Monday, August 29

So Not Ready

  I was so not ready for this last week. I thought I was but, I wasn't and I'm probably still not. My big boy, my first, started Kindergarten this past Monday. I thought I was going to be so excited to have him gone all day. I know that sounds horrible but if you are a mother of young boys I hope you understand and can relate to some of these emotions. If not then there must be something wrong with me, I must not be normal. I have many many friends were really emotional about their kindergartners going to school. Some even cried. I think I may be the only mother in this world that didn't. I think I may have actually done a small happy dance. Don't get me wrong or misinterpret what I am trying to say. I love and absolutely adore my Parker! He is my sunshine and if it were not for his existence I would not be where I am today. He changed my world for the better and I am so privileged and honored that God has trusted me with the life of such an amazing little guy. Parker is beyond smart. He is clever and witty. He is bold and confident. He LOVES the Lord and has the most tender heart for the underdog. He sees everyone as equals and he finds pleasure and fulfillment in "loving on" people. He has such a zeal for life and knows how to have a great time (all while over analyzing the decisions he makes... he is our cautious one). God has created quite the little man in this guy. He is all of these amazing and wonderful things and some ... He is also a BOY. He is rough and rowdy. Dirty and at times stinky. He is bossy and controlling. He is emotional and oh so tender. He is and I believe all boys are "Pack Creatures". They feed off of each others energy and they are fueled by the level of activity surrounding them. The more activity the higher the energy level and louder the noise that comes from them. The more male testosterone in the room, the more competition and aggression arise in his spirit. When I have one boy home with me, the house is quiet and controlled. When both of them are together it is none stop energy from 7am-9pm with a 1.5 hour recharge during nap. As soon as their little block feet hit the ground in the morning my world becomes fast and furious. I love the energy God gave my children. I love that they can enjoy life and that they are secure in their boyhood. This time in their life is fleeing and I truly hope they live it up to the fullest. I hope that their childhood is filled with many many wonderful memories of terrorizing mommy and each other. While I cherish this season of their very short childhood I also long for mommy time and time in my house where it is clean and calm. This time for me is the time that they are at school. So...this is why I was a little excited for this up coming school year. Parker and Beckham are both in school. Parker is in Kinder from 8-3 everyday and Beckham from 7:45-10:45. However, now that school has started and the first week has come to and end and we are starting week two of our school years I feel a little bit of sadness. My kids will forever be in school until they leave my home. Everyday around noon I begin to miss Parker and his little love notes and drawing he makes me all day. I miss hearing their laughter all day and listening in on all of their imaginary play. My heart hurts at various moments throughout the day when I find a half way completed puzzle that we have been working on a cute little spider drawing he made me. I miss my big guy and I am sad that his preschool years are over. I do look forward to these next 13ish years I have with him. I know that God is going to bless this season and he is going to grow all of over of the next years together. I pray for him while he is away from me. I pray that he will remember the Godly principles I have tried so hard to instill in him over the last 5 yrs and that he will be a light of Christ to his friends. I pray that his love for God will shine and that God will allow Parker to be apart of the amazing things He will do in his generation.

My boys on their 
1st Day of School

1st Day of Kinder!


1st Dress-Up Day! On wednesdays Parker has to wear slacks, dress shoes, a button down and tie. 
He looked so grown and handsome.


Here is a little funny picture to leave you with... He made this spider for me out of twislers the other day. HA!

Thursday, August 18

Last Summer Trip Pt. 2

So after our crazy night of driving and hotel hoping we were finally able to get some rest. Saturday we woke up and headed to Allen to meet some family that Phillip hadn't talked to or seen since 1992ish. His cousin Katie found him after searching for him for a couple of years on Facebook. She messaged him and we arranged a weekend for us all to meet and let the kids play. It was a lot of fun to watch Phillip reconnect with a cousin he lost touch with so many years ago. Katie and her husband Rick live in Allen with their 3 kids, Justin 9, Julie 5 and sweet little 7 month old Jessica who quickly became my new BFF. We had a lot of fun hanging out with our family, swimming, bowling and watching the kids play and hearing old stories.  

Phillip with his Aunt Gayle

Phillip with his cousin Katie

The whole clan

The Kids!! So Sweet!! 

Awesome neighborhood park!!



Like my cute bowling attire?!



I totally won!! HA!!! Embarrassing! 

Me and Jess
After spending time with our "New" family we went on our way and conquered some school clothes shopping and we met up with my little sister who recently moved to Dallas to attend Steve Hills School of Ministry. It was fun to shop with my sister all day and take her to dinner at P.F. Chang's. Soooo Yummy. We also got a hoot out of watching Phillip try to teach Parker how to Ice Skate at the Galleria. It was adorable to see him out on the ice for the first time. 
Wipe Out

He's OK

Hanging on for his Life!! HA!

Jamie and I

Me and my loves... 

Needles to say... After HOURS os shopping and entertainment my boys were wiped out! We wore them out....




Wednesday, August 17

HAIR

 We got new pics of our little one in Ethiopia this weekend. She is beyond beautiful! I cannot wait to show you pics of her without the flower in her face. She is a doll. I have to share this with you though. the girl has some HAIR! I don't even know where to begin on this mess. I prayed for a little one with an afro.

God definitely delivered....



I am starting her room soon. Right now I am working on a couple of design boards to figure out what I like and want. I'll keep you posted... Keep Praying! I know God is fighting this battle for us!!

Last Summer Trip Prt.1

 This past weekend we took a quick 4 day trip to Dallas for a little bit of school clothes shopping. The boys have been in need of some new clothes and shoes for along time now. During the summer we mostly live in swim trunks and Flip Flops.  I'm pretty sure their school wouldn't approve of their normal summer attire so we set out late Friday night for the Big D. We are crazy and thought we would be really cool and leave around 8PM so the boys would sleep most of the way. Well it worked for the most part. After three hours of pleasant driving Beckham began to cry uncontrollably. The only solution was for me to crawl back there, get him out of his seat and snuggle him for a little while. Well... Normally that would have been no big deal  but...
 when you are traveling in this....

When you are used to this....


It is very inconvenient and frustrating. It was crapped... especially with 2 car seats in the back. (my car is in the shop because some really sweet and cautious people pulled out in front of my hubby while he was taking the boys the movies 3 weeks ago. Fantastic! Right?!) So I climb back there with the boys. Parker is smashed against the door, Beckham wailing and I am trying to wiggle my big ole booty between the two of them. I manage to get Beckham out only to discover he had peed in his car seat. 
It is midnight by the way and we have 2 more hours until we are there. We finally pull into a Loves. Parker managed to lean on me and fall asleep (so sweet) and Beckham is still moaning and really uncomfortable. At this moment I realize I forgot the Pull-Ups. Great!!! At this point I totally deserve 


Award!!!

My sweet Huzzy goes inside to hunt for some cheapy off brand diapers. To our surprise they have some!! And we all sing Hallelujah!!!  Beckhams spirits came up when I showed him the silly diapers he had to wear since mommy forgot to put Pull-Ups in his suitcase. Children are so forgiving. After strapping on the lovely diaper and sliding on his jammies we head on down the interstate. We finally arrive at our hotel at 2:30 am. Both kids wide awake at this point from having to walk for what seemed like a mile to the hotel doors. We get to the counter to discover....They DO NOT have our reservations!! WHAT!!!???? Yep. We are unloaded, all 4 of us standing there at the counter at 2:30 AM with our bags slung across our shoulders to be told they DO NOT have our reservations and they are all booked we have to go to another hotel!!! It took everything in this already frazzled momma to tell the lady to grab some pillows because we are sleeping in the lobby. I was beyond annoyed at this point. So we regroup, reload and drive some more. Luckily there was a Crown Plaza around the corner that had a room. We finally got to bed around 3-3:30AM. What a night!!! 


Tuesday, August 2

Pray for Rain

This coming wednesday... as in tomorrow... August 3rd @ 7:00 PM our church along with several others in our area are uniting together on the grounds where  Rock the Desert  is held each year. 

Our community is going through one of the toughest droughts recorded. Our water reservoirs are drying up and we are being put on tight water restrictions. It is so sad what our land looks like and our water coming out of our facets smells and tastes like water you would scoop off the top of a mud pie. We have battled a number of intense wildfires due to the unbearable heat and high winds. Several families have lost their homes due to these fires with many others threatened. 

Arial View of our water Reservoirs 



Photo of our land
Photo not mine. Borrowed from Pray for Rain Video

Silence my music below to hear this message from our senior pastor.


For my followers who do not live in Midland will you join us tomorrow as we link arms and ask God to have Mercy on our land. Will you join us in prayer and ask him to bring rain to our thirsty ground. 

We have gone 300 days without any significant rain fall. We need rain, we want rain. Lord hear our prayer. You say in your word "ask and you shall receive..." Father we are asking. Humbly pleading for mercy on the Permian Basin. Lord, hear our prayer. 




Monday, August 1

Mah-Queeeen Pardy

 Beckham's birthday celebrations concluded with his long awaited and much talked about Lightning McQueen party. Or in Beckham's language a Mah-Queen Pardy. We had a lot of fun at his low key party at the pool.













 In the past I have thrown huge parties for my kids. Which is a ton of fun but it is really stressful trying to pull it all together. For Beckham's I decided to refocus and zone in on him feeling loved and special. He got invite his best friends and we had it at our club pool again. I loved his party and the days leading up to it. I felt like all of my energy and focus was on him and how great HE is versus how great his 2 hour party was. I think he felt really special and it was great to see him so excited at his party.

Thank you to everyone who came out and endured the heat to make Beckham feel loved and special at his 3rd Birthday Party. You all rock!