reflecting

6 years ago today we moved into our house. we were first time homeowners and extremely excited about leaving the apartment life behind! i had very mixed emotions however when we got here 6 years ago. we were only moving 30 minutes away, but to me, it felt much further. we were moving away from the city where we had an amazing church family, we lived closer to my sister and her family, and just closer to where i felt i belonged...the city!

it didn't take us long, however, to find a new church home. we have developed some great relationships over the years here and i'm so grateful for that. this area is booming....more and more shopping centers, restaurants, neighborhoods. and yippeee, we are getting a chick-fil-a right down the street from us!! (could be dangerous).

a lot has happened since we've been in this home. we've gone from 2 to a family of 4. many, many memories have been made here. this house has served us well and i can say now that i love it here. thank you Lord for providing this home for us to enjoy for 6 years!

worth reading if you want to laugh

one of my favorite bloggers, boomama, wrote a post yesterday and it just cracked me up. it's about politics...well, not exactly. most of my friends know that politics is the last thing i ever want to discuss (much to my hubby's dismay). but if i were to ever discuss it, this is what i would talk about! (so sad, really...i know!) i made rusty read it and he said he laughed out loud. so go here!

birthday party fun

we went to a birthday party for my friend's little boy on saturday. it was a "horse" party and was held at a polo club. the kids got to ride a pony (evan's first time), dress a pony in dress up clothes, and feed farm animals. they had a great time in spite of the 100 degree weather!!

urgent prayer needed

**update** thanks for praying! my cousin said that the surgeon was pleased, he was able to remove some of the dead & live tumor to relieve the pressure on Joshua's brain. The doctor's cannot touch the portion of the tumor that is in the brain stem. There were potential complications with the surgery & Joshua is coming through very well...he was moved to a regular room and will get to go back home soon!

if any of you have just a minute to pray for my cousin today...please do!! the following update was on his message board today (the one below it was from yesterday):

48 August 10, 2007 at 01:32 PM EDT
PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!! Josh is going in for a 4+ hour surgery this afternoon to remove dead cells and as much of the tumor as they can. More details will be posted as they are available.
Joshua said he is "strong and courageous" before going to into surgery!!!
Please PRAY!!

47 August 09, 2007 at 04:00 PM EDT
PRAYER ALERT!!! JOSHUA IS BEING ADMITTED IN THE HOSPITAL FOR TESTING. A CT SCAN SHOWED SOME BLEEDING AT THE TUMOR SO THEY WILL DO AN MRI TOMORROW TO MORE CLEARLY SEE WHAT IS GOING ON. GINO SAID TO ASK FOR PRAYER & AGREE THAT IT IS FROM THE CELLS BURSTING & DYING & NOT A POSSIBLE STROKE. HE WILL BE THERE FOR A FEW DAYS TO TRY & CLEAR UP SOME OF THE COMPLICATIONS HE IS HAVING.

i know my family appreciates all and any prayers. thank you my friends!!

can't stand the pressure

i've been thinking a lot lately about why i tend to feel like there is something always hanging over my head...like there is something always burning my thoughts, something that always needs to be done, something on my mind constantly that keeps me from truly relaxing and living a life of joy. and then it hit me. it's the list. the list of things that is recommended for me to do by certain professionals....or the things that are suggested for me to do by society. and then there are those things that are not necessarily required for me to do...but somehow i feel pressure that i should. and then there are the necessary things that just have to be done. anyway, here's THE LIST.
I SHOULD:

• wash my face every night before bed...you know, to have better skin and all
• use age-defying face cream every night to prevent wrinkles
• wear sun screen (at least on my face) every day
• brush my teeth at least twice daily
• floss every day
• use those teeth whitening strips for obvious reasons
  
• keep my skin moisturized daily
• get my hair cut every 6-10 weeks
• have a full body check for moles, etc. at the dermatologist
  
• go to the dentist twice a year
• go to the gynecologist once a year
• give blood
• have the oil changed in the cars every 3000 miles
• have tune-ups done on our cars
• check the smoke alarm's batteries once a year (or more?)
• have the AC/heat checked yearly
• get a new roof
• have outside of the house painted
  
• vaccuum weekly
• change the sheets weekly
• dust weekly
• clean bathroom weekly
• clean kitchen daily
• dust my blinds and other things i never dust
  
• have my computer backed up daily
• save all photos and important files on disks
• put saved disks in safety deposit box
• scrapbook important events
• put my overwhelming amount of photos in photo albums
  
• video tape throughout the whole house...include all valuable items for insurance purposes
• put a copy of our will in safety deposit box
• save for retirement
• exercise for at least 30 minutes 3-4 times a week
• lift weights for strength training
• lose 10-15 lbs.
• eat less carbs, less fat, less sugar
• eat more fruits and vegetables
• drink 8 glasses of water daily
  
• pay my bills on time to prevent extra finance charges
• live by our budget
• take my kid's to the doctor annually
• take my kid's to the dentist twice a year
• save for our kid's college education
• reduce their tv watching
• potty train evan
• help ella learn to read
• help ella learn to write her lowercase letters
• keep sunscreen on them when outdoors
• buy new clothes and new shoes for the kids
• get rid of old clothes

ok, that's enough. i know there are plenty more but my brain hurts. anyone have anything to add to the list? its overwhelming and to be honest, makes me rather grumpy. and how is it possible to make life more simple when we have so many of these things constantly weighing on us? i often find myself "shooing" the kids away because i need to get things done. i don't want my kids to look back on their childhood and think i didn't make time for them. and when all these pressures are there, it's hard to think of this time here on earth as temporary. it is so easy to lose sight of our real "home". but so many of the things on that list are quite necessary while here on earth....so where is the balance? i'm not even sure if i'm making sense. i want to live in light of knowing that this is not my home...knowing that there is a beautiful place waiting for me beyond this life here today.

i think i must be going through a season right now where everything is weighing heavy. the "list" is too much to bare sometimes and i don't see the end in sight...at least not today, tomorrow, or next year even.

tired of the bacon

ok, so the bacon strips were starting to gross me out a little bit...so i got this from my friend...(he always finds the most random things). anyway, you type in a word or phrase and it pulls up different images from flickr for each letter or number that you type. and you can continue to click any particular letter and it will find different photos for you. very cool. try it here.
sorry for the non-exciting posts lately. i guess cousin camp wore me out!

you want eggs with that bacon?

i came across these bandaids today and i think they are great! they also have a bacon & eggs version if you want more variety. so funny! nothing like using a little bacon to heal your little ones' wounds!!

camp was a hit!

ok, i have to report that we had a blast at our first annual camp cousinfun. and yes, i'm going to bore you with lots of pictures. and you must look at each one, please. :)

my sister decorated the front door with this...

ella and grace wearing their funny glasses

before our first "camp meeting"...when we talked about the rules :)

each cousin had a chore after meals, either clean up (sweeping and wiping table) or dishes

here i am with the kids with the "guess who's nose" game

my mom helped the big girls bake a cake

here's evan enjoying the cake at the pool

my baby jumped off the diving board (with some assistance from aunt stacy)

each night rusty played his guitar and we sang some fun songs

my dad with all the kids

the cousins in their "camp cousinfun" tshirts that they decorated on the back

the big girls showing off their craft called "God's eyes"

we had a campfire and made smores one night...and yes, sang songs too!

the blindfold game brought lots of giggles

my little cheater...evan kept peeking

so if you've made it this far, i might as well continue and tell you some of the things we did other than the activities above (keep in mind our theme of the five senses):

• guess the scent game
• taste tests
• scavenger hunt at the farmers market
• fingerprint craft, made fingerprint animals
• learned about helen keller and watched "the miracle worker"
• family charades
• sound bingo
• guess the objects (by smelling, touching or tasting)
• talent show

our time at my sister's house was packed full of fun. at times, the kids were worn out...but for the most part, they really had SOOO much fun. i'm thrilled that they will have these special memories with their cousins and am thankful for the time together to bond even more. they were already asking if we were going to do it next year!

countdown to cousin camp!

tomorrow my sister and i will kick off our first annual "Camp Cousinfun"! my sister first came to me with the idea last summer and we never got our act together to do it. she has 4 kids (ages, 7 1/2, 6, and twin 3 yr olds). i think the whole camp will go over much better this year with our little ones being older.

what is a cousin camp you might ask? well, basically its going to be 3 fun-filled days of activities, crafts, games, field trips with our cousins (obviously!) and we are all centering it around our theme of "the five senses". the ideas were endless! everyone has been assigned to be in charge of different things, including meals. we even have my parents and our hubbies involved!

my kids are SO excited they can hardly stand it! i will report back after camp is over and post some things we did, along with some pictures!

more quotes!

what comes out of my 4 yr old's mouth is much different than my 2 yr old. she is now figuring things out and much of what she says is factual and a reality....therefore, not as cute as what my little man says. however, last night she said some pretty cute things that were blogworthy and i must share!

the kids and i were eating dinner out while daddy was at a meeting. evan decided it would be fun to lift up his shirt and laugh real loud. ella decided to do it too and i immediately told her to put her shirt down because i am trying to teach her modesty and how to be lady-like. being the mommy-like older sister, she says to evan, "bud, put your shirt down, it's not man-like!"

then during our after dinner trip to target, we passed a lady in a tank top with LOTS of tattoo's on her chest and arms. ella says, "look mommy, she has lots of stamps on her body!" (the kids have been stamping their arms lately with this smiley face stamp that we have...).

thanks for the giggles ella!

oh the funny things he says...part 2

as we were getting ready to leave for church this morning, evan looks at ella (who had just put on her sparkly lip gloss) and says, "i like your chap lips ella." ella proceeds to let evan put on some chapstick and he proudly says, "look at my chap lips mama!"

also, he has a boo boo on his foot and i put a bandaid on it the other day. he frequently talks about the fact that he has a boo boo and he said "i got my boo boo on." but he was calling his bandaid the boo boo. and he told his daddy that it was a "monster street" bandaid (aka sesame street)....monster street makes total sense, doesn't it!!?

oh the funny things he says

as i was checking my email this morning, evan wanted me to open a puzzle box for him. he said to me, "ella will help me when you kick (click) on da pooter (computer)." hee hee.

my new favorite drink

i'm a coke fan. i don't like pepsi. i don't like diet coke. but i do like diet coke with splenda. and i like coke zero. i love vanilla coke, but i don't like vanilla diet coke. and so...much to my surprise, i saw a 12 pack of VANILLA COKE ZERO at the store last week! oh yipeee! so now i can enjoy my vanilla coke with zero calories. i guess it doesn't take much to make me happy these days.

summer memories

after lunch today, i was reading the "your words" section in my RealSimple magazine. the question for last month was "what's your best summer memory?" and it got me thinking. i don't have many vivid memories from childhood. but one thing i recall was how much i loved that swirly slide in iowa. let me explain...

growing up, my dad was a hot air balloon pilot. interesting career path, huh? so as a child, my family often traveled all over the country as my dad competed in hot air balloon races. the one that i remember the most was the national hot air balloon championship that was held in indianola, iowa every summer. and it was there that i fell in love with the huge swirly slide at this playground my sister and i would insist on visiting while we were there. i guess they didn't have those slides in atlanta?! i don't know. as my sister and i grew older, we got rather bored with the whole ballooning life. all the traveling and chasing my dad while he was soaring high above us seemed to get old. although everyone around us thought it was the most exciting thing ever. and the thing that excited me most among the sight of hundreds of hot air balloons taking off in the sky was a simple slide on a playground.

now that i look back and think about all the great things i got to experience as a result of being a balloonist's daughter, i understand that it really is such a unique childhood. i am now thankful for those travels and the many hot air balloon rides that i got to take to see the world from a different view...but as i raise my own family...i can rest assured that the simplest things like a slide can bring much joy for a child! (kind of ironic that as i was thinking about all of this, i read "Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon" to evan before his nap today!).

so, what's your best summer memory?

extreme makeover: blog edition

like the new bloggy makeover? i discovered how easy it is to change my header from a friend, so i thought i would give it a try! i love that photo of the kids running and knew i wanted to use it somehow. anyway, it's kinda funky...but it's something new and change is good! (wish i could change my wardrobe this easily!)

** updated to add: can you help a girl out!? being the indecisive person that i am...i can't decide which template to use. go here to see the other color palette (which i tend to think is more me) and tell me...what is your vote? thanks!!

update on josh

thanks for the prayers. here's the latest update:

July 07, 2007 at 09:50 AM EDT
Praise!! God answered again! Surgery has been cancelled. The Dr.s said the shunt seems to be pumping properly. However, his colon is so impacted that they think it is affecting on the shunt. They will help him clean out his colon & see what happens. Gino & Diedere have been looking into Joshua's next step & don't see a lot of medical options. They have found hope & testimonies through diet & natural intervention & complete overhaul. They are seriously considering this. It will be a huge change. Praising the God who heard!! Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. Is. 65:24

it's going to be a long road....they are taking it one day at a time.

josh

i just checked my cousin's online care page and he needs prayer. this is what my cousin erin wrote on the update:

24 July 06, 2007 at 08:50 PM EDT
PRAYER ALERT!!! JOSHUA HAD A HARD DAY YESTERDAY & TODAY WITH A SEVERE HEADACHE & VOMITING. LATE THIS AFTERNOON THEY DID A CT SCAN TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON & SAID THE SHUNT WAS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. THEY EXTRACTED 3 VILES OF FLUID FROM HIS BRAIN TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE & JOSHUA'S HEADACHE WENT AWAY. HE IS SCHEDULED FOR SURGERY TOMORROW TO SEE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE SHUNT. PRAY: *THAT JOSHUA WILL QUIT THE EXCESSIVE VOMITING, *HE & HIS FAMILY WILL REST WELL & NOT FEAR SURGERY, *THE SURGERY WILL FIX THE PROBLEM, *FOR STRENGTH TO FINISH THE CHEMO & 10 RADIATION TREATMENTS, *WISDOM IN FUTURE DECISIONS, *TOTAL & COMPLETE HEALING FOR JOSHUA!

can you please pray for him? he has now been in the hospital for over a month. his body has been through so much with the radiation and chemo. his parents are worn out and josh is so weary.... anyway, just wanted to give an update and pass on this urgent request. (in the photo, my cousin Gino and his wife Diedere are in the middle. Victoria is 13 and Caleb is 16). thanks for praying!!

a happy 4th

i think july 4th is becoming one of my favorite holidays. to me, it means all things summer. time to be with friends and family, getting wet in the pool from the hot summer sun, celebrating our country and our freedom, eating burgers and hot dogs, watching fireworks, and all things red, white & blue. last night was one of those nights that make me so thankful for what i have been given. our community group gathered at one family's house and we spent hours enjoying our time with each other. memories were made and fun was had by all. i took a ton of photos last nite....so here are some of them...





here are the kids after they decorated their bikes and scooters with streamers, etc.


the kids were so cute playing throwing the ball in the grass and playing duck duck goose. we made them make this pyramid for a good photo opportunity :)


we couldn't wait until dark to start the fireworks...here are the kids watching them.


ella doesn't like the loud noise from the fireworks...so she wore ear plugs!

oh yeah

instead of saying "yes ma'am" or "ok" or just plain "yes"...evan's new answer to questions is "oh yeah!" and it is said in a soulful way...kind of reminds me of the "oh yeah" from the bomp bomp..chicka chicka song (i have no other idea of how to describe that!) --i think it was in the ferris bueller movie?? anyone, anyone?

me: evan, do you want some ice cream?
evan: oh yeah!

me: evan, can you close the door?
evan: oh yeah!

me: will you please come here?
evan: oh yeah!

anyway, you get the point. when you hear it in person (if you get the opportunity), you will surely laugh.

and in an attempt to teach ella a little about why we celebrate July 4th....i noticed that she calls the United States the "Whonited States".

i love the things these kids say.

help help...we can't stop watching!

r and i just finished watching 4 episodes straight of 24...season 2. oh yeah! we really couldn't stop. so it got to be 11:30pm and we decided that was enough. there's like a permament indention in my couch where my butt has been all night. good grief. do we need to go to 24aholic's anonymous or something? we only have season 2 and 3 to watch and then we will be all caught up.

so far, jack has only killed a few people and he's only said "da**it" 15 million times. at least his character stays consistent.

going to bed now. glad i could write such an exciting post....especially for you angela.