Lessons learned

Wowzers....life has definetley been keeping us busy around here. For those who haven't heard, we did sell our house. Oh yes, we sold and, wait for it.....here it comes....are temporarily homeless. So where are we staying during this time? Well, I'm glad you asked. We have shoved our way into my gracious parent's house. Talk about a packed house!!!! While Ty and I take up the front living room, Abi's crib sits underneath a mounted dear head (her own personal mobile), and Amelia has a playroom for a bedroom (she isn't complaining). Life is very interesting to say the least. While we are EXTREMELY grateful for the shelter over our heads, we are daily searching for land or a house.

Though we aren't out in the boondocks, there are many differences between the city and this "country" living. Here are just a few of the many lessons I have learned in these short 4 weeks....

1. Miniature horses do bite....even when they are pets. Poor Abi learned the hard way. Luckily he just got her finger.

2. Hanging clothes on the line is a very common way to dry laundry. However, dogs do like to use the restroom in the shade of the clothes.....so looking down is VERY important.

3. A quick run in at the post office will turn into a 20 minute visit with multiple familiar faces. But at least there is never a line to buy stamps!!!

4. The 2 local gas stations do NOT believe in thirstbusters....oh how I miss my $.79 diet coke!!!

5. It is much, much easier to stay home then it is to dress, load, and drive 20 minutes to the closest walmart (goodbye neighborhood walmart).

Life has definitely become more interesting to say the least. I'm sure there will be MANY more lessons to come in the near future.

Thank you God for wonderful family and new opportunities....and mounted deer heads :)

The moments to not forget

I realize I haven't done a great job keeping up on here. There are so many moments that happen every day that I want to remember....but have already forgotten most of them. This one I want to remember, for it brought much laughter from myself and daddy....

We occasionally eat dinner "picnic" style in the living room. Tonight is spaghetti. I lay a hand towel down to set Amelia's plate on. I walk in the kitchen to get her dinner and here she comes following me, carrying the towel. She thinks she needs a bigger towel (or so she says). So I put down all the plates I had just balanced in my hands and change out her towel. I walk back into the kitchen, rebalance the dishes, approach the living room to see Amelia holding the towel again. This time, I tell her that she is pushing mommy's buttons and to leave the towel alone. Success (or so I think) and dinner begins. As we are chowing down, Amelia continually keeps picking up the edges of the towel...even knocking over my cup once. Exasperated, I ask why she does it again and again. She looks at me so innocently, and says in this very sweet voice "I looking for mommy's buttons".

I can only laugh.

Thank you Lord for the innocence of a child....and for putting a mommy in her place :)

A Not-So-Sweet Kiss

Who wants to compare days?????
After having a slightly rough start to my morning, I purposely decided (oh yes I did) to have a nonproductive day. I retired my super mommy crown for the day and have done nothing but play with my girls and watch tv. For all you mommies out there, you know how rare a day like today can be!

My favorite time of day finally approached....nap time! As luck would have it, the girls are on opposite schedules today (which goes perfectly with the rest of  my day). So while Amelia has thoughts of sugarplums dancing in her head, Abi is wide-eyed and bushy tailed. So there I was, sitting in the floor watching a girly show, while Abi explored the living room. She approached me and used my leg to pull up into a standing position (my little baby is not so little anymore). Without a second thought (or a second look), I lovingly reached down, wrapped my arm around her bottom and kissed her forehead. Mmmm....why was that kiss a little mushy and why is my arm warm???

Oh yes, if you haven't guessed it by now my darling daughter....my sweet baby girl.....had a huge mess of not-so-sweet stuff oozing out of her diaper and, in a way I cannot explain, it had worked its way to her forehead. Definitely a Not-So-Sweet Kiss for mommy!!!!!

For those concerned for my health (and her safety), both mommy and baby are super scrubbed and clean! Now who has a story to match that???????

Thank you Lord for my babies and all their kisses....preferably sweet ones though, not mushy

A healthy, bad habit

Upon baby dedication at the church, each child receives a small white bible. Ty and I filed both of the girls bibles away to give to them when they are older. Yesterday, I dropped Ty off at the door of walmart and sat waiting for him along the side of the building. Outside of Amelia's window were the coke machines and a table that I'm assuming is for the workers smoke breaks. All of a sudden, Amelia, with hands on her face, starts crying hysterically and mumbling "baby talk". I get her to calm down long enough to catch "B" and "bible". I'm very confused until she points out her window towards that table. Sitting on top, all by itself, was a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. Amelia thought that small white box was Abigail's small white bible from dedication. I was able to mask my giggles to explain that Abi's bible was at home. Upon hearing that, she finally removed her hands from her face and simply asked "Mama, sing?"

My daughter is going to grow up thinking that everyone standing outside with a small white box is reading their bible!

Thank you Lord for the innocence of a child!!!

Vacations & more Vacations

Kansas City, Fort Worth, swim parties...OH MY!! Summer has officially been kicked off.

Our first stop....Kansas City. What a fun place! It being our first vacation with just the 4 of us, we took it easy...just taking in some close-by sights. Ty's must-see was the Ranger vs Royal game. We had only an hour after arriving to eat something and make it to the ballgame. It was Amelia's first game of the year but Abi's first game ever.

**Note the jackets...it was COLD (and yes, mama forgot hers)!

My must-see was the local Farmers Market Saturday morning. So much to see and take in. If I lived there, that is a place I would be hitting weekly for fresh produce and goodies.

Of course Amelia had a must-see as well....and as many of you could guess, it was the zoo. Though a zoo is a zoo...the KC zoo had one animal in particular that we thought was pretty cool....

All in all, I would definitely recommend Kansas City to my friends as a cool "close-by" vacation. One thing we learned about Abigail on this trip....the car allows her to fill (and overfill) her diaper :(

Stop #2....Weatherford/Fort Worth Texas.

Yay! We love getting to see aunt Katie and uncle Josh. This was a "fast-get-everything-in" trip. Our favorite part, of course, was just visiting with them. We also got to see...wait for it...another zoo!!! lol. This one was pretty cool! We went swimming, saw cousins, and finished the trip off with stopping by lake Waurika on the way home to visit Grandpa's family (who we wish we got to see more of). A fun, busy weekend....

This is just the beginning of our summer vacations. We still have lake trips, water park trips, not to mention all the play dates!!! We love summer!!!

Thank you Lord for hot summer days.

1820 Days

The beginning.....
A first year teacher, feeling the tug on her heart, surrendered her summer days to touch lives at a church camp.
A guy fresh out of college feels called to return to the church camp he previously served at.

The meeting.....
During introductions the first night of work week, the girl thought the guy was one of those sports-crazed fan (she later learned that she was right). The guy thought the girl had to only be 15 years old.

Work week.....
The girl was assigned many different tasks, all of which was supervised by the guy. Not a coincidence.

That summer....
Working side by side for weeks, the guy gets the nerve to ask the girl to the blob tower to watch the evenings firework show. Minutes turned into hours as they talked about life. This late-night-date resulted in numerous night chats that always led into the early morning hours.

The question....
After a year and a half of dating, the guy asks the girl to meet him at his house so that they can go on a double date with his friends. Girl shows up late (not uncommon). She walks into the living area and finds herself surrounded by roses and candles. Music plays from down the hall. She follows "their song" into the master bedroom, which is now empty of everything except roses, candles, poster-size pictures of the two on the walls, and one big, red, satin heart in the middle of the floor. On that heart lies a heart box. She opens the box to find another box. On and on it goes until she is left with the final small box. Inside....a watch. She looks up confused. The boy, who had been watching from across the room, steps into the heart, asks her to stop the watch (to freeze that moment forever), then continues to pour out his heart, followed by the big question.
The watch is now framed and sits on the mantle.

1,820 days ago.....5 years to be exact.....this girl married the small town boy that stole her heart.

Thank you Lord for leading our paths together and creating this perfect match.

Sunshine and bubbles

So thankful that the sunshine has decided to reappear with its warm glory. I'm also EXTRA thankful for the Easter bunny bringing Amelia a new bubble machine! My precious toddler has a slight obsession with bubbles, which results with numb lip syndrome for mommy and daddy.
I snapped a few pictures of Amelia enjoying this passion of hers. Can you just feel the joy radiating off her face?

She quickly learned what would happen if she stuck her head in the top of the bubble machine....

Even Titan joined the fun.

And let's not forget about little sis. She got a kick out of watching the bubbles blowing in the wind.

Until she finally passed out...