Pending Nervous Breakdown

So, here I am again telling you about the craziness that is my life!

The biggest recent highlight was that my nephew, Logan, asked Jesus into his heart and was baptised today! We were able to go to my sister's church to watch and then back to her house to celebrate over lunch. And because I am working very hard to be the best aunt ever I got him a cool shirt!

My mom and dad were not able to come down however because my mom is at home "resting". Last Wednesday on her first day back to school with kids there, her blood pressure bottomed out and the school nurses sent her to the hospital. They are in a very small town and medical things are limited but she is seeing a doctor tomorrow that we are expecting to run more tests to find out what happened. My sister and I being college educated with access to WebMD are pretty sure she had a minor stroke but will have to wait and see what the real doctors say...

Also, tomorrow is Kirstyn's first day of Kindergarten! We met her teacher last Thursday and LOVED her! Tomorrow night David also goes to school for his last semester of work on his MBA (he will be taking 2 graduate classes this semester!). Then later in the week James will start 2 day a week preschool. I will be the only one NOT in school but will be the one doing the most work with the most stress! Ah, the life of MOM.

Hopefully all of these changes will help us get into a good routine and will allow me to get back to my Weight Watcher meetings and a regular blogging schedule.... we'll see. Wish me luck!

Movie Grill

So I realize that the blog has been a little James heavy lately so that seems like the perfect reason to tell you about Miss Kirstyn!

Last night and early this morning Kirstyn (with a little 'forced' labor from James) has been setting up our dining room for a "Breakfast Show". She had puppets and stuffed animals all over in a very organized chaos.

My special chair was right beside her stuffed dog Kia. Notice Kia is sitting at a table with a drink. Yes, Kirstyn worked very hard to make her show much like the Studio Movie Grill where she and I often go on dates! I though this was a very smart set up!

Her puppet show was fabulous and James was in stitches! David and I were laughing too but more at James and his reaction to his sister's puppet show! And we kept noticing more and more details all around the room! Her cabbage patch had a bowl and bottle... and many more!

Speaking of Movie Grill time... I am so excited to be going tonight with some ladies from my Sunday school class to see the new movie Julie & Julia! I won't be eating there because my weight is steadily going in the right direction right now, but I think a Girl's Night Out is just what I need!

Are you excited about this movie too? I mean food + blogger = perfect subject matter for me!!!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Our Interesting Airplane

Usually our short drive to church is pretty routine but yesterday was HILARIOUS!


James was making his usual boy noises "vrrrrrmmm, vvvvrrrmmm, bumbumbum, veroooom..."

James still making noises "sssssssssssstttt... oh, ti ti! yeah ti ti. ssssssssstttttt."

Then more "vvvrrrrmmmm, bumbumbum, veroooom!"

David asks, "does he need to potty?"

Me, "I don't know... James, do you need to potty?"

James, "NO MOMMA" (yes, we are very much TWO!)

Then, he did it again, "sssst...yeah, ti ti... ssssssssttt".

And Kirstyn speaks up (must be said with sarcastic all knowing big sister voice!), "Bubby... your airplane DOES NOT have a PENIS!"

WHAT?!?!?!?!

James, "uh hu sissy.... LOOK!"

All I can say is... he has a point! ***snicker***

I swear... this boy keeps me busy... and laughing!!!

I'm Worth It

Because I am worth it...

• I am going to make even more of an effort to get into a "healthy weight range".
• I am going to continue to work out.
• I am going to treat my body like the Temple of God that it is.
• I am going to remember that this is a lifestyle, not a quick fix.
• I am going to be PROUD of my progress.
• I am going to use these pictures to remind me why I have worked so hard over the last two years! (These pictures were taken exactly two years apart.)

Kirstyn, James and ME riding the ferry. This is special to me because it is something that my sister and I loved to do as kids with my PawPaw!


Our family picture attempts on the beach...
Maybe by next year I will be happy with the way I look in a swim suit and I will have learned enough about my camera to be able to teach my mom or dad how to take a GOOD family picture... who am I kidding, I am going to pray for some good camera luck next year!

See, I have made progress! Major progress. The person in the pictures on the left no longer exists. She is stronger, more self confident, more educated about food, and headed in the direction of being a FIT MOM!

I am hesitant to set pound goals on here and blog about my up and down battle with a few pounds but I also need the accountability! So, here I go again, again. Help me, are there any challenges out there I should join up with? I want to lose 15 lbs in the next 10 weeks...do you think I can do it? I guess the important question is "do I think I can do it?"

I'll let you know...

And these pictures are just for fun because I love them! After we got up out of the sand from attempting the family picture we were covered in mud and went ahead and had a big ole mud fight that James started! My mom just kept taking pictures and I am so glad she did. It is rare for me to have a picture of me playing with my kids!

Thanks again for all of the support on this journey toward better health!

A Wordful Wednesday for sure!!!

Overwhelmed

I have to say that I am so thankful for my loyal computer friends! I have been pretty sporadic with my blogging and I appreciate that you are still out there reading.

Last week was a great but overwhelming week for David and I. On Sunday my mom and dad stopped by for a visit and James insisted on going home with his Pappy. When my parents agreed or gave in to his insistence, I quickly packed the kids and they were off to Arkansas for the week.

David and I were then left with some time to ourselves. We went to the gym together, did some work at the office together, went to the movies...twice, went out to dinner, went to a comedy club and all in all had a good week.

Then on Thursday night received some very sad news. One of David's friends had lost his wife to suicide. We held each other tight and cried for our friend and his overwhelming loss. We made phone calls to notify other friends and spent much time in prayer. I am very sad because I was just beginning to get to know her via facebook.... she was becoming one of you.... one of my computer friends that mean so much to me!

Please know that I care about each and every one of you. Please know that no matter how you are feeling, Jesus understands and he cares too.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

If you have a minute, please pray for our friend as he deals with this overwhelming loss.

Texas Temps

This post is for my Canadian friends!

Last week we were having record high temperatures and heat advisories. For those of you who don't know, a 'heat advisory' is our weather man's way of saying you should probably just stay inside with your kids and your animals because Hell is not even this hot!

I have proof... I got in my car around 2:30 one afternoon and the temperature read 113'F! Friends, that is HOT and the a/c has to work over time to keep you from dying never mind trying to keep you cool.


Well this week has been a major relief. Even my a/c unit sent me a thank you card! Seriously, it is loving that it gets to come on, do its job, and turn off for an occasional rest. It has been misting/sprinkling for two days now and yesterday around noon my car said it was only 78'F outside. Still VERY humid but what a relief!

So tell me, what is the weather like where you live?

Peace, Prayer, and People

I mentioned before that I am currently participating in a ladies Bible Study. We are currently working through the study "the Frazzled Female, Finding Peace in the Midst of Daily Life" by Cindi Wood. I have really been enjoying the study. God has really been teaching me. It was kind of funny last week that while I was on vacation the focus of the study was living at peace with other people.

Romans 12:18 says "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

I really felt like that I was and have been doing that. On day 3 I couldn't even think of anyone that was driving me nuts that I need to be praying for! Well, I kept praying about that and God showed me someone this week! I'm really glad I did this study last week and had some time to pray about it before I got annoyed! Apparently God knew that I needed processing time in order to be able to control my mouth!

At the gym there is this woman (I need to learn her name), that drives me crazy! In the group fitness room there are two big fans in the front right and left corners and above the fans are where the sound speakers are mounted. This woman always sets up right in front of the fans. I think she thinks that they are specifically there for just her. I always think, if you would wear something other than sweat pants and maybe put your hair up then you wouldn't have to set up just short of actually getting INTO the fan!

Okay, I know you are thinking....seriously, why does this bother you? Well, my problem comes in with her NON-stop complaining to the instructors about the volume of the music. HELLO, LADY, if you weren't on top of the fan then you wouldn't be standing there with your ear practically against the SPEAKER!

I know, still not enough? Apparently I forgot to mention that she always smokes a cigarette or twelve before she comes into the gym to work out. And then by setting up on top of the fan then fills the room with the secondary smoke on her clothes! I mean, I understand that everyone needs a way to die, mine will probably be saturated fats that kill me, others are clean eaters that are uber fit but they tan so skin cancer will kill them, and smoking will probably kill her. But my point is that I DON'T WANT TO SMELL YOUR SMOKE! I can handle her being a fan hog, I can tolerate the unnecessary complaining about the volume, but my sinuses get irritated every time I accidentally end up on your half of the room!

I know you are thinking, just set up on the other half of the room. Yeah, that would be great except she is usually a little late (probably because she is getting in one last cigarette!) and I never know which side of the room she will choose! I would hate to be THAT obvious as to pick up my step and move to the other half of the room!

I am praying for her so that I can adjust my attitude. I need to learn her name and I need to make sure that I don't end up saying something tacky to her. Who do you need to be praying for? Oh and please tell me that you have a gym pet peeve too!

Learning

So, here I am again with a huge gap in my blogging. We have been on vacation and recovering from vacation.

We spent 2 nights in San Antonio, then 7 nights in a condo on the beach in Port Aransas, then one night with my aunt in Corpus Christi, and then we drove home with a stop in Johnson City to see my uncle. Whew. Exhausting at times but worth every. single. minute!

While I was on vacation I had big plans that included books to read but the truth is when I had a little down time I was playing with my camera. I so wish I had taken my camera book with me to help me out. Here's hoping I have time to take a photography class or two before next year's vacation.

I thought this picture was kind of fun. I was standing on the condo balcony with James waiting on some sea gulls to fly over the roof so I could get a cool picture (never happened when I was ready...) Anyway, I turned around and saw a fun opportunity to capture me in the window with the ocean in the background. I even managed to snap one when James can be seen too!

There was a full moon a couple of nights so I was really wishing that I had a tripod to capture a better night shot... I am still pretty proud of these shots though. It was gorgeous in person and these pictures do not do it justice at all!

Then one morning we were down on the beach in time for sunrise! WOW. God's creation is amazing!

So, any photography tips for me? Or maybe blogs that will help me learn to get along with my camera even better?

Momma, hellll me... PWEESE!

So, I have to know.... Do any of you have this little Rotten Ronnie's Happy Meal toy? (Thanks Kami....thanks to you that is what David and I have been calling McD's for a while now!)


I know, I really have all but banned fast food, but last week my kids had happy meals, not once but twice! Agh, it adds to my ongoing case of Mommy guilt. Anyway, it was a hard week with VBS in the mornings and David's dad having what was supposed to be day surgery on Thursday but turned out to be much more extensive than planned. He actually got out of the hospital today but your continued prayer is appreciated.


Anyway, thanks to one of those happy meals, this little guy joined our family. He is one of my favorite characters from Ice Age and James just loves him. I am, however, not as in love with the little guy.


These pictures are not the best because I was too lazy to get my real camera took them with my iPhone. But can't you just see the love that James has for him in this first picture?

Oh and in the second picture can you see the drool running down James' chin? That is because he is making a noise that sounds like "shhhhh shhhhh shhhhhhhhkkkkk" right before he fires the acorn at me! You see, he has a tiny button on his butt that makes him shoot his acorn across the room! James is grinning at the thought of inflicting pain on me! Good thing it doesn't actually hurt because James has gotten very good at shooting it across the room with precision!



What I love about the toy is the endless amounts of laughter that James has enjoyed because of this little squirrel and his "nut nut".

What I loath about this little toy are the 546 times yesterday afternoon that I heard "Momma, helllllllll me." Because they made this little guy very difficult to reload. James is getting better at it, but still today ALL DAY I have been hearing, "Sissy, hel pweese", "nut nut, oh nooooo, nut nut", and "Momma, helllllll me".

I wouldn't trade the deep belly laughs coming from my kids for ANYTHING right now, no matter how poorly designed the toy is!

So, what toy is in your house that your kiddo loves so much that you can't bring yourself to get rid of it but don't feel too bad about hiding it on occasion either?!?!?!?

Roots

You know, the last few weeks there has been much going on in our little part of the world. We have had a friend diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a friend several friends dealing with crumbling marriages, a friend preparing to move to another state, a friend working toward reconciling friendships after 10 years, a friend opening his own business and yet another friend getting married. Oh and David's dad had another heart surgery! Quite frankly I am thankful to be participating in a ladies Bible Study called "The Frazzled Female, Finding Peace in the Midst of Daily Life"!


If you are wondering about my weight loss, there is nothing new to report.... and with all that is going on, I have to say that I am VERY proud of that! I may not be dropping weight but I am still working out and I am not gaining weight!





Well, as you can imagine, on the list of all that is going on right now, the most fun was the wedding that I mentioned. Last Saturday David and I got to get all dressed up to go to Jonathan's wedding! We were so excited to be seeing lots of our college friends all in one place. I was reminded of how special all of these people are to me!





See, when I moved from a tiny town in Arkansas to the DFW Metroplex in Texas to go to college, I never imagined that I would find a HOME and a family away from home. These college friends became my family. They taught me what it meant to be a brother and sister in Christ. They loved me and encouraged me and helped me learn about myself.








I met all of these guys plus several more at LABC when I joined the college department. They welcomed me with open arms and made me a part of their family! I discovered this church and this family because Jonathan (the groom!) was being obedient to the calling that Christ had put on his life to be set apart on his college campus.




See, Jonathan had spent a year praying for a Christian friend for his college campus that would help him grow the Baptist Student Ministries on campus. God chose me. He prepared me. He provided scholarships and then the much needed courage for me to move away from everything familiar. I was also praying for Christian friends and was seeking a closer relationship with my Jesus. I had to choose to be obedient. Then, another year later my friend Carey (pictured above holding the baby) was obedient in one of her college classes and invited a couple of guys to come visit our college group Bible Study. One of those guys was MY David.





One of the things I will forever be grateful to Jonathan and his family for is how they taught me about prayer and its POWER! (In the picture is me between Jonathan's sisters...Deborah and Liz). His mom Candy is what I would call a prayer warrior. I admire her dedication to other people's prayer requests. I also admire her ability to have a conversation with our Savior about all the little details of her day. She understands and practices the scripture 1 Thessalonians 5:17 where we are told to "pray continuously." Even at the wedding she was praying for her granddaughter to continue behaving nicely even though she had missed her nap. (Something I probably would have been worrying about rather than praying about. Convicted? Yes.... Lesson learned? I hope so!)




I think it is pretty fabulous how everything always comes together. This week in our Bible Study we were told to make our "to-do" list for the day and then take a moment and pray over each and every item on the list. Yes, even the laundry (This brings a smile to my face because I think of Candy, Jonathan's mom, praying aloud for focus and direction as she searches through a pile of mail for a specific piece of paper... I remember how at first her doing that made me uncomfortable and then how I learned that God really does care about my 'little' things). It has been a great way to remember that I should be thankful for clothes to wash and a washing machine to do the washing rather than being annoyed that my family can't seem to find the dirty clothes hamper! It has helped my attitude and has helped me keep my eyes focused on Jesus rather than my circumstances.




All of that to say, that I am thankful to have been reminded that this is home and I am where I am supposed to be. And well, I have been at our church for more than 10 years, I met my husband there and I am especially thankful that as I am growing as a Christian that I have ROOTS!

Focused

Focused.... on everything else.


I have to say that I have been missing all of my friends here in blog land! I haven't posted in a while and even worse, I am something like 575 posts behind in my google reader!


Last week was pretty crazy as we wrapped up Kirstyn's final days in Pre-K. I can't believe I am going to be a Kindergarten momma... how did that happen so fast?!?!?


Here is a picture of her dressed up for their Letter Parade. Kirstyn was thrilled to be going to school dressed as Quilla the Queen. We borrowed her skirt from my grandmother and found the cute crown at a local costume shop.

Other friends were Daisy the Doll and Zippy the Zebra...a very cute and a clever tradition from her preschool. James will be enrolled there in the fall so we will still be doing lots of fun things like this as long as the little mister will play along!

This week Kirstyn is in Arkansas taking swimming lessons and spending some quality time on the farm with my mom and dad. While she is there I have been enjoying lots of one on one time with James.


We had friends over the other night that have a little boy just a few months older than James and it was so much fun to see him experience a play date with HIS friend without his usual big sister supervision. It was too cute to see them running around and giggling non-stop. They were so busy they could barely stop long enough to shove a bite of food in their m

ouths and take off running and playing again. Finally they both sat down and ate a few bites because we taunted them with the promise of some yummy black bean brownies!

David and I have been watching 24. We have a tradition of recording the entire season and then watching it all together all at once. The very first season we watched one hour at a time with everyone else but we think it is much more exciting to watch it together as fast as possible. I can't wait to finish it so that I can get some more sleep! That is my main reason for being away from the computer. He isn't working upstairs in his office so I am not booting my laptop. We have enjoyed the time together curled up watching Jack Bower try to save the world!


Keep checking in on me. I am still working out and eating very clean. Inches are coming off but the pounds haven't changed in the last couple of weeks. I have several posts on clean eating and exercise that are swimming around in my head. I hope to catch them and get them out on the blog in the very near future.... but until then it's 'Bauer Time'!


What have you been doing the last few weeks? What would I be missing if I give up on playing catch up and just mark all as read in my reader?


Are you a huge fan of Jack Bauer and 24 like me?

Birthday Weekend

I honestly cannot believe that James is now a TWOYEAROLD! It seems like I was just announcing his arrival and we were all getting used to being a family of four. Now I can't imagine life without him! Here are some fun facts about our little mister:

• He says "da-do" (thank you) all of the time! He doesn't say much else because he doesn't have to... he has us all trained and I'm pretty sure that's what he thinks big sisters are for!


• He rarely goes anywhere (including bed) without his baseball cap! Although, he did trade in the paci in exchange for being able to sleep in his hat and as far as I'm concerned, breaking that habit can be left up to his wife. He is holding a sucker in this picture because I exchanged it for his hat for long enough to take a picture!


• He loves to play pretend.... especially loves to pretend to be a puppy or a cat. It is way too funny when he gets down, crawls around barking and then licks your leg...okay, that's not funny its kinda nasty but still very cute!


• His favorite cartoons are Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, and Handy Manny.


• His favorite foods are mixed nuts, corn on the cob, popcorn, and broccoli.


• He is a fun kid to cook for.... almost everything he takes a bite of is followed by "yummm"


• He loves to play trains, cars, and any sports although sometimes he mixes up the terminology. Today he was hitting a baseball off of a tee and kept screaming "touchdown"!

I know for most it was a Memorial Day holiday but this weekend, at our house, was all about our youngest family member turning TWO! Birthdays are a big deal at our house and fun is always had by all. This weekend was no exception. For James' "Birthday Eve" we loaded up and headed out for an afternoon of fun at Six Flags. It was great because the park was not crowded at all. There was a slight threat of rain but the weather turned out to be perfect and we had a great time. We even splurged and had "eeee-zzzzzza" (pizza) at the park for dinner.

Sunday, for James' actual birthday we celebrated again. First we took donut holes with sprinkles on them to his Sunday School class. Then after church and naps our friends from down the street came over and we had the ice cream cone cup cakes that Kirstyn had made for her bubby.

Our Healthier Cake Recipe: Devil's Food Cake Mix + Can of Pumpkin + 1/2 cup H20 (your welcome.)

Today we went as a family to the local Movie Tavern for lunch and a movie. This was James' first time to go to a movie theater. He did great! It helps that at this movie theater you also eat lunch while watching the movie. We saw and enjoyed Night at the Museum 2. James really liked the dinosaur bones that acted like a puppy. He would laugh and hang his tongue out. Funny. Then, after naps today we turned on the sprinkler in the back yard and had a great time splashing.



All in all it was a great weekend and I couldn't be prouder of my darling little boy that is not so little anymore...

Our Broadway Baby

Kirstyn's debut performance was Saturday night at her first official dance recital in front of LOTS of people! She did amazing and looked very pretty and much too grown up! Her height was even more obvious when she was on stage with her peers. Yes, my 5 "AND A HALF" year old daughter is 48 inches tall! Anyway, she did a great job and she can't wait for the DVD of the recital to come in so that she can watch it "over and over"!



I joked on Facebook about how putting on a little makeup and pink lipstick made her walk rather sassy and about how it seemed to scare her father to death! It was pretty funny.

Her daddy really does love her so much. See, I have proof! He agreed to and participated in the finale at the Dance Recital... their "traditional" Daddy Daughter Dance! This year's theme was DISCO! Kirstyn was so proud of herself and her daddy for putting on such a great show!



You can't tell from this picture but Kirstyn performed in only one shoe! See, they ran in on the isles for this performance and the daddy behind her stepped on the back of her shoe and she lost it. She was so proud of herself that she didn't stop or worry about it! When the dance was over she said to David, "Daddy, I need to go over there and get my shoe." David asked her why she didn't get it when she lost it and she said, "because they told us even if something goes wrong with our costumes, like if a feather falls off, then just keep going and no one will know until we tell them and then they will think we are a REAL star since that didn't even matter!"

We couldn't be prouder of her! And yes, she is a REAL STAR!

Oh and I have to share this one last Kirstyn funny...
I have been asking her now for two months if she wants to take dance next year and she has been adamant that no she did not want to do dance anymore. Finally, on the way home from recital I got to the bottom of it. I said, "Kirstyn you were really good tonight, don't you want to keep taking dance?" She said, "No Mommy, didn't you see that I am really good at Broadway Baby? I don't want to practice that dance anymore." Ha. Poor kid thought that if she took dance again that she would just keep doing that same routine over and over! When we explained to her that she would get to learn one of the other "big girl" dances she was over the top excited! So, I guess we will be taking dance again next year!!!

This is definitely a WordFUL Wednesday!