Are we there yet?

I have NO idea why this picture is the wrong way but it was too cute I had to include it---just tilt your head;) Oh, this is Reese and his new buddy Aiden

Swim Break--yay!

How adorable are they?--this is Maddy and Abby

Check her out....she's a mess--I love it!


Oh the dreaded words...we weren't 30 minutes out and Abby was already asking if we were almost to Granny and Papa's---it was hard to break the news to her that we had 10 hours to go...phewww!
Well all and all the trip went really smoothly and it went by quite fast--except for the 6 potty breaks, 3 stops to start the DVD player (it's hard to drive and push buttons--I figured I would play it safe:) and one rest stop to "try" and pee--oh and lunch and ice cream--but really besides that it was great;)
Also-recently I have reunited with my old friend, Jill, from youth group and I was so happy to find out she lived on the way home to KC! So the kids and I stopped and got to swim with her 3 kids-Maddy, Aiden and Isabella--our kids played together so well and it was so nice to sit and catch up! (also it was super nice to get out of the car....thanks Jill!)
She was also so nice to get the kids some ice cream--in the pictures you can see them enjoying that--notice the last picture....Isabella was a mess and the kids were laughing so hard at her--she laughed too...pretty sure she was unaware of that fact that they were laughing AT her;)
We got back on the road refreshed and about 3 hours later we arrived at Granny and PaPa's--the kids were ecstatic!
--so begins 11 days in KC.....stay tuned I will try and blog as much as possible!

Our 7th Anniversary!

Today Greg and I have been married 7 years--yay!
Last night we went out together and the kids stayed with Debbie and Jerry. We first went to the Cheesecake Factory...yummy! Then we NEVER go to the movies so we went to see Get Smart-which we thought was pretty good...many times you catch yourself laughing out loud...which I just love those kind of movies!
Then we had to go to Wal-mart....romantic huh...hehe! (we are totally ok with that--anniversaries can be over-rated and just give people an accuse to spend way too much money!)
But I must add (so Greg knows;) I would really like to celebrate kinda big on our 10, 20, 30, etc. anniversaries..hint hint! (just kidding he already knows I want to go to Europe...that's why we don't spend much now...we're saving:)
Anyways got home today from picking up the kids (they spent the night with Debbie and Jerry) and Greg had gotten me flowers in this really cool vase....he's still got it after all these years-hehe!
Flowers are the way to my heart...he's a smart man:)
I hate to say but we were having so much fun last night I did not get a picture of us...stink!
But that's ok...you all know what we look like! (just picture us very happy and looking sharp-hope that's not a stretch for any of you;)

Well the kids and I head out to Kansas City in a few days so I better get off here and get to packing....

Happy 232nd Birthday America!

Happy 4th--I hope everyone had a great day. I know we did!
We started the day off with a bang, going to the nursing home where we handed out flags to all the residents....the kids sang songs and really enjoyed getting to visit each of them on this special day!
Later on we headed over to Maw Maw and Poppa's for swimming, eating, bull riding (on a trashcan/bucking barrel), egg toss, a grandchildren parade and we ended the evening off with fireworks...of course!
The firework show was incredible...we were super close! (now it wasn't the same as our days back in DC sitting right in front of the Washington Monument..but it was still really cool!)
I was telling Greg that we really need to take the kids back to DC often so they remember their time there-it's where Reese was born so it means a lot to us for them to know the area well!
I told Greg we should go back every 4th of July (when we get rich!) and he said he would rather go in October or April.....he says it is too humid for him in July---WHAT???-- does he realize he lives in Texas?....I tell ya- I think these Texas people are brainwashed...seriously I don't think they feel the heat here...only other places:)
Anyways- enjoy the slide show....

..oh and Stacey--Happy Birthday--you 4th of July baby! -love you!

Cousins Camp 2008

While I was in Colorado at Youth Camp Greg and I were blessed to have some great help watching the kids! Sunday-Tuesday my parents came down to watch the kids (thanks for that guys the kids had a wonderful time) and then Wed.-Sat. Debbie and Jerry had them and they decided it would be a great time for Cousin's camp! I asked Debbie to write a little something up to tell us about all the fun they had at the farm! Enjoy!
-of course I had a TON of pictures to pick from but I had to just pick a few...sorry Debbie;)

We recently enjoyed another Cousins Camp. By popular demand, we returned to the farm we stayed at last year--different farm house.

This year we had small goats as well as big ones to play with and feed. We were able to go in the pen with the small ones. Also, we had a mare & colt, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys (Mama Turkey was sitting on 9 eggs!), cats, a dog, pigeons, rabbits and a sheep. None of them had empty bellies while we were there! For that matter, none of US had empty bellies while we were there either!

We all cooperated by taking turns doing what each person wanted to do. We had a treasure hunt, played on the swings & see-saw, strung beads, & played a few baseball games (joined by none other than Josh "Landry" Hamilton & Hank "Reese" Blalock!)

We had a great time with the animals and all the cousins got to drive the car on the turn-row in the pasture sitting in Poppa's lap. MawMaw & Poppa picked sotol sticks on their recent Big Bend trip & made walking sticks for everyone. Abby, Reese, Charlie & Landry each learned leather tooling and made leather grips for their sticks. You can see the great results as we hiked with our walking sticks!

We also spent lots of time at the swimming hole. The water was so clear you could see the bottom. The rock bottom made a perfect slide into the perfect-depth of water! Then there was a deeper area Poppa took every to play in. They could slide down the bottom of the dam into the water there. Abby found pretty shells & we skipped lots of rocks across the river.

Poppa took us for nightly trips to the snow cone stand. One night Abby, Reese & Landry had eaten all they wanted. Charlie wasn't going to walk away from any of that good stuff. He pulled the left-overs over &, surrounded by 4 cups of snow cone said, "Things are turning out really well for me at Cousins Camp!"

Reese noticed immediately that our bathroom door looked a lot like the gate on a chute so each time someone went to the bathroom, when you'd hear the flush, someone would yell, "Let 'er out!" and the "bull" would come rushing out of the chute. All the cowboys & cowgirls would scatter!

Do you know what's the hardest thing in the world to tame? We learned from James 3:7-8 that every kind of animal has been tamed by man, but "no one can tame the tongue." We want to use our tongues to praise God & say only encouraging things to others. We asked God to help us do that.

All four cousins were so well behaved! MawMaw & Poppa are so thankful for the fun times we get to spend with our 4 grandchildren, & for grandchildren who obey so well, love each other & are so cooperative & trustworthy. When we got home Charlie told Grandma Reese that the rules at Cousins Camp were, "you CAN get in the pen with the animals; you CAN pet the animals; you CAN get in the water."

Why, we had so much fun we think we'll do it again next year! Thumbs up or thumbs down for Cousins Camp? That was the question in the picture below!

Bathroom door--aka the bull chute!

Walking stick-made leather strapes

Two thumbs up--I mean 10;)

Sitting on the rock with Poppa.

Charlie feeding the animals

Feeling Better Already...

Reese woke-up this morning and I asked him how his belly felt--He then looked down at his tummy and said, "Oh it's great... feel it-- it's all better!" He cracks me up ---last night you would have thought his tummy was about the explode and now....he's all better!
...and yes he enjoyed his donut!

Tummy Ache!

Daddy gave him a heating pad for his belly! He's watching Peter Pan...his favorite!

Abby giving Reeser love!

This is such a sad picture--I promised him I would get him a donut (before I knew he had a tummy ache) and he really didn't enjoy it much:( --I told him we could go again when he feels better!

Poor Reese has a tummy ache! We were out playing this afternoon and he walks up to me with his blanket and asks me if he can go to bed--now I knew something must be wrong because this is extremely rare for him to ASK to go to bed! So he went off to sleep and when I woke him up he could barely walk his tummy was hurting so bad:(
Well he's already in bed again for the night and has already come out to ask for more medicine hopefully the poor guy will feel better in the morning! ....he's hoping he can wake-up and eat his donut...I sure hope so:)

MoNtY pYtHoN's SPAMALOT!

During intermission there was a balcony overlooking the city-notice the storm clouds--
called the babysitter..luckily the storm hadn't hit them yet! (by the time we got home they had had hail and a few branches down)
I asked Chloe if the kids were scared and she said, "no actually I was the only one freaking out"--too funny! She kept saying, "oooh kids don't you love rain and lightning?" I think she was trying reverse psychology:) Everyone is fine and even Chloe survived :)

Last night Greg and I got a sitter and went to see Spamalot at Bass Hall! It's basically just like the movie Monty Python! We had great seats on the first row of the balcony and really enjoyed ourselves! It was great to get away together --Greg got these tickets for Father's Day! We had the pleasure of sitting between two "interesting" people--to the left of Greg was a girl that laughed way too much and even laughed at stuff you shouldn't laugh at (gotta hate that ;) and I sat next to a lady going through menopause(seriously)--she fanned herself the WHOLE time and it was NOT hot actually it was maybe 40 degrees in there--wow I am not looking forward to hot flashes :) --well maybe I am...seriously I am ALWAYS cold even when everyone else is hot I think I have a circulation problem--probably should check into that:)
Well anyways despite our neighbors we had a lovely time and hey we even had Mexican food--what a perfect date~thank you honey; I had a great time ;)

Problem Solved!

Wheww--FINALLY no more crying while Daddy cuts his hair---yay!
Greg has been cutting Reese's hair since he was 1 years old and it has been "dreaded" by Mommy and Daddy every time but tonight Daddy got creative! Reese HATES the hair to get on his skin it just itches him the whole time so Greg put a trash bag over him and wow he was all smiles---Super!
Doesn't he look cute?

"You're gonna shoot your eye out!"

First time shooting a gun! -and yes he's in his underwear...surprise, surprise!

Reese was so kind to let his sister have a turn!

Checking out the targets....didn't quite make it--maybe next time!

Reese and Abby have been saving their money to get another toy and Reese decided he wanted a BB gun. Greg told the kids a story about buying a BB gun when he was a kid, and Reese has been talking about it since then. This morning he got to shoot it off for the first time!
He was so excited and was ready for his lesson in shooting a gun!
Reese has been telling me all day that Daddy told him:
1. He cannot touch the gun unless Mommy and Daddy say
2. He can only shoot the gun with one of us with him
3. He cannot shoot his sister (just the target:)
***I think that's a pretty good start don't you!? :)
This weekend we are going to Canton for a Family Reunion so he wants to get lots of practice so he can shoot lots of bullfrogs on the farm....oh to have a little boy--you gotta love it:)

Stomp!

So did I mention I am wayyyyy behind in my blogging? Well I am and since camp I feel like I can never catch up---so tonight I am gonna try.... here goes....
So Sunday Greg and I took the kids to see Stomp---it was so fun! I have always wanted to see it and so when Greg saw it was in town we thought the kids would really dig it! Well they did and both the kids seemed pretty interested--Abby was happy just as long as she had her Fun Dip and she seemed to like the beat. And Reese well he just has the rhythm in him--ever since he was little he has loved music---even when he was in my belly I would play music and I promise he would tap to the beat;) So anyways Reese couldn't sit still- he was standing up the whole time bobbing up and down --oh and he was holding his ears....poor guy has tubes so everything is VERY loud to him...and when he got tired of holding his ears he had me hold them for him--too funny!
The kids favorite part was the brooms and the zippos---the show was so good and I definitely think if you ever have the opportunity to go you should....well unless you have tubes....it might be a little loud for ya:)

More pics......

One big happy family!

All of my girls--I LOVE teenagers!

Hayley, Emily and I at starbucks--so fun...nice scenery huh?

I got a few more pictures from Emily-a girl in my family group--so I wanted to share these!
It is so hard to blog about the whole week since so much happened but I hope the pictures speak for themselves!
I think today camp is finally catching up with me--I am pooped and can't believe I am about to go to bed and it's only 10:30 (I don't go to bed early...I am a night owl) anyways I hope to get some good sleep and wake-up good as new....sure hope so because tomorrow we have reading time at the library and the kids want to go to the water park....oh do I ever get to rest??;)
Goodnite!

Wheww.....where do I begin???

Elaina and I on our way to Colorado!

Yep that's me on top--I seriously thought I was gonna break their backs--but thankfully we had no injuries :)

My sweet friend Keri--so glad she went as a sponsor with me!
I must say we look pretty cute for being on the bus all night ;)

Hayley and I showed up one night at worship with matching clothes--she's so precious!

Hayley, Sydni, Emily and I (all in my family group)


Welp I'm back:) I know each of you were eagerly awaiting my return....ok maybe not but I'm back anyways and I'm WAY behind in blogging....so here goes nothing--get ready to read...it's been a wonderful week!

Ok--yesterday I got back from youth camp in Colorado --oh how it reminded me of the days when I was in youth--good times!
We had an amazing week and about 15 kids gave their lives to Christ--I had the honor of watching one young man in my family group transform right before my eyes--I will never forget it! At the begin of the week he didn't even believe in God and by the end of the week you could see the love of Jesus in his eyes--it was amazing.
The weather was wonderful--cool at night and in the 70's during the day--my kind of place:)
The week was tons of fun with tons of stuff to do--go-carts, rock climbing, trampoline jumpy thing (my favorite), whitewater rafting and mountain biking! We stayed at the base of Copper Mountain so we had access to a Starbucks--yippee--I met my girls there everyday and we just hung out and talked...my favorite :) ....and I needed the coffee to keep me going!
We had a wonderful speaker, Thomas Young...you can check him out at thomasyoung.com--he was great! One night he spoke about the depravity of man and who we were before Christ--I have NEVER heard it spoken so clearly...it was so convicting!
Well anyways I am really glad to be home after a 21 hour ride home on the bus....I actually slept really well....I had my own seat--the benefits of being a sponsor:)
I took a few pictures of me and my girls and was able to get some video of me doing the trampoline thing--I have to brag.....one of my girls that is 17 and a cheerleader challenged me to a flipping duel....I won! She only did 7 and I did 12 ---man I still got it at 30--I must say I'm pretty proud--she took it well:)
Enjoy the video--it was so fun but VERY tiring!





*sorry it's sideways--not sure what happened---just tilt your head :)

Abby got Baptized Today!

she got flowers from her good friend Hailey!

one proud mama--the best feeling ever!

Pastor Steve and Abby right before she got dunked;)

This morning was a big day for Abby--she got baptized!
February 18th she asked Jesus into her heart and she told us about a week ago she was ready to follow in Jesus' footsteps and be baptized! She was so excited and wasn't scared at all--her friend from church, Peighton's daddy, baptized her so she was very comfortable! We are so very proud of her decision and ask that you all join us in praying for her life that she would love the Lord with all her heart and seek His will for her everyday! It was very emotional to watch her today-I have been praying for our kids to get saved and be mighty warriors for Christ ever since they were born so today was a joyous day for us all! Greg pointed out something really cool---Abigail's name means "Father's Joy" and today she was baptized on Father's Day....pretty cool!

Pedicures!

Loving Life!

We all picked bright pink--super girlieee!


Granny came in town today and took Abby and I to get pedicures--yay!
Abby is so very into everything girlie---seriously she wants to wear a dress EVERYDAY-so getting her toes painted is right up her alley!
We had a great time and they did a great job--the lady actually painted flowers on our toe nails...no really--those are not stickers she painted them by hand--I was impressed! (and sorry for the foot shot...Abby really wanted to show off her toes)
I just love a good pedicure and I never get one so it was a great treat--thanks mom!

C-C-C---RAZY Week!

Abby and her buddies during VBS


Wow we have been super busy! We had VBS Sunday-Thursday, birthday party Friday night, Father's Day Brunch with Greg's dad this morning, my parents come in town at 2pm today, kids have a birthday party from 2-4 today, Father's Day dinner with my dad and Greg tonight (yummy Joe T. Garcia's--Mexican food;) and to top it all off Abby gets baptized in the morning--yay (I will post about that later)
Oh yeah I also leave tomorrow night for youth camp in Colorado--fun, fun but I haven't packed a thing! SOOOOO--this blog must be short!
My parents came in town today to help Greg watch the kids Monday and Tuesday because he has to work. On Wednesday the kids leave for cousins camp with Maw Maw and Poppa! This is gonna be the longest I have been away from the kids and I am gonna miss them--I would say they're gonna miss me, but I think a week with the grandparents is gonna keep them happy and very busy;)
I will not be blogging until I return next weekend so make sure to check back in then! I am sure I will have tons of funny stories to tell --being that I am gonna be spending the week with about 300 teenagers.....oh how I love camp!
Have a great week!

Make-up Time!

Ok- so I have some explaining to do before you see this video!
At first it all started out really normal--Abby putting her make-up on (which she loves to do) and then Greg decided he would mess with Reese and try to put some on him....well Reese didn't like that at all! He was running all over the house saying, "I'm not a girl--Daddy's trying to make me a girl!" It was hilarious!
I am not sure I was able to do it justice- but at least you get to share in some of the fun:) *Also we have a guest appearance from Grandma Reese (Greg's Grandma) she was over for dinner that night.
Now the pictures that follow...well Reese decided it wouldn't be that bad to try a little bit of make-up--we washed it off immediately!
And Abby's picture--well Greg did her make-up---scary isn't it! ;)



He'd make a pretty girl don't you think?

Daddy can never do her make-up again....;)

Nolan Ryan???

Tonight I was putting Reese to bed and I was asking him what he wanted to pray to God about and He says, "Mommy, did God really create the whole world?" I told him yes and he says, "Oh, I thought Nolan Ryan did!" (he was a pitcher for the Rangers in the 90's and now is the President of the Rangers) ......I told him that I was glad we cleared that up and I think God is too;)

Up Close and Personal!

Hot Dog #2 with mustard--yummy!

"Ranger Red" didn't win--Reese took it kinda hard! He was mad at Green--too funny!

Abby got a Pink Rangers shirt--she says she'll only wear it if she can wear a dress too!


Yes-- I am aware of the fact that we go to the Rangers game alot--but hey it's great family together time! This time we were super close--right next to third base and Reese's favorite--the Dot Race in the 6th inning...they ran right in front of us! It was also $1 hot dog night--as you can see Abby was all about that! It was a crazy windy night and I wore the WRONG shoes so I got some serious blisters! I could NOT walk...no really I am not being dramatic mom:) I really was in some serious pain!! But I was not about to walk barefoot (I would rather bleed than get some nasty foot fungus;) Soooo thankfully some nice Usher happened to have some band aids and all was ....better! ---I will NOT be wearing those shoes again unless I am sitting down or walking less that 5 feet:) (thanks Payless--or should I say Wearless???) (did you catch that Jerry I made a joke...wow--and it's actually kinda funny...are you proud????)
Ok so back on topic--The Rangers...well they lost and sadly we had about 500- 6 year old boys (with plastic bats) sitting behind us and they were rooting for the Indians---boo! By the way they were a little league team named the Indians ...not REAL Indians fans (so no there were not 500--maybe just 10:) but they yelled loud enough you would have thought there were a 1000--and I got hit about 20 times in the head with those silly yellow bats;)
Well we had a great time and after 5 hot dogs, nachos, Dr. Pepper and eating everything I brought in my bag, we went home happy campers! **note to self.....next time bring more to drink--maybe I will bring a rolling cooler?--yeah I'll go to Sam's and get 100 bottles of water.....yes that will do it! ...no, no then the kids will have to go to the bathroom 100 times and I can't handle those bathrooms--WOW my OCD is seriously coming out in this entry....I need to calm down:) --but public bathrooms are really bad. You can't deny it!

Can you say Green Thumb?

my first onion--wow it's big:) Abby says we can have baby onion rings!

Nice looking pepper!

Lookie there! Yes...Yes.. finally--we have successfully grown something! Remember the onions Abby got me for my birthday? Well we planted them and I pretty much planned on never seeing them again, but can you believe it--- they actually grew:) I know it's a bit small but don't be judgmental--just be proud they grew at all!:) You know back in the day Greg and I decided we were gonna have a vegetable garden and it was so terrible we had to mow it down....so this is PROGRESS:) We also have peppers and a herb garden--man, we have come a long way:)

"It's Beeping Faster!"

Conversation between Reese and Abigail at breakfast this morning:

First Abby is saying something about Satan and sand and if you sin you get closer to Satan and further from God (not to sure what she was getting at;)--then...
Reese-I have Jesus in my heart!
Abby-No, Reese you don't you are not a Christian yet...Mommy does he have Jesus in his Heart?
Me-Well Reese when you get older you will be able to understand what Jesus did for you on the cross...and...(interrupted)
Reese- No, No, Mommy see....(he holds his hand on his heart) ..see it's beeping faster he's in there....he's in there!

How funny--he makes me laugh....."beeping" faster and he's convienced that when his heart races that Jesus is doing it...I love it!

It's HOT, HOT, HOT!

OK so this has NOTHING to do with my family and what we do from day to day BUT I must share this video--when we lived in DC one of the guys Greg worked with went to Appalachian State University and he was nice enough to share this with us! I think it's absolutely terrible but seriously this song runs through my head OFTEN and I only watched it once about a year ago...I guess they did their job huh?

I would say enjoy but you probably won't...sorry;)

Ashley's Wedding

The famous baseball video game...notice both boys have on Hank Blalock shirts--good taste!
and I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the girls dressing-up--shame on me!

Dawson showing the kids his baseball cards--Reese was in Heaven!

The beautiful Bride Ashley!

Two of my favorite people--Paige and Stacey

Reese flirting with Stacey--I tried to get a picture of her sitting on his lap--it was hilarious but he wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get the camera!

This weekend my friend Ashley got married in OKC. We left Saturday morning and stayed the night with our good friends the McKinneys--they have two great kids Dawson and Casady and our kids love to play with them so we didn't think twice about not taking them with us! Also Ashley is really good buddies with Reese and Abby so they didn't want to miss her big day:) The wedding was beautiful and Ashley looked like a 1940's bride--she had this awesome net-like veil with a huge white flower on the side of her head--it looked AMAZING! (sure wish I would have thought of it:) There was dinner and dancing after and the kids were pretty happy about that! My friend Stacey and her sister Paige were there too so it was so fun to get to catch up with them--I sure wish they both lived closer because I love them to death!
Anyways we had a great time and the kids haven't stopped talking about Dawson and Casady--Reese has told me twice today that Dawson has a baseball video game....I think he is dropping a hint.... what do you think?
Thanks McKinneys for such a great weekend---we loved your house and are VERY jealous about all your land.....you need some horses, that way you wouldn't have to mow (oh wait you already have 2 mastiffs-- never mind;)--hehe:) Can't wait till you come down for the Rangers game.....Tammy--I'm sorry to tell you but the Yankees are gonna lose;)