It's over

It came, five minutes passed, and now it's gone. Or at least that's how it felt. Christmas is over.

I spent Christmas eve caring for an ill child and that ill child spent Christmas day in the emergency room. My poor baby. Thank God that it's just what everyone else has. I was just so nervous because even though she is sick, she's a strong little girl and she was so scared with how she was feeling last night that she asked on her own if she could make the trip to the emergency room. But she's getting better. She just needs lots of rest that she missed out on last night.

I think I need that too.

Help! I've fallen and I can't get out!

She's just so silly sometimes!

Returns

I have this bag in the back seat of my car that has been there for the past week. Its some presents I bought that I have to return at Wal-mart. I keeep telling myself to go, but I have been dreading standing forever in the customer service line. I know if I wait until after Christmas, it will be even worse. Does anyone know if we can do returns at Wal-mart at this time? I bet there would be no line. It's too late to go there at this time alone...

I guess I will ponder on whether or not to do it tomorrow. It will probably sit in the back of my car for another two weeks.

And vacation starts!

Dime is finally off for Christmas break. Unfortunately, working in accounting, we are not allowed to take off the last week of the year. Boo boo boo!!! And I have to work Christmas Eve (but we get to leave at 2) and the day after Christmas. I really wanted to take off the day after Christmas and go around and shop. We are in need of wrapping paper for the next couple of years. We used so much this year, all we have left are Disney Princesses, Care Bears, and Dora the Explorer. I don't think the adult presents would look very cute in that.

Nonetheless... vacation has started and I'm excited.

Presents from the heart...

I LOVE presents from my daughter. They are usually something she made and from the heart. Today in her Prims class, she brought home a glass potpurri jar with sugar cookie scented oils. It smells so good!!! She decorated the jar herself and it's absolutely beautiful. I was willing to wait until Christmas to open it, but she said she wanted me to use it to decorate around the house. No arguments here. He-he.

This year, there are actually presents under the tree from her. I'm curious to see what they will be.

Junk

Ohhhhhh!!! My tummy just aches so much. I think that I've eaten more junk food this week than I have the entire year. I can't wait until the holidays are over...

I'm going to sleep away this junk infested tummy now. But wait... I have to bake 2 dozen cookies for Dime's school Christmas party tomorrow.

Pauline, you are not allowed to try the cookies!

I just realized...

...That it has been over a month since my last post!!! Oh my gosh! And now there are only 6 days left til Christmas. Where has the time gone??? My New Year's resolutions is to blog more. Ha ha ha!!! Or at least one of them anyway. If I didn't have to be at work in 5 minutes, I would write more... So I'll write later! I have missed writing and reading blogs!

Brother and Sister???

You think they are related???

Prayer

My heart hurts right now... For so many reasons. I ask that for those of you to read this to just put me in your prayers. I know I must lean on God for He is the only One who can help me in these times. His grace is enough, allowing us to overcome any obstacle that comes in our way. It does. And I know that as long as we let God's plan of Christ forming in us work its ways, He will take our sorrows and enlarge our hearts.

Thank You Jesus for your unconditional love. Thank You for pulling us through the rough times. Thank You for celebrating with us through the good. And most of all, thank You for all that You've done so we can be set free. Help me to prove myself faithful to You as you test me through life's difficulties. You are an amazing God!

Happy Veteran's Day!

The land of the free... because of the brave!

That's something I saw at the parade this morning. I am so proud of everyone who has taken the time out of their lives to help fight for our country. It's definitely not an easy task. And those times that they are sent overseas without their family, they risk their lives each day as their families wait patiently for their return.

Military children are called "brats." After my dad retired this year, Diamond and I received "BRAT" certificates and here is what it means...

• B - Being the day of your father's retirement, we are honored to present you with this certificate, as a special member of the team that helped contribute so much to the Air Force over a long and distinguished career.
• R - Rightfully so, an "Air Force Brat" is a special type of person and an important member of the Air Force team. Air Force Brats do not sign up to be in the Air Force, they are born into it. They have sacrificed so much fo their country as their parents.
• A - Air Force Brats know what it means to pick up and make new friends. They know what it means to have their parents miss a school play, a sports event, a recital, a birthday, or a holiday, just because they had to work late, go to the field or deploy somewhere in the world. They know that it is as hard to be an Air Force Brat as it is to be in the Air Force.
• T - Thus, above all, Air Force Brats understand that their job is very important to the Air Force and to America. You are the reaso your father proudly supports so much time to the United States Air Force.

So thanks Dad! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication supporting our country. And to all of those who are still in there fighting, remember that you are their inspiration to keep going.

It's Friday...

Enough said...

Oh, and it's a 3 day weekend!

Christmas traditions

This is for you no_iffer. It was such a great idea. It's always so nice to read what other traditions families share. Here are ours:

• We always take out the tree for decorating the day or weekend after Thanksgiving. This is what I look forward to after eating all that turkey and dressing.
• Dime and I always shop together for a toy to donate for Toys for Tots. We also usually also make a donation of old toys to the Salvation Army sometime during this time.
• Since I've moved to San Angelo, every year I have volunteered to work the Christmas Lights. I love doing this. If you ever get a chance to volunteer for this, you will have a blast. So if you decide to do your tour this year on December 28, we will be there to greet you at the entrance.
• We prepare our Christmas meal on Christmas Eve as a faimily, which we call Noche Buena, and usually eat at about 11 at night. Everyone usually tries to make something. That's a lot of people in the kitchen all at one time.
• Dime and I usually get matching pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve to wear while we take our Christmas video. One we always plan to send, but somehow it never makes it out.
• Then at we continue to stay up until midnight to open presents. This gives us Christmas Day to play with all of the new presents. Dime usually gets a game every year so this is our time to test it to make sure it's fun.
• Everyone gets at least one gag gift. It's something to just make us all laugh. Please don't judge me, but a couple (yes only a couple) of years ago, my mom wrapped up some pads for me. She wrote a little note saying "Here my loving daughter. Maybe you will start buying your own this year." Ha ha ha... Not so funny.
• And ever since I can remember, we have always gone to watch a Christmas or good family movie on Christmas Day.

Gosh what a long list...

We'll see how long this lasts...

We finally got our treadmill fixed and I am on the third consistent day of using it. I once learned in a Bible study that it takes 21 consecutive days of doing something to form a habit, which means I only have 18 more days to go. I'm going to try my best. This is probably the worst time to start a diet and exercise plan, but what better time to start than today. I need it.

And if you ever want to buy a piece of exercise equipment for you home, I definitely recommend a treadmill. I like being able to exercise when I want and being able to listen to music or watch tv while I do it. So... we'll see how this goes...

To be or not to be a habit??? Ask me in 18 days.

And the countdown begins...

52 more days until Christmas!!!

This is my favorite time of year! I love going to all of the stores and seeing all of the cute Christmas decorations. I already can't wait to put our Christmas tree up... 52 more days... and tomorrow, it will be 51.

Maybe we'll get some snow this year.

Woah!

I just realized that it's been almost 10 days since my last post. What has happened?!? I think anyone who reads my blog is probably tired of looking at ladies in blue.
Tonight, I had a really enjoyable night with my baby. Sometimes she complains that I don't spend enough "quality time" with her. It's true. I come home from work, and about 3 hours later, it's bed time. I wish I could stay home. I wish I could pick her up from the bus and go to her school functions. I hate having to work and miss out on these things. For all of you stay home moms, you sure are blessed. 3 or 4 hours five days a week just doesn't feel like enough, especially when you spend an hour of that preparing for dinner.
So today, we hung out. We played outside with Ruby, we exercised, we played a couple games of High School Musical CD board game, read together (I actually made her read me a bed time story tonight for a change), practiced piano, baked banana bread, and just spent some good old mommy and Dime time. I really enjoyed it. Thanks Dime! I thank God for blessing me with a child who has a heart like hers. I continue to pray that she grows up to be an amazing woman of God.

My "co-workers"

The lovely people that I am always talking about... They ask me why I refer to them as my co-workers instead of my friends. They are my friends too! I wouldn't hang out with them after work if they weren't. LOL. Just kidding! They make coming to work a blast... and we like each other so much, we all got matching shirts!

Today, we were the Blues Crew.

Time...

Aaah!!! I wish our day was 30 hours long sometimes. It just seems that there isn't ever enough time to get things done. Blah!

Time management... I need a lesson in that. Anyone have any suggestions?

Rock the Pumpkin!

Just one week away! I can't wait to see how all the little kids will be dressed.

And for all of you with little girls, you will have to come to the Missionettes booth. We are trying something new this year.

I'm so excited!

Tagged...

Here are 7 strange/ weird/ crazy things about me:

1. In one week, I drink a total of 1 tall glass of actual water.
2. To this day, I have not learned how to put make up on my face. As sad as it sounds, on the few special occasions that I have had to wear make up, my mom does it for me.
3. I eat some really weird things. One of my favorites being a Filipino delicacy called balut. I would describe it on here, but I don't want to gross you out. Click here to see what it is. Ya, pretty disgusting, huh? Tastes a lot better than it looks.
4. I don't like ranch dressing. (Maybe because I didn't grow up in Texas.) I know, how weird that I can eat that thing in number three, but can't dip some veggies in ranch.
5. I have never mowed grass in my life. Or even done anything in the garden. It seems that everything I touch dies on me.
6. I love to sing karaoke... but only when no one is around or listening.
7. I've always dreamed of working on the top floor of those really tall glass buildings in the big cities. I still haven't figured out what they do up there, or even which big building I want to work in, but hopefully one day I'll find out. Even if I have to start out on the third floor.

There ya go! 7 things you may wish that you never knew about me. I stayed up too late to finish this.

Now I tag... whoever is left that hasn't done it yet!!!

get well soon...

get well soon beth... i'm sorry you're sick. you have to hurry up and feel better so we can do our laundry!

will a dr. pepper make you feel better?

The weekend...

We went away and had a blast. Five girls on a road trip for 2 day and 2 nights to San Antonio. We were on a mission to watch the Spurs game. Here was our weekend in a quick summary.

• Ate at the Alamo Cafe on Friday night with the Bridges: Delicious fajitas and all you can eat tortillas.
• Saturday: Ate at Good Time Charlie's for lunch (award winning onion rings)
• Shopped like a bunch of kids let loose in a toy store at the Northstar Mall.
• Ate at Texas Land and Cattle on the Riverwalk for dinner: Yummy steak and shrimp! (Thanks to Beth's uncle for inviting us.)
• Watched the Spurs beat the Pistons.
• Played games at the house.
• Sunday: Ate at the Rainforest Cafe on the River (An experience all on its own. A little pricy, but I would recommend it.)
• A little more shopping.
• Stop at the Krispy Kreme on the way home.
• Drove home.

And now we are back...

It was fun, but I'm glad to be home.

Still sick...

I haven't gotten better yet. And obviously, since my last post, I still haven't learned to go to bed at a decent time.

Ugh! Don't like this feeling...

I need to get better by this weekend. We are going to San Antonio to watch a Spurs game. I'm so excited!

Boss' Day

Today was the day to show our boss how much we appreciate them. Our department decided to plan to cook lunch for them. They are both so good to us and they deserve to feel appreciated. Since we couldn't just shut down the department for an hour, we decided to just cook for them. Everything was so delicious!!!

On the menu we had Mexican lasagna, Spanish rice, beans, lime chips with guacamole, fruit (for the health conscious), and peanut butter cake for dessert. Everything was absolutely amazing.

Ahh... the love of food in our department. I don't know what we would do without it. I think I'm going to get fat working there. =P

Thank You Jesus for blessing us with amazing bosses. I've never been in a work environment where I actually look forward to coming to work everyday. Thank You for giving them the knowledge and patience to work with us. I hope they had a wonderful Boss' Day today.

Sick...

I think I'm getting sick and I don't like it. Maybe I should drink more water and get a lot of rest. I'm not a big fan of water and I don't know how to sleep early.

This stinks! I'm sniffling and sneezing like crazy! I'm going to bed now...

I just hope Dime doesn't get it from me.

Jane

This morning, she had an amazing time...
Ha ha ha! And I think you should share some of that ice cream you bought!

Phoenix

Here are the details and pictures...

Born: October 11, 2007 at 2 am
Weight: 7 pounds, 2 ounces
Length: 20 1/2 inches long

Congratulations Marvin and Josie! Dime can't wait to meet him.

Homework time...

Maybe Ruby can learn how to add money and tell time too...

Big Sister

It's official. As of yesterday, Diamond is now a big sister. A brand new baby boy was delivered in North Pole, Alaska this morning. I don't have all the details yet, but I will post some pictures as soon as I get some.

Welcome to the life outside of your mommy's belly Phoenix Marvin Rae! Thank you Father God for bringing another beautiful baby into the world!

The day has come...

One of my really good friends, who also happens to be my co-worker, has decided to quit her job. I knew it wasn't going to be much longer before she made this decision, but today she made it official. I'm going to miss her. I'll still see her outside of work on our special girls nights of course, but I will miss taking our 4 o'clock breaks together, bringing each other lots of work to do, and just having my good friend right around the corner to talk to. We used to work in the same department sitting right next to each other, but I had to move. Now it's her turn.

I thank God for blessing me with Dori. She is an amazing woman of God that has encouraged me through both the good and bad times. I know that she will be blessed in all of her future endeavors. Just like a lot of the bloggers, she is going to be a teacher. She will add to the collection of already really great ones! Good luck Dori! I'll miss you!

And the dentist says...

"You have a cavity!"

OH NO!!! My dreaded fear has become a reality. Blah! I have, or thought I have, been taking care of my teeth so well. I brush three times a day everyday, and still, I get a cavity. I feel like my teeth are already worn out from excessing brushing. Oh well, it will make it. And it will be gone next week.

And here I am, the one always reminding my baby to take care of her teeth so she won't get a cavity, and then I have to tell her this. Maybe I should be like her and drink more milk, maybe, just maybe that will help.

Dot dot dot

I just realized that I don't know how to finish my sentences with just one period. I love my "...'s." I don't know why, but it's a terrible habit. Imagine reading a 15 page paper with all the sentences ending in three periods. Whoo, that could take up a lot of words in the word count!

I just can't help it... =)

Who knew?

We were sitting at what was supposed to be the Chapter One tailgate party last night having a quite amusing conversation with one of our new friends. We learned quite a few interesting facts from this young man...

He plays the bagpipes and was telling us all about it and how he wears the traditional kilt. I have never actually met someone who could play this instrument so that was pretty cool in itself... Then he has this conversation with my friend....

• New friend: It's quite relaxing, ya know.
• My friend: Playing the bagpipes? That's good!
• New friend: No, wearing the kilt.

Now that was interesting!!!

OOOWWWWWWWW!!!!

My tooth hurts! I woke up a couple of mornings ago and it just hurt. I thought it would go away, but I don't think that's happening. I hope it's not a cavity. I haven't had one of those in YEARS!!!

I don't want to go to the dentist. They scare me.

REMINDER TO SELF: CALL THE DENTIST!!!

Columbus Day

Happy Columbus Day tomorrow!

Why do the kids have school?

I want to sleep in!!!

I want to be a Princess!!!

Yesterday, we went to watch Disney Princesses on Ice! It was a great show. I'm such a kid. Here are some pictures for those who weren't able to go...It was beautiful! But this year, I actually didn't get suckered into buying $10 cotton candy or popcorn. That was a relief. It sure was tempting though.

Pretty Purple

I had nothing else better to do this Friday evening... so I changed my blog layout like everyone else has. So many choices.

I need a nap.

All you can eat

So I was outside about two nights ago while some mosquitoes had a buffet on my legs. I thought they would be gone by now, but it looks like they are getting worse. I was going to post a picture, but it just looks so gross. I have FIFTEEN big swollen bites! I think a new breed has moved in because they were ginormous! Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration.

Oh well for wearing a skirt to church on Sunday. JK!

Oh... and my co-worker suggested white nail polish for relieving the itch and even though it leaves a white crust around them, it actually works!

Thanks for a GREAT boss!!!

I think that so far, in all of my years of employment, I have found the best boss ever. She is so sweet and always reminds us to "do what we think is right." She has a kind heart and a good sense of humor. When we makes mistakes, she does not talk down to us or make us feel dumb for making silly errors. She's really great.

Well, I celebrated my 4th anniverysary at the credit union and little did I know that every anniversary we have, she takes us out to lunch at a restuarant of our choice, and it's her treat. She's just the bestest!!! I picked Outback. It was so good. Although they were out of what I was planning on ordering, I still got some yummy coconut shrimp! Boss' Day is coming up here real soon... she is going to be on vacation next week... well, remember the desk prank I wrote about before? Well, it's her turn!!! Happy Early Boss' Day!!!

We aren't really that mean to each other. We actually have something really special planned for her...

Scene it?!?

Last night my friends came over and we all played Disney Scene it with Dime (our only excuse for a bunch of 20 year olds to be playing this game.) So it was our team's turn and a scene from Finding Nemo comes on. We carefully watch the scene looking at every detail... and the question is: Name the two fish in this scene.Very confident in our answer, everyone on the team, which consisted of four people, all shout out, "Nemo and Dori!!!" Wouldn't you agree with us???

A Special Day...

Today was a special day for Dime and I. Although both of us were baptized as babies, today we wanted to be baptized by our awesome Pastor. I am so proud of Dime. It was actually her idea and we talked about it for some time before I even decided to talk to Pastor about it. The idea of "going to a different church" is already somewhat a touchy subject at home and I knew this would not make it any better. But I went with that little voice in my head shouting "Do it! Do it! Do it!" and decided to do it anyway. Dime was so excited about sharing her love for the Lord with the world and I was excited to be right there with her.

These past couple of months, I have fallen in love with Jesus all over again. There has been this little wall, maybe a fence, built up between me and my relationship with God that I have finally broken down. This growing time has absolutely been an amazing time in my life. I truly believe that people come into your life for a reason, even if they don't realize what their purpose may be for being there. And this is exactly what has happened. Though it may have hurt at first, something great came out of it. And the even more wonderful thing is that God loves us no matter what and is always willing to take us as we are and I thank Him for that.

Thank you Dear Lord for everything You've done in our lives. You are an awesome God. Help us to continue to live our lives for Your glory. Let Your love shine through us. We love You.

Let's go out and multiply...

I know I just wrote about math yesterday, but this one actually isn't about that.

Every morning at work, one of the first things we do is grab the newspaper and read the obitiuaries together. Sounds weird, I know, but it's not something that we do for entertainment. It's actually part of our job. Well today... one of the obituaries said this lady had 269 grandchildren. Woah! That's a bunch of kiddos! She had 8 kids. You can do the rest of the math.

Mathematics...

I think I'm officially a nerd. Tonight I helped a friend out with algebra homework and I was actually excited about it. I absolutely LOVE solving math equations. I couldn't wait to reach a solution and was thrilled about moving on to the next problem. WOW!!! What's wrong with me?!? I LOVE numbers and you can even throw in some X's and Y's for me.

How weird...

7:45 am

Sounds early, but I'm excited about it! Our department completed our monthly goals and we get to all eat breakfast at IHOP. Has anyone seen the commercial for the fruit filled crepes?!? They look so yummy that I think that's what I'll be having.

We absolutely love food at work! We tried to time how long we could go without the mention of the 'f-word' or anything that had to with it... we never made it past 8 minutes... Geeze huh?

It's been so long...

I didn't realize how many days have passed by since my last post. I never update this so probably no one reads it anymore. It's just been so busy lately. We actually even had to skip church last night to finish up Dime's big "Me Collage" that is due tomorrow. We started on Saturday and finally got the finishing touches done tonight.

I wish I could find a job where I could work from 9 to 3 five days a week, but get paid like I'm working 40. Ha! Ya right. I must be dreaming. Someone pinch me please.

Ummm... no...

Tomorrow, one of my co-workers is going to have a girl's night at one of their houses. She is going to cook some yummy chili enchiladas and all this other good for you Mexican food... She also suggested us playing games and stuff. So we thought of Taboo, Uno, Scattegories, Cranium, Mad Gab... and then somone says...

"How about Twister?"

Uh, there are just some games that you can't play with the people you work with...


Especially after a week of us going through TWO bags of candy.

Pretty cool... really cool...

I'm not a big fan of blazing hot weather. So today when I dropped Dime off at the bus stop, I was absolutely thrilled with the temperature outside. I'm glad I sent her with a sweater because it didn't ever really warm up...
But why, when it's already a perfect temperature outside, does the person who controls the thermostat at work decide to turn it to 40 degrees?!? It seriously felt like a freezer in there. I think we could've all been wearing our winter coats and we would have been comfortable.
I'm bringing mine to work tomorrow.

Bye bye slipper...

I love to wear house shoes! Anytime I am inside the house, I have to wear them. A few months ago, my mom bought me one of my favorite pairs... but then last night, it finally happened. The day I've been dreading the most (Okay, maybe that's just a small exaggerration.) Everyday since we've had her, I've been very careful about putting them away at night to avoid this. But last night, I was so tired and I forgot. So here it is...

Bye bye to my favorite slipper!!! Ruby, you are in BIG trouble!!! Just kidding!

Nothing interesting...

I wish I could write a funny story or something just worth sharing... but I guess nothing exciting has happened lately. All I know is that in the midst of the busyness all week... I have absolutely nothing to write about.

Meet the newest member of our family...

This is Ruby. Our new dog! Diamond named her. So I now have a Diamond and a Ruby. Could I ask for more?!?

Diamond has been praying for a red girl weenie dog and she has finally got it.

YUCK!

Some things are just not made to be sugar free...

Cake is one of those things.

No more school =(

I actually missed not having to go to school today.

Weird... really weird...

SURPRISE!

I work with the greatest group of girls ever... and after you read this, you may think that that comment was a sarcastic one, but it really isn't. I enjoy coming to work with them everyday and they always manage to make a horrible day fun... As one of them quoted, "It should be illegal to have this much fun at work." I almost wrote a little blog about how much I missed them... I guess they missed me too.

So as you know, I was on vacation for four days. So today, I come back to work and say good morning to everyone. When I left, everything was put away in its place nice and clean. I approach my desk, and I just see stacks of papers everywhere, boxes all over the place, rubber bands and paper clips thrown all over, and post its with little notes stuck all over my hutch. Ha ha ha! They sure are a bunch of funny girls. Then, sitting on my keyboard was a note signed by our VP telling me about how my desk was unacceptable and I need to "rectify this situation immediately." I could not stop laughing. The mess is cleaned and the day goes on and I thought everything was done... BOY WAS I WRONG?!? My calculator was unplugged, my stapler taped shut, and then the phone... The phone was taped all over. I tried to answer my phone and I wasn't getting a signal!!! The hang up button was taped down and so was the mouth and ear piece! Those silly girls!!! But I love them anyway...

And now, I have been initiated in the accounting department.

P.S. They said it was because they missed me... Boy do I feel loved!

Second grade

Today was "Meet the Teacher" day at my baby's school... My baby... now in SECOND GRADE!!! Boy does time fly by so fast. It seems like just yesterday, I was walking her to her preschool class with tears in my eyes because she was growing right before my very eyes... and now she's in SECOND GRADE!

Actually, it seems like just yesterday, I was in second grade. Second grade was definitely a year to remember for me. Being a military brat all my life, I went to three different schools in second grade and one of them happened to be right here in San Angelo. Funny where the military takes you at times... The funniest part is my dad volunteered and sacrificed a year away from the family at a horrible base in Korea so we could be assigned somewhere other than here the first time around... and here we are, back in San Angelo. The military must have thought they were being funny when they handed my dad the papers for his last duty station before retiring. We seriously thought it was a joke. But I don't regret it one bit. This city has grown on me for sure. And this is the place I fell in love with Jesus the way I should have been all of my life. The amazing part is that my dad felt the disappointment within the family that he wanted to find a way to change the assignment. The only other option was Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi and he tried very hard to arrange that for us. But God is great because if we had been stationed there like we very much wanted to, we would have experienced the disasters of Hurricane Katrina. This is just one of the few ways God has revealed to me that He knows what he is doing and has reasons for everything He does.

But now, it is my baby's turn to start her second grade year here in San Angelo! She is so excited! She was assigned to the teacher she really wanted and she gets to sit right next to her best friend. I just can't believe summer has already come and gone.

And the week comes to an end...

I'm back. I went on vacation and now I'm back. It seems like time flew by so fast and there wasn't enough day to do everything. It was absolutely fun. What really puts a smile on my face is seeing my baby excited about the things we do. If only everyday was a fun day... and on top of all of that, the weather was absolutely perfect. It wasn't blazing hot like a typical August day in Texas. It was cloudy with a little wind. Thank you God for good weather! We started off at the Ft. Worth zoo. Thanks to everyone who recommended it. It was definitely a blast and I loved the many shady spots and air conditioned attractions.

Then we stayed in a hotel which was walking distance from Six Flags and of course we had to do that. We walked over thinking that it opened at 10, but ended up waiting for an hour because they really didn't open until 11! This is Diamond's first year to be tall enough to ride roller coasters so I thought it would be fun to go. She refused to ride on the really big coasters like the Texas Giant or the Titan, and I don't blame her. But she also didn't want to ride anything that turned her upside down. I didn't want to force her either. I asked her a few times and asked her if she was sure that she didn't want to and her answer was... "Yes mom, I'm sure. God said no." Well how do you argue with that comment... =)

And finally our trip ended with a trip to some Dallas museums. There was a total of 8 museums located in Fair Park and we tried to visit as many as we could, but our feet were already pretty exhausted from 3 days of walking around. My favorite of all of the ones we visited is the museum of Nature and Science. There was a variety of fun things to do there for adults and kids.

Silly me, I forgot to pack tennis shoes, so I had to do all this trekking in my lovely Old Navy flip flops. They did the job, but I'm sure my feet wouldn't hurt so much if I had planned with the right shoes... Sometimes on trips, we remember everything else, but the most important things. It was fun. The family had a blast, but nothing beats being able to sleep and relax in your own house.

Yay!!!

Why did I have to go to work today? Oh well, what matters is that I'm off for the rest of the week!!! I'm excited!

Small beginnings

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer..." - Matthew 21:22

Here's a little something from my devotional tonight...

No matter what our situation, before we are ready to minister, we must learn to be faithful and diligent at whatever is at hand in our lives right now. As we yield our expectations and demands and find contentment in God's love for us, He will begin to send opportunities for us to minister to others. We must not despise the days of "small beginnings." He is not in a hurry. We must not become impatient and let our spiritual vision outstrip our emotional growth.
It is so critical that we grasp the significance of the seasons of our lives, the different periods during which God is building character! No matter how clearly we visualize the dreams for ministiry, without the graceful bowing to self-denial and a deepened sense of our own need for Christ, which teaches us to forgive, without learning to say we are sorry to those with whom we live, there is no true ministry.
Oh, we may run about doing amazing things in the name of ministry, but we will not find God in any of our efforts. No eternal effect comes without the catalyst of character, and character is built by godly responses to the things at hand.
Faithfulness constitutes the fabric that must be woven into our own lives as we are dressed to carry the cross to the world. And faithfulness to those closest to us - our parents, husbands, children and friends - will be the garment that protects our hearts in the battlefield.

-Joyce Strong

Lord, teach me to wait on You and help me to appreciate the day of small beginnings... Sometimes in life we forget the great plans You have for us. But with patience and faithfulness in prayer, you never fail to provide and remind us of how much You love us. Thank you Lord.

Tomorrow...

It's finally here! The day all kids have been waiting for, and maybe some adults too... High School Musical 2 premieres tomorrow... Anyone excited?!?

Mind your manners...

Today I went to the cutest party ever! I have never heard of this place until today, but Mind Your Manners Party House next to Ichiban's, hosts birthday and other various parties for people of all ages. They have a variety of themes and even provide BEAUTIFUL cakes, costumes, games, and party favors. This wasn't a birthday party so I didn't have any cake pictures.

Today's theme was the Ultimate Spa Party. But they also have Princess Tea, Pirate Treasures, A Night at the Movies, Safari, and even Pretend Wedding. (Can you tell I'm reading the brochure?) There's so much more, but I don't want to sound like an advertisement, if I don't already. =) The girls just had a blast as you can see from the pictures. Looks like a possible location for the next birthday party for me. I never even knew this place existed!!!

Second grade style...

My daughter is now into the dressing herself phase. I want her to understand having choices so I try not to be too pushy when I don't exactly agree with what she has on. But one thing I have always told her is that black usually can match with anything and white can usually match with anything... So as the wonderfully, smart child of mine she is, she listened to me...

WHITE GOES WITH EVERYTHING + BLACK GOES WITH EVERYTHING = BLACK & WHITE GOES WITH EVERYTHING

The funny thing is, she has done this before (about a month ago), and I was just telling my co-workers the story TODAY about this outfit that she created herself and went out with. She has this favorite shirt that she immediately wears as soon as it's clean from the laundry. It's striped with pink and white. She fell in love with it as soon as she saw it on the rack and she will wear it with ANYTHING... and I mean ANYTHING... So today, when I come home from work... here is my baby...


Notice the black and white polka dots with the pink and white stripes... "But momma, black and white goes with everything!"

Becoming Jane

Why in the world is this movie not coming to San Angelo?!? Why, why, why?!?! I want to watch it! I think we might have to drive to Abilene just to watch it!

Update, update!!!

Is it fair to say that nothing fun and exciting happens in my world? Probably not, huh?

I am so excited though! The week before school starts, I am going to take my family on a "mini" vacation. I haven't gone anywhere all summer due to the change in jobs and I finally got my week off! My daughter was able to go all over Texas and even travelled all the way to Las Vegas... but I was stuck here... working. We're not planning anything big and spectucular, just a week in the Dallas area. We are going to Six Flags, visiting some museums and I can't decide on whether or not to go to the Dallas or the Ft. Worth zoo. Any suggestions? And of course, we can't go to a big city and not shop, so we will do that too!

Circle of friends

I definitely enjoy hanging out, watching movies, playing games, and of course eating with friends. But sometimes, and maybe the best times, may just be when we sit around a dining table telling hilarious, yet embarassing stories about ourselves. That's what we did tonight. We laughed so hard until our bellies hurt. I actually feel like I did a tummy work out tonight! These are the moments that we cherish and will remember 20 years down the road.

And let me tell you, I am so glad that everybody has those weird "quirks" that everyone else notices about you but you... or even the ones that only you, yourself, and you know that you do. But whether it be infatuations with smells, textures, or even simple things like pacing your steps between the tiles... everyone has them... and I don't feel so different after all!

Early mornings...

I've always known I'm not a morning person. I've realized that even more the past 2 days. Having to be at work at 7:45 is no fun!

Hmmm...

So maybe I will use this... That was kinda long...

To wiggle... or not to wiggle

So Diamond has been losing teeth like crazy this summer. So far, she has lost 5!!! I wanted to write about this before I forgot. Last Thursday, a bottom tooth was hanging on a thread with the permanent tooth already growing behind it. I knew it was bothering her because she constantly played with it. Wiggle, wiggle... wiggle with the tongue, wiggle with the lip, wiggle with the finger. But it was already midnight and I was trying to go to sleep and in the midst of all the silence... I could hear the sound of the wiggling. I don't know if many of you remember how that sounds, but it's not the most soothing sound to sleep to. So I told her... "Diamond, if you are going to continue to play with that tooth, you need to go sleep on the couch!" She stopped. Five minutes passed and I heard it again. I needed to be awake at 6 the next morning and all I could focus on was how tired I was going to be because I wasn't going to get enough sleep. So I felt bad for the couch comment and I moved myself to the couch...



I guess I eventually fell asleep. All of a sudden, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I started opening my eyes and here is Diamond standing in front of me with a tooth in her hand... "Mom, you can come move back to the bed now. I got my tooth out." It was 1:30 in the morning!!! My poor baby stayed up until that tooth came out because she knew she didn't want mommy to be mad at her. I wasn't going to be mad though, just a little tired at work. So a few minutes later, I finally decided to move back to my room and my baby was already crashed and there was a little note on my nightstand...

Boy... Did I feel horrible... I called the next morning when I knew she was awake and apologized... and the next night, the tooth fairy gave her $5.

New at this...

Okay... so I'm new at this. I wanted to try it to see how often I would actually use it...