Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Campig Trip

I am on a roll with blogging eh? OR, I have some free time now that we are on break...OR I am in a hotel room surrounded by 4 other sleepyheads and have already worked out, showered and am waiting for them to wake up and eat some breakfast !!!!

Ill take it though!!!

Here are some pictures from our campout with our Sunday School group...I know I say it all the time but they are family to us and we love sharing our lives and weekends with them!!!! They make us better parents, friends, spouses and more importantly, hold us accountable to walk right with God.

Learning how to make CampFire Eclairs with Tammy....Tammy works at CCA too and her son Brayden is one of Goober's besties. Tammy is also in my running group!

Goober liked the eclairs but said they would have been better with dark chocolate, thats my boy!!!

Yup, she ate the whole thing!!!

Some of the men folk HAD to watch the football games that weekend...I don't blame them..LSU vs. Alabama was a must see...we were all rooting for LSU :).

We went for a hike with Ranger Rick..yup, thats his real name. He showed us how to look for animal tracks, signs of animals, their homes and their SCAT....a nice word for poop!!!

Fishing on the pier...Goober was the only one who caught something!

Adam's new phone takes beautiful pictures as it blurs out the background.

Tammy and I ran while the boys rode their bikes boys down some nature paths. We suddenly saw some deer crossing the paths. If you look behind the 3 boys you will see one deer who stopped and looked at the camera right as I said CHEESE!!!

This was a fun time, learning to skip rocks..we were all making bets and trying to see who could skip the most...I think Goober and Mrs. Kathyrn WON!!

I loved snuggling in the camera with these two!

The little ones needed some help keeping up on our hikes. To the right you can see Goober and Brayden showing off their FROG finds! They killed frogs by throwing rocks at them, then cooked them...YUCK!!! ALL BOY!!

Just hanging out!

Showing off his frogs!

No camping trip is complete without smores!
 My favorite memory from the whole trip is sitting with all the moms (there was 5 of us) close to the fire on Friday night. The men were sitting together too talking. The children (all 10 of them) were riding in a circle around us on their multiple scooters and bikes at TOP SPEED. I mean it was hysterical. They didn't get hurt, they never argued and I wish we would have sat up a time lapse of the night to see how many times they FLEW around us and played as we all huddled and had some great fellowship. I will treasure our camping memories forever!!!

Hot Springs AR

We made it to Hot Springs. The weather was awful the whole time, which seems to be the case everytime we attempt to visit Arkansas, we bring the rain with us. Its also pretty cold, which is fine as we are approaching Thanksgiving but it requires us to pack MORE clothes!
Remember that time when I thought we had finally arrived? When we didn't have to pack strollers, pack and play and gobs of diapers? When I declared that we could travel light and actually buy souvenirs? WRONG! We have a trunk full of bikes, scooters and helmets now...our luggage is strategically placed around the children...extra padding right? All 3 of them got the bike bug, learned how to ride without training wheels (the 2 littles, Eli already knew how) in 1 day and now we must have our bikes with us everywhere we go. I enjoy watching them though and they tire their little bodies out as well :).

We made our way to the Natural Hot Springs today and took a little self guided tour. We also shopped through some of the downtown area and enjoyed dinner at Bleu Monkey Grill. Oh and there was that $20 trip to the Old Time Candy Store where we found Pina Coloda Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars, WarHead Gummies, Super Man Jelly Beans, Moonpies, Black Cherry Lemonade, Old Fashion Root Beer and wait for it ......Martian Poop!!!!!! Sugar High is an understatement!!!

They have been so funny about our trip...asking first thing when they wake up every morning "is today the day we are leaving?"....and counting down seconds until they get to swim in the INDOOR pool at our hotel. We love Country Inn and Suites and always stay at them for 3 reasons...1)indoor pool and hot tub....2) great breakfast that rivals most hotel "powdered eggs" breakfast buffets and 3) clean gym. The price ain't bad either!

My poor husband has had a WEEK. I spent most of the day on Friday and Saturday in Dallas at an Art Teachers Conference (which was sooo fantastic and rejuvenating!) He threw out his back digging at the school earlier this week and yet managed to do all the laundry, vacuum, take care of kids, pack the kids for the trip...I KNOW!!, and do most of the dishes. He is somewhat better, and I think the hotel hot tub is helping tremendously!!

Trunk O Treat..we had about 400 costumes for Halloween this year....I let Goober be scary for some of them...I know it may be frowned upon but eh, he is 12 and does not want to be a puppy or storm trooper!

Awesome scar tattoos I found!

Family pic before heading out to trick or treat with church friends...Goober is doing a great job at being "death".

Look at those cuties!

3 of us got together and dressed our girls as "flamingo/parrots?"

One of my closest running buddies...Love her!

Playing Uno with Uncle Jason after breakfast. Big Man taught him his version of Uno!

Look at this beautiful piece made by one of my juniors using cracked glass!

Another silly face picture at lunch with friends!

Thank goodness for construction sites, or Buddy the Elf may not have made it the whole trick or treat route!

These are my people!

At the last pep rally we led, Adam hung on the rope during Tug of War....so stinkin funny!    

Happy Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for many many things!

Friday, November 18, 2016

Thankful

We have had a very busy and fun last week and a half. As I mentioned before we had a lot of family in town visiting us as they drove through and for Ribbit's baptism and my SIL's baby shower for Mr. Levi. We also had a lot to do with our extra curricular activities....like our very last coach pitch baseball game, Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party with AHG, a woodshop meeting with Trail Life and Science Night at our school....oh and 3 Thanksgiving Feast, 2 art competitions and some curveballs with a broken dryer :).
Collins sweet family at a football game where we prayed and honored Collins!

She wanted Big Man to go out on the field with her and the cheerleaders!

They are the sweetest of friends!!!!

Releasing purple balloons for Collins!
I can't help but be thankful though...we have family that is willing to fly and drive to see us. We have a school that loves our kiddos and wants them to love Jesus above all else. We have friends who would drop everything to meet a need. We have jobs that allow us to provide for our family and bless them on top of that. We have children who want a mommy and daddy that isn't their same skin color....and yet continue to resemble us more and more daily. We have neighbors who keep up with us and want to live in community. We have a God who allows us to enter his presence just through the simple act of spoken word...without any sacrifices or work....who wants to be in communion with us though we are as filthy rags compared to Him.

Making a catapult at Trail Life

My most recent entry that was just accepted into an Art Show...gallery opening is tonight actually!



I'm very thankful for my family and want to document some memories. While Aunt Erika and Jason were here visiting they wanted to walk the kids to school. Our kiddos tried to convince them that they should a)ride their scooters to school b) bring stuffed animals that are as large as they are and c) that they didn't need their bookbags.....nice try but Erika and Jason weren't born yesterday.

She wanted to be Minnie Mouse one more time....Costume party at church.

He really wanted to be a "Stunk" so I whipped this costume up for him...its quite adorable!

My very colorful flamingo and Stunk!!!

My big girl got baptized this past Sunday and while we were all waiting in the back for the baptismal doors to open she kept smiling and saying " I have been waiting for this day for so long!"....of course we cried....Daddy LOST it ;). We are so proud of her commitment to the Lord, she really is a changed little girl.

My new favorite thing....Wild Orange Sugar Scrub....my skin feels SOOOOOO smooth...great for shaving too!

WE VOTED!!!!

She was a ladybug for a Trunk or Treat deal at church..but wanted her picture taken with the chickens before we left :)

Someone was super tired after a football game....she stayed like this after we parked at home and opened all the doors :).

I love hearing our kids pray.....Baby Boy asks Jesus to lay his hands on Collins and heal her of cancer. Goober asks for safety for everyone and is always thankful for food :), and Ribbit prays that her brothers will obey and that Aunt Micah's baby will come out and not hurt her :).

Our Neighborhood Fall Festival was a success...we got to know so many of our sweet neighbors!


Game area for kids

Photo booth area

My treadmill hasn't gotten much use over the past 2 weeks as our guests have been staying in the play room but I HAVE SO ENJOYED being active with family and friends. Goober, Aunt Robin and I went on a walk/bike ride one morning and it was beautiful. My dad and I walked around the neighborhood looking at motorcycles another day and every other morning I met up with girlfriends to run or lift weights. My Aunt Robin and I even went to a hot yoga class....which was SO CHALLENGING but very fun!!

As people were starting to show up...this was our welcome area!

Getting to know one another!

The 5 families that put this shindig on...this is long after everyone left and it was dark...we had just finished cleaning up. I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!

Our sweet neighbor Mr. Adams led us all through the pledge and national anthem...there were several tears as we honored veterans as well.

Mrs. Tootie came home....all the neighborhood kids LOVE her!...and let me note that Ribbit had got into the face paint by this point,..she painted in all red and black..then went inside and TRIED to wash it all off!!!!

Friday, November 4, 2016

Lots of family

We are so excited for the next two weeks.

We will get to see Aunt Erika, Uncle Jason, Aunt Micah, CC, Papa and Aunt Robin...and they are all staying with us. The kids love it when we have family in town, its a very special treat!!!! They all want them to sleep with them and are already planning on who will sit beside who at dinner. Good grief :).

 We made a special trip to see our bestie Collins as she was discharged from the hospital after having two tumors removed from her left lung. I have no idea how her parents stay so strong but Kim and Clint are put together and ready to tackle cancer yet again. Our sweet cheerleaders came with us to do a pep rally for Collins since she missed our big one for the year earlier that morning. You can see that Ribbit was soo happy to hang out with the cheerleaders!
 Buuuuuutt, Collins wasn't as excited to see the cheerleaders...she spotted Little Man and screamed his name as she darted towards him...then she asked her parents " can we pway now?"...YES YES, PWAY AWAY!!!! Anything that gives this little thing back any since of normalcy. She loves her some Little Man and about 2 weeks before her surgery had told me that "He said he won't marry me and I am mad!!"
PWAYING!!!

We decided that since we were so close to our favorite restaurant in Fort Worth we should eat there. The kids love Yucatan Taco Stand and they always want the nachos...yes, that is one serving and yes they brought home leftovers!!!    



We are leaving tomorrow for  a 3 day camping trip with our Sunday School class and we are pumped. Weather should be great, company will be fantastic and we are going to work on some things towards badges for Trail Life and AHG.

After we got home from our 40000th trick or treating deal the kids asked "what one candy would you want to live off of the rest of your life? Answers :
Goober-Reese Cups
Ribbit-Dark Chocolate
Little Man-Reese Cups
Dad-Snickers
Mom-Almond Joy
Its funny though how much they celebrated over getting gum!!!

I love her sense of style...She is the cutest!

Someone got to play pitcher!!!

Baseball ready

I hosted a Make and Take party where 12 ladies made Honey Orange Body Wash, Lavender Sugar Scrub and Peppermint/Lemon chapstick. It was a lot of fun and we all loved learning how to make products that are free of artificial fragrances!