week. Kaitlyn had her end of the year program at school. It was a Zoo theme. They painted their own T-shirts to wear - they looked really cute! It was really hard to hear the words to their little songs - but my shy daughters voice could be heard quite a bit. She wasn't intimidated at all.

The pictures are absolutely hilarious.

This was probably one of those times where we could actually hear Kaitlyn's voice. She's leaning forward in order to project her voice. Molly - you would be proud. :)

















I love this picture because they are all doing something different. It's hilarious to look at each one of them. 2 year olds are funny.
















They are all pretty much doing the same thing here. Way to go kids!
















This shows Kaitlyn probably smacking someone for pulling her hair.
















This is my most precious Mom and Dad! Pappy is pretty much back to his old self since the wreck. Everytime I look at him I'm thankful.

Shiny People

So, this won't be as funny in words as it is to hear Kaitlyn say it. When I got home from work she said, "Mom. I need to teach you something right now." Then she made me stand right across from her - so we are not very far a part from each other and facing each other. She proceeds with this little "song." It's like one of those things where you slap hands with your friend. The one I knew growing up was "Cinderella dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss her fellow...." You may remember. This is how Kaitlyn's went:

Shiny people are so funny
This is the way they count their money
Oooh Sha, Ooh Sha
Turn around and Boo-sha. (While turning around to bump bottoms with your friend)

I laughed so hard.

Have any of you teachers heard this little song? What does it mean?

I just thought it was too funny to not record somewhere.

Random Happenings...

Since I haven't been good at giving consistent updates, here are just a few things we have been up to lately:

James and I got to go on a date last Monday (Thanks Erica!). We went to see David Copperfield. We were, sad to say, less than impressed. I was so excited about this! I used to love watching him on TV, and my parents had raved about a show of his that they had seen. There were only 2 things that he did that I was amazed by. But the worst part about it was the content of the show! There were TONS of children/young families in the audience (which I was a bit surprised by, but whatever). He had a sexual, crude comment for everything it seemed like - and his language was less than appropriate for an audience largely populated with children. I felt so uncomfortable, embarrassed - and glad we didn't have Kaitlyn with us! However, we did enjoy the night out and an awesome dinner at Abuelos afterwards.

School's out for the summer! ACU students finished up last week. Campus is so quiet - which means no more speedy drivers down our street, not as much traffic in the lunch hour, and much quieter - longer work days. I miss all of the student workers up here though! They make me laugh so much.

TV - I'm sad that it's May and all the good shows are about to be over. I'm holding out that the Mavs will pull out a win tonight, so that I can have another series to look forward to.

I read a book! In only 3 days! It's called Something Borrowed and it's totally scandalous. But it came recommended by a good friend, so I thought I would try it out. It was so fun to slip away into another life for awhile. After talking with Sara, the friend who recommended it, we agreed that we live such sheltered lives - it's interesting to get a glimpse into a lifestyle that we are not accustomed too. And then we can just pray for the people that really live their lives like that! :)
But, it's a fun summer read if you're interested!

This weekend Kaitlyn and I went to San Angelo for my brother's best friends wedding. It was an outside wedding - and one of the prettiest I've been too. It was very pink - but so nice. We enjoyed checking in early and checking out late of our hotel. It was so hot and we spent lots of time by the pool. We got Kaitlyn some floaties and some goggles (or gobbles as she calls them). She LOVED swimming. At first she didn't trust the arm floaties too much, but she got used to them pretty fast. Before too long, my dad was throwing her into the pool and she was swimming to the side by herself! She loved it - and I'm so mad because she is going to tan her whole life while her fair skinned mama burns like crazy. She is getting a few freckles on her face. I am NOT a fan of my freckles, but hers are the cutest things I have ever seen.

James has taught Kaitlyn to "Shake what your Mama gave you." He will whisper this in her ear, and then she proceeds to do this hilarious dance that can not be put into words. But she kind of does her arms like you would do in the chicken dance, while shaking her bottom all around, while squatting down and standing up.... Hilarious. Even more hilarious when she does it in her floaties and gobbles.

So - that's a quick update. Hope everyone is doing well!!

Kaitlyn's 3 year pictures

I have not been a very good blogger lately. Lots has gone on, I just haven't had the words to say or time to say it. So, until I get out of this funk, I will share a few of Kaitlyn's most recent pictures with you.

Gotta love JC Penny!

WHAT?!?!?!

It's Sunday night at 10.30. We just finished watching Grey's Anatomy. I am freaking out!!! What is going to happen? Any predictions from anyone? Tomorrow night at 8:00 can't come fast enough for me!

Grandmama

I just went to our vending machine to get some mints out. Random that I just wanted some mints. Anyway, the second I put one in my mouth, my mind flashed back to sitting in church with my Grandmother. She would always have these same mints in her purse, and everytime we would go visit her - during church she would give us one.

My grandmama called me this morning just out of the blue to see how I was doing - just said that I had been on her heart lately. I didn't make it to the phone in time to talk to her, but I listened to the message like 3 times.

Grandmothers, especially mine, are just special people. Here are some of my favorite things/memories about Grandmama:

1. As well as getting a mint from her every Sunday, I was obsessed with her fingernails for some reason. She always had long, painted, shiny fingernails. I remember just holding her hands and rubbing her nails during the sermon.

2. Listening to her sing, and appreciating her love for music. I think she has a wonderful voice. She could always hit the high notes! I still listen to music and often times think - "she would love this song."

3. Every house that she has lived in (I can remember 3) has had a distinct smell. This is not a bad thing. They all smelled like home. Like home cooked food.

4. She always goes all out for Christmas. She has 12 grandkids, and one great-grandchild, and she makes all of us feel special at Christmas. Every year we say we are just going to draw names. Not her. She does not participate. She always thinks of the perfect presents. (Not that that is what Christmas is all about though)

5. She drives a PT Cruiser. Anyone else have a grandmother that drives a PT Cruiser?

6. She is a nanny. As if she hasn't raised enough kids and grandkids - she goes and helps raise other people's kids. And she's GREAT at it. She has blessed so many families. They are all lucky to have her in their lives.

7. She has had her fair share of rough times - but has persevered through it all. She has come out of it a stronger, more faithful person. All throughout her life she has taught me how to be a better person.

8. I love her handwriting. It's just hers. In college she would send me $10 ore $20 here and there, and whenever I saw her handwriting on the envelope I would get so excited! Not just because I knew I was getting some extra cash, but because I knew she was thinking of me. She still sends us cards all the time - every SINGLE holiday and then some others here and there. I rarely throw them away.

9. She's beautiful. I've always thought this about her. She's very young and very pretty. Everyone of her friends and family members know it. My mom and all of her sisters are gorgeous too. Hopefully the "looking young" forever look will stick around for my generation!

10. She's a story teller. She loves telling a good story - good or bad! Anytime you're around her she'll tell you a story about something. I love this about her because it shows how much she cares for others. Some would say - she knows all the gossip, but she is just so deeply enmeshed in so many of her friends lives - she just wants to share their stories!

I know there are a ton more of my favorite things about her. I just wanted to remember a few of them here.

Love you Grandmama!


With me as a baby:
















Go ahead and make your comments about my outfit!













Just a few of the cousins:



















With Kaitlyn - the first time she got to see her:




















Kaitlyn

Rain, rain, go away!!

On our way to Lubbock this weekend, Kaitlyn and I encountered the worst storm ever. I don't know if it really was the worst storm I have been in, but when you are in your car in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE - it's kind of scary!! I could tell it was about to get bad. The sky just went green, then pitch black. The wind was SO bad ( I later heard like 70 mph), and the rain was heavy. I could not even control my car. So, I pulled over to the shoulder to "wait it out." Really I was just going to wait until the car in front of me decided it was okay to go - then I followed him. While we were pulled over, I really thought my car was going to flip over. I swear I felt the wheels lift up. I crawled in the back seat with Kaitlyn and watched Cinderella for a few minutes! Kaitlyn could tell I was a little scared, so I just said - lets say a prayer for God to keep us safe in the storm. So I said a prayer and then Kaitlyn said, "And Dear God, don't let the tornado get us like Dorothy." So funny that girl!

We finally made it out - safely! I'm not one to get scared of weather, I mean - I grew up in Texas. But it's so different when you are in your car, no radio, cell phone doesn't work that great, James wasn't there.... everything was magnified!

The rest of our weekend was good. I didn't feel too good on Saturday, so it was nice to let my parents handle Kaitlyn for awhile while I laid on the couch until 1:00 in the afternoon! Thanks Mom!

We got to go to a birthday party on Sunday out at this awesome ranch a few miles outside of Lubbock. (I'll post pictures when my dad sends me some - still w/o a camera) Kaitlyn LOVED riding on a big horse, petting the goats, going on a hay ride, and getting to hold a baby bunny and a baby chick. It was a really neat place for a birthday party and a great way to end our weekend!

Kaitlyn and I then came home to a clean house courtesy of James, and that's ALWAYS a good feeling.

Now it's Monday - again. They just come around too fast. I'm ready to go home and watch Grey's Anatomy from last night and catch up on my Oprah's and Ellen's.

Happy Monday!

Just one of the reasons I love my job....

I work with the most awesome girls ever. They are so encouraging, uplifting, prayerful, funny, beautiful women of God. I am so blessed to work with them every single day. They make having to be away from Kaitlyn all day a little bit easier.

Another weekend comes and goes...

I am missing my camera. Ours broke the weekend before Easter. We need to get another one fast!!

Friday: Watched the finale of Cheerleader Nation. That's right. Go Dunbar! They won Nationals, and Megan hit her full. I'm so proud of those girls.

James went to Dallas for the night to see some college buddies that were in town. Kaitlyn and I just hung out and enjoyed the nice thunderstorm that we had. This was the first time she has been afraid of thunder - but I did my best to explain to her what it was, gave her a flashlight to hold, and she was fine!

Saturday: Kaitlyn woke me up at about 6:45 saying she wanted McDonald's for breakfast. So, we got in the car in our pajamas and hit the drive thru. She loves eggs and sausage. We snuggled on the couch and watched Sat. morning cartoons. Well, she did. I fell back asleep for a little while. After a while we played in her room with her dollhouse, played her fishing game, played dress up, played basketball, did some puzzles, and worked in her sticker book. I LOVE the weekends when I can spend so much time with her.

James came home Saturday afternoon and took her to the zoo - it was "free day." The monkeys and the giraffes are her favorite.

Watched the Mavericks win Game 3. Why is Dirk not MVP? He is amazing. I love the Mavs.

We just hung out the rest of the evening. It was a plain, jane, stay at home day. My favorite.

Sunday: Church and then to the park for a picnic with some friends. It was beautiful weather outside yesterday. The kids enjoyed playing out there. We stayed for like 2 hours. We all got a little sunburned!

I finished painting my kitchen table. Mom and I started this last weekend, and I am just now getting around to finishing it. It's looking okay - I'm trying to distress it. We'll see how it turns out. I need Meredith Moore to come help me with my project!!!

We met with our small group last night for the first time in over a month. We've all been busy traveling it seems like. It was good to be back together and catch up with each other.

And here it is Monday again.

Monday's are hard. I'm not gonna lie. Try to make it a good one!

Soccer party and TV Shows...

Last night was our end of the season soccer party for the Butterflies. We decided to have it at Mr. Gatti's this year. We reserved a room, ate lots of pizza and cupcakes, and James did the "trophy presentation." I think the girls had a real fun time! Kaitlyn had a blast handing each girl their trophy. She was just as excited as they were, and she didn't even get one!

Okay - so my TV shows:

American Idol - What is going on with the judges?! Paula, seriously. Stop crying. I really want to know what is in her "Coke" cup. I still LOVED Katherine last night and they totally bashed her. And I still don't think Chris is all that. I just feel like the judges are trying to set him up to win. Paris is just annoying, and I still like Taylor a lot. Pickler was pretty harsh last night too.

Grey's - When will we see a new episode?!?!? I was so excited for Sunday and it was a dang clip show. I'm so ready for this to start back up.

Alias - I LOVED last weeks episode. Some may disagree with me, and that's fine. I just thought it was great. (Other than the 10 minute birthing process) Vaughn is a total hottie and I'm so glad that he is back for the last few episodes.

Mavericks - This one's for you Brenna. I love playoff basketball. Bring on round 2 so we can knock the Spurs out already!!

Let's just face it. I love TV. I love Tivo.

Still Recovering...

Well, we are all still recovering from such an emotional weekend. My dad is feeling a lot better, but according to my mom he is looking worse. All of the bruises are starting to show up now, and he is a little more swollen. But he is okay, and home and that is the most important thing!

It's just the phone call you NEVER want to get. Mom checked her voice mail as we were leaving Sams on Saturday morning and it was the nurse from the hospital. All we knew for about 30 min to an hour was that he was in a car accident, unconscious, careflighted with head trauma. Mom and I hurried back to my house, threw stuff in our bags and headed to Ft. Worth. Kaitlyn was a little unsure of everything - she could tell something was wrong and started to get a little upset. I tried to calm down a little bit and just told her that Pappy wasn't feeling good and we were going to help him feel better. She just said, "Oh no! We have to go rescue him!" Sweet girl. She LOVES her Pappy.

Once we were on the road, we started calling people. My dad's brother was on his way - he lives in Ft. Worth, so we were ready for him to get there and give us more information. My mom's sister got there pretty quickly too. Every phone call we got after that got better. The cat scan came back clear, and he was starting to wake up and become more alert.

We were pretty nervous about seeing him once we finally got there. And while it could have been much worse, it was SO hard to see my dad like that. No one had bothered to "clean him up", and he still had not received stitches in his head. You can just picture what that looked like. When he saw mom and I, he just started crying. That's also something I'm not used to seeing.

I was VERY much surprised that they released him from the hospital that same night. I really wanted them to keep him overnight for observation, but they didn't think it was necessary. So, we all checked into a hotel. He got pretty sick once we got there, and that was scary. But it was just from taking the pain medication on an empty stomach.

So.. it was pretty much the longest day of my life. I've always thought my dad was invincible. Nothing can ever happen to him. This just really woke me up.

The next day he wanted to go back to the scene of the accident - that was weird. We also went to see the car so that he could try and get his things out of it. That was also a strange experience. All of the CD's were scattered around the car, they had put all of the wreckage in the back seat, you could see on the windshield where his head hit, we found a T-shirt of someone who had apparently stopped to help and wrap it around his head. The car was a total disaster, except for his Sonic cup that was still in the cup holder, and his glasses that didn't have a scratch on them and were still folded in the seat. Crazy!

Here is a picture of the front of the car:
















So, he is a lucky guy! He had a follow up appointment yesterday with his doctor back home. Things are looking better for him. Thanks for keeping him in your prayers!

Update

Well, what a day yesterday was. I will tell the whole story at another time, I just wanted to thank ya'll for praying for him. He was actually released from the hospital last night! Only my dad could be careflighted and released all in the same day. He is really beat up and swollen, but praise God his head injuries weren't that severe. Yesterday was a day I don't want to ever relive, and it really put things into perspective for me.

So, thanks again for praying, and please just keep him in your prayers for a few days as the soreness will be around for a good while.

Prayer Requests

Today we found out that Leslie's father was in a verey bad car accident while driving back from Granbury. He was flown to the hospital and has since been recovering.

At this time his condition is stable but we ask for prayers for him and all of our family

ARE YOU KIDDING?!!?!?!

MY STUPID DVR DID NOT RECORD ALIAS LAST NIGHT. I AM BEYOND MAD. I'M WAITING FOR ITUNES TO PUT IT UP. IF ANYONE ELSE KNOWS WHERE I CAN GET IT ONLINE, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.

SORRY THIS IN ALL CAPS, BUT I COULD NOT BE MORE UPSET!!

This and That...

Alias starts back up tonight. That is all I have to say about that.

ACU now has a legit Starbucks in the library. Very cool.

Yesterday when I was leaving for work, Kaitlyn ran after me, and with a very concerned look on her face she said, "MOMMY. I forgot to tell you something. Look out for the Bad Knight and Swiper the Fox." (From Little Einsteins and Dora)

I think Katherine should win American Idol. Paris' talking voice is so annoying, and I guess I'm the only one - but I'm not a huge fan of Chris.

I guess that's all for now!

Have a good Wednesday!

Photo Blog

I couldn't get blogger to download the pics from my previous post, so scroll down if you want to read about it. Here's the recap in pictures: WARNING - there is a lot of them! I'm tired of Flickr right now, so I'm posting the good ones here. There are more, but I'll post those later.

Easter Highlights

Here are a few pictures/highlights from our fun, busy Easter weekend!

* We were able to stop in Ft. Worth and see my Papa. He has been in the hospital/rehab for a couple of months now, and we've only been able to see him one other time. He was having a very good day - up and walking around and talkative. He even ate a huge cupcake (or pupcake as Kaitlyn calls them) that the Easter bunny brought him.

* Friday afternoon/evening we hung out with Nana and Papaw - James' parents. Kaitlyn played outside and had fun chasing their cats around the house. We watched Chronicles of Narnia which was wonderful!

*Saturday we went up to McKinney to spend some time with Jan. The Easter bunny had left Kaitlyn a swimsuit over there, so we heated up the hot tub and let her swim around. Oh yeah - and Kaitlyn fell in the pool. I definitely jumped in with my clothes on to get her out. She had fallen backwards over the hot tub into the deep pool. I was shaking for so long! Swim lessons - here we come. This did not scare her too much b/c she was back in the water in no time!

* Sat. afternoon we took Kaitlyn to see the Easter bunny. He was in the neighborhood just hanging out at a neighbors house! You could take your own camera and snap a picture or two with him. Kaitlyn acted all shy, but we got a cute picture anyway!

* That evening we had a birthday party for Jennifer - James' sister, and Lofton - James' niece. We had a big game of wiffle ball - which our team won - a pinata, and cooked out hamburgers. We had blast. The kids put on their swimsuits an played in the sprinkler.

* Sunday we got up early and made it for early service at PC. It was good seeing friends that we haven't seen in a long time. Kaitlyn got to catch up with Hannah - they sat together during church and enjoyed each others books, stickers, magnets, and snacks. Can't tell you one word that Prentice said.

* The Easter Egg hunt was fun when we got back. Kaitlyn, Lofton and Graham got after it! When it was all said and done, K had lots of chocolate, a few quarters, and even 2 whole dollars. She was so excited.

* After her nap we ventured over to an awesome "water park" in Allen. We had taken her there last summer, but I have to say she had a LOT more fun this time. She had a blast splashing around. Even Daddy got in on the fun (see the picture below.)

* We didn't get home until after 10:00 last night. We were wiped out! But it was a really fun Easter!

Here are more pics:

Whatever. I hate blogger. I'll post pics later. Sorry!

Events from the weekend...

So.. this past weekend was lots of fun! Friday night my cousin Nathan came into town and we watched the Maverick game together with my other cousin Brenna that goes to school here. She is the most intense Mavs fan you will ever meet. We had fun watching the game - hanging out with both of them is hilarious. I laughed a LOT. And the Mavericks won - so everyone was happy.

Rise and Shine EARLY Saturday morning for the 5K run downtown. It was windy and cold, but we did it! It was really fun, I'm excited about doing more of those. One funny story about that: about 1.5 miles into it we saw a bucket full of ice with lots of bottles of Gatorade. We thought it was our drink stop, so we grabbed one out. Well, turns out it was some construction workers refreshments. They were working on one of the buildings downtown. Oops!

Here is a picture of some of the "Moms on the Move" girls that I wrote about a long time ago: (the little girl on the far left is 10 years old. she is a daughter of one of the moms. she finished in like 20 minutes. whatever.)















Saturday afternoon I got a surprise phone call from one of my friends from college that I had not seen since we graduated 5 years ago! Amanda was in town from Virginia with her two sweet girls visiting her grandparents. So, we decided to meet up downtown for all of the Founders Day festivities. It was so good seeing her, and letting Kaitlyn and Aiden play together.

They had so much fun going down the huge inflatable slide, playing in the jump house, eating a $5 funnel cake, watching a barbershop quartet sing (they were amazed by this), riding the train, and doing some little games they had set up. It was a fun afternoon! We were wiped out when we got home. We just got fast food for dinner, gave Kaitlyn a bath and just hung out before hitting the sack.

Sunday morning Kaitlyn got to wear her Easter dress to church. We won't be at Highland this Sunday, so she can wear it two weeks in a row. She looked SO cute, but was embarrassed for some reason, for me to take her picture. She refused to look at the camera.

Sunday afternoon we helped Lee and Stephanie with their house. James helped paint the outside of the house they are moving into, and I helped Steph pack up her dishes. Kaitlyn and Sophia enjoyed playing together. I'm going to have to get some before and after pics from Stephanie to post. It's amazing the work they have done! It's been neat to see it change from week to week. I'm so excited for them to get moved in and start this amazing ministry!

Have a good week! I'm going to get my hair chopped off during lunch. Wish me luck!

What's the matter with me?!

I'll write about our weekend this afternoon or tomorrow when I get my pictures downloaded, but here are the 3 dumbest things I did:

1. I was late to James' soccer game on Saturday, so poor Erica had to watch Kaitlyn for me until I got there. I whipped into my parking spot and saw Kaitlyn and Erica coming out of the bathroom. I got out of the car, picked her up and headed over to the fields. When I got back to the car about 45 minutes later, I realized that I had left the keys in the ignition, the car unlocked, and THE CAR WAS RUNNING. Nice Leslie.

2. When I sat down in the car - still in disbelief - my rear got completly soaking wet. I then realized that I had put my bottle of water down in my seat - without the lid on. What? Am I on drugs?

3. This morning I was running a little bit late for work, but I really wanted some cinnamon toast to go. So, I fixed it and ran out the door. I got in the car and took a big bite - only to gag on it. I had put chili powder on it instead of cinnamon.

Happy Monday!

A Contact Wearer's Worst Nightmare

I love everything about Abilene, except for the occasional dust storm. This is what it looked like yesterday afternoon.

It's FRIDAY!!!

How do you feel about that?!
















We've had a pretty good week this week. It's actually gone by really fast! James has been busy some in the evenings with a little part time job. He's getting to work for one of our friends at church, which is really a blessing. We are both thankful that it worked out.

Wednesday night we went to church and to McDonalds for ice cream with David and Amanda. Kaitlyn was nothing short of hyper while we were there. We sat outside, so she was fenced in - but the girl was just wild. The time change has really flipped her out I think.

Last night I had bible study at our house. It was good to catch up with the girls. We watched a video from the family retreat that Kara had made that was absolutely hilarious. Throw some brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and few funny stories in there - and you have a pretty fun evening! I am really thankful for Thursday nights and look forward to them each week. James and Kaitlyn passed the time at Chuck E. Cheese. Always a winner.

Tonight we don't have anything planned, which I am thankful for. Tomorrow morning I'm running with my friend Stephanie in a 5K downtown. Looking forward to that - seeing as I haven't run in like 3 weeks. That should be fun! After that, I will either go to James' soccer game, or go help Lee and Stephanie with their house that they are moving into in less than 3 weeks. Yikes! Then, we will probably take Kaitlyn for some fun activities downtown. Only in Small Town, West Texas does the whole city take part in something called Founders Day. Happy Birthday Abilene!

Sweet Baby Ryan

One of my absolute dearest friends had her baby this week. I just love newborn babies!! I can't wait to go visit little baby Ryan and smell his sweet head!! I am so glad she now knows what it feels like to become a mom and the overwhelming feeling of love that comes with it! Love you Julie!

Family Retreat

We had a wonderful weekend at the Highland Family Retreat. Kaitlyn remembered it right away when we got there - she was so excited. We got there Friday night and found that we were staying in a cabin with lots of people that we did not know. One family of four and another mom with 3 kids and a babysitter. Random! Kind of strange all sharing one bathroom... but it all worked out!

Friday night we unpacked and headed down to the "main room" to meet up with everyone and play some games. Kaitlyn had so much fun with "her best friend Jerry." Jerry is about my dad's age and Kaitlyn pretty much hung out with him all weekend. So cute.

Saturday morning we woke up to rain and it continuted to mist throughout the morning. But don't worry - that didn't stop anyone from playing outside! James and Kaitlyn took a little late morning nap while I went on a hike with some of the Sophomore girls, their huddle leaders, and some other friends. Listening to conversations from 15-16 year old girls is hilarious. They were awesome, and it was a really pretty hike. Here's a few pics from the top:

By the afternoon, it had warmed up enough for all the kids to go swimming in the river. The Frio river - it was pretty chilly, but the kids loved it. Next spring I will remember to bring Kaitlyn's swimsuit, but this year she just swam in her clothes and absolutely loved it. She made fast friends with a sweet girl named Hannah.

We did lots of looking at fish, playing sand volleyball (I broke so many blood vessels in my arm, it's pretty nasty), walking on big rocks - Kaitlyn's favorite, and swinging on a huge tree swing that Calvin set up for all the kids. He is the one swinging with Kaitlyn.


I think it is safe to say, that Kaitlyn is not shy. She is more social than anybody I know. She walked up to people that she has never met and sat on their laps and just started talking to them. During the talent show there were a couple of young girls dancing to some song and Kaitlyn just runs down there and starts dancing with them. Hilarious. She did not get her moves from her mommy that's for sure!

So many people told us how fun, wonderful, cute, funny she is. To most of these people, I responded with a "Thanks - you may rethink that if you lived with her all the time! She wears us out!" But, I was so proud of her and so thankful that she brought joy to so many people while we were there. She made lots of people smile - like she does for us all of the time. At one point during the weekend, James just said, "We are so blessed." There were so many people there that we got to know a little bit better.

So, to all of them - thanks for making us feel welcome, for teaching and leading us, and for showing love to Kaitlyn.

Here's a few more pictures:

I'm just a little annoyed...

2 Things that bother me:

1. We got new cell phones a couple of weeks ago, which I was very excited about. The only thing I didn't like about it was having to enter in all the phone numbers again. Yesterday, we got new phones again - we couldn't hear out of the other ones. So, we had to enter the numbers again. Does anyone else share in my annoyance with this?! It takes forever!!

2. Our dryer is about to kill over. The "heating element", I think it's called, has gone out again. This is the second time it's happened in the past few months. I really don't want to dish out money for a new dryer! But it is SUPER old. Now, I'm probably gonna have to go to the laundromat to finish up. Annoying!!!

I will post stories and pics from our awesome weekend tomorrow. We had a wonderful time!

Have a good Monday!