This is Funny...

Stacy showed this to me and we cracked up:) Enjoy!

Perfect Timing...

I am just amazed at how God is working in our lives. When I decided to go back to school it was really a huge leap of faith. We knew that the timing was right, but we weren't sure about much else. It turns out that God had everything worked out before we did. And his plan is so much better than ours.

My main concern was tuition. Where we were going to come up with $1,900 was a mystery to me. Well, today we found out that financial aid (which I didn't think I would get) is going to cover 100% of my tuition and more. What an answer to prayer. That's HUGE! God let us stretch just a bit so we could really trust him - and he provided. When we didn't think there was a way, He made a way!

That's not all! I guess one of my secret goals has been to eventually get my Master's in Elementary Education. I just didn't think it would ever happen. But I figure, HEY! While I'm there why not go ahead and go all the way. The one thing holding me back was the GRE. I found out on Monday, the first day of class, that the GRE was not required anymore! Another answer to prayer! I AM required, however, to put together an application notebook as a Graduate School candidate. I have to submit three letters of recommendation, along with several other papers. I came from the College of Human Sciences, so I am not familiar with too many professors in the College of Education. Little did I know what was about to happen!

There is this mom I have seen from a distance at Honey for over a year. Pretty much everyday I see her. We know each other's face and that's about it. I assumed she was the typical SAHM. On Monday, as I was dragging my behind up three flights of stairs, trying to find my class, I ran into her! I was taken aback. We introduced ourselves and made small talk. It turns out, her name is Alyson, and she is a professor! She is so sweet and agreed to write a letter of recommendation for me!! And, actually, now I have four letters! So, I am officially in the process of getting into Graduate School - FOR REAL!

So many things like that have happened the past few weeks, and everytime it makes me more sure of my decision to go back to school! It is so neat to tangibally feel God's hand at work in our lives. It shows me and my family that he really does care about even the smallest details of our lives. What a cool Heavenly Father we have:)

Our First Day of School...

So today was the first day of school for Taylor, Chad, and myself. Chad left the house at the crack of dawn to work out, so unfortunately for him, he's not in the pics.:) I know he will be so disappointed - j/k!
Taylor was excited about starting 2nd grade, but did NOT want me taking pictures of her. She's just like her dad. We made a deal that I would walk her to her class every morning if she would just let me get a few.:) I can't believe she's getting to the age where that sort of thing embarrases her. That makes me sad...I am a picture taking fool.
When we got to Honey there were kids, parents, and cameras everywhere. We took our time, holding hands, walking to her classroom. I could tell she was a little nervous - just a tad. But she's so big. She found her locker, put her backpack up, and then went to her desk. She is a very prepared student!:) I stayed with her a few minutes, and then kissed her head and left. It was a little sad leaving her - my baby girl is growing up too fast.
I left and headed for Tech. My class went well. I believe there are only nine people in it - so that's nice. It definitely feels like this is the right decision. Taylor thinks it's neat that I'm going back to school to become a teacher. The two of us have homework dates planned every evening. Seven o' clock sharp at the kitchen table! Maybe one day I'll be a Honey Bear too!:) In a perfect world it would work out that way.
All in all, today was a great start to the new year. And it's not over yet. I know by the end of it I will be one tired pup! But I can't be too tired...the Democratic National Convention starts tonight! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!


Love the face!


The Honey Bear and the Red Raider


Too cool!


Her locker:)


Her desk

He Has A Lot to Say...

Connor has starting saying "Ummmm...." when we ask him a question. I love it!:)

It's Official...

I am a Texas Tech Red Raider...again! Just when I thought I was done with that place. Today I found out that I was accepted into Graduate School...sort of. I won't actually be working towards a degree, just a PostBac teacher certification.

This morning when I got the call, everything kind of hit me at once. I was excited, thankful, nervous, and having second thoughts about what I had just signed up for. But I know this is what I am supposed to do. It's just that everything is happening so fast - really fast. I was prepared to sit out this semester seeing as how I got the application sent in a little late in the game. I knew there was a good chance I wouldn't get started until spring. And I was OK with that. As it turns out I wasn't late at all:) I made it just in time for the fall semester...which starts in...in ONE WEEK!! Whoa.

I know that I have a lot on my plate: Taylor's school, my school, KDO, dance, gymnastics. Not to mention the house and laundry, laundry, laundry:) I'm going to have to come up with a good balancing act:) But my main priority has been and always will be my kids. In the midst of all this craziness my main goal will stay the same - to be a good mom:) And it helps to have an AMAZING family willing to chip in and help out:) THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

It's funny how time works. The more I have of it, the more I waste it. I feel I am a better manager of time the busier I am. That's just the way it is. As a SAHM I tend to think I have all the time in the world. My thoughts go a little something like this: "I can do that later" or "That can wait...I'm a SAHM." Well, not anymore! And the more my time is not my own, the more I value it. Time spent with my family is treasured much more when I don't have as much of it.

Being a mom is the best job ever, but it isn't easy. I am constantly going back and forth...feeling torn between two worlds. Should I go back to work or should I be at home? Should I do this or should I do that? I am so blessed that, for the most part, I do get to be with my kids! I love hanging out with them, doing what we want - when we want. I love being involved in Taylor and Averi's classes. I love knowing that 100% of my time is devoted to my family. And right now, for the most part, none of that is changing. I'm just going back to school. It's not a job - not yet anyway!

So, here's to a new beginning! Same book, different chapter:)

Happy New Year...

I know it's not exactly fall (or New Year's) here in Lubbock, but when I see all the back-to-school supplies at Target, that does it for me. I know summer is quickly fading and a new season is just around the corner! There's something about this time of year that is so rejuvinating - I love it. And as my kids get older I find myself loving it more and more. It is our new year, our chance to start again with a clean slate. It's always nice to get back into a schedule, a rhythm of life.

What fall means to me:

• Shopping for new school clothes/supplies
• Roadtrips with friends
• Taking the kids to watch their daddy the coach
• Tech football games on a crisp, clear Saturday night
• Browsing through Barnes and Noble with a magazine in one hand and a hot chai in the other. I love the smell of new books and coffee:)
• Punkin' Day in Floydada
• Cinnamon candles burning

This year promises to be just as busy as the last. Taylor's first day of school is August 25th. She will be a 2nd grader. She has decided to forego dance and give gymnastics a try. Averi will be our only little ballerina in the house. I will teach KDO at least one more year. It is the perfect "job" for me. I get to be near Averi and Connor, and earn a little spending money at the same time:) This will be Averi's 5th and final year in the program. She will graduate and move on to bigger and better things. That hardly seems possible. As if we weren't busy enough, I may be attending classes at Tech this fall as well. My goal is to get my teacher certification ASAP. I am having mixed emotions about this decision, but if I have to work teaching is what I want to do. I'm pushing 30 so I feel like I need to get a move on. I am excited about the months ahead. I know that big things are in store for us!

Family Pictures...

We have never had any REALLY good family pictures taken, so last night that's what we did! Denae did an absolutely amazing job. These make my heart sing!!!


Here we come...walkin' down the street


I love my little family:)


My two boys


Me and my kids:)


Love the light in this picture


Yes...we brought our couch with us:)




Connor and our feet






Denae's cool frame idea



Thank you, Denae! You are the best:)

17 Months...

Today our precious baby boy turns 17 months old. I can't believe he is almost a year and a half. He is learning so much so fast. Here is what he is up to:

• Connor is pulling up on any and everything. Once he gets up he realizes he can't get down - at least he thinks he can't. He will cry for me to come help him. I love walking into his room to find him standing up in his crib - his little head barely peeking above the bars. It is sweetness:)
• He is learning how to walk! For a loong time he wouldn't even use his legs. They were like wet noodles.
• He absolutely loves playing with his belly button. He'll lift his shirt up, find his button, and go to town. Totally cracks me up. The other day I put a onesie on him and he was a little irritated he couldn't mess with it.
• He says "mama" all the time. It just thrills me to hear that come out of his mouth.
• He is way into playing ball. If he sees one he says "bah??????????" We find him throwing with his left hand pretty consistently.
• One of our new favorite things is bringing Connor to bed with us for some serious cuddle time. I look forward to it every night. After we've played and laughed he will lay real still while we rub his head and back. When we ask him "You wanna go night-night?" he shakes his head no. If I am taking him to his bed he will lay on my shoulder and give me a big hug. Well how am I supposed to resist that? It usually buys him a few more minutes of freedom!:) He has figured us out - and we are suckers!

Our Vacation...

Yay for getting out of Lubbock for a few days! We took a little family vacation/birthday getaway to Dallas this past week. It was so much fun. We crammed a lot into 4 days!

Day 1:
We left early last Wednesday (my birthday) with Chad's parents and drove straight to the Macaroni Grill in Ft. Worth! After our yummy lunch we took the kids to the zoo. Ummm...it was HOT! We were spraying ourselves down the whole time. Connor didn't seem to mind the heat, though. He loved the animals. He would point and say "ooh"! We saw all of our favorites (tigers, bears, birds, snakes, monkeys) and then decided we wanted the air-conditioned cars and left. We checked into the hotel before celebrating my birthday that night at the Grand Lux Cafe. The girls BAD wanted to go swimming so after dinner it was back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. Connor was so funny. He loves any type of button: belly buttons, garage door buttons, and as we discovered this past week, elevator buttons. Everytime we went up or down the elevator he would get so excited and say "Buh"! We let him push all the buttons:)





Day 2:
We had a day of fun at Hurrican Harbor. The kids loved the lazy river and the wave pool. Taylor actually rode one of the "big" slides with Chad. She loved it so much she rode it again with Poppi. And right before we left Chad drug me to the horrible slide called Der Stuka. The thing, I swear, is at a 90 degree angle. It is straight up and down. I am not a huge fan of heights, so climbing the seven-story tower was almost worse than going down it. As we got higher and higher you could feel it rocking back and forth. I was so mad at Chad for getting me all stressed and out of my comfort zone. But I did it - I pushed myself off the edge of that slide and screamed the whole way down:) I made Chad get behind me so I could go first - the suspense was just too much. And he told me afterwards that everyone in line asked him: "Is that your wife?" HaHa! He just nodded his head and said yes. After the waterpark we went back to the hotel for a few minutes of rest and then headed out again for a night of baseball at the Ballpark where we met up with my parents.










Day 3:
Donna, my mom, Taylor, Averi, and I started out the day with a girl's brunch at the American Girl Place. Talk about a little girl's dream. There are dolls, doll-clothes, and all things pink and glittery everywhere you look! There is even a doll hair salon right there in the store. When Taylor turned 3 we celebrated her birthday at the AGP in NYC, and I wanted to do the same for Averi (except, of course, we were in Dallas:). She turns 5 in September so it was an early celebration. After looking around, and oohing and ahhing, we headed upstairs to the bistro. They seated us in a big pink booth with a big pink flower light fixture above us. We told the waitress that it was Averi's special day and we would like it if they would come out and sing to her. So in a few minutes the whole crew came out with a candle-lit cupcake! We got so excited thinking it was for Aves. Well, they came...and kept going, right past our table. I'm pretty sure every little girl there was having a birthday because this happened 5 or 6 times. And everytime we were sure Averi was next. And everytime she wasn't. But it was so sweet watching all the little girls light up as we sang Happy Birthday to them. Finally it was Averi's turn. And her precious, shy, little face melted my heart as we sang to her and made her feel so special. Everyone clapped and cheered as she made a wish and blew out her candle. She told me that she wished for a "real live puppy dog" - I love that girl! I told Dondi and Granna what she had wished for and Dondi, as only she can do, told Aves that the puppy dog fairy was dead:) It was pretty funny. And Averi wasn't phased by her twisted humor. As much as we would like to be, we aren't very good dog people. Let's see...we've gone through how many pets? There's Nikki, Bow, Bailey, Sampson...and Ranger, my parent's dog, won't come near our car when we ask him to come over out of fear for his well-being! I think Averi will have to come up with another wish! Anyway, after brunch we let each girl pick out a doll and an outfit. Taylor chose Kit and Averi picked one of the bitty twin babies. The whole experience was so fun, but be ready to spend the $ when you go in that store. It's no joke!
After our special time at the AGP we went iceskating in the Galleria. Taylor did great for her 2nd time. Averi, on the other hand, was holding onto the wall (or whatever happened to be in her reach) for dear life. It was her first experience on the ice. After a little shopping it was lunchtime - we are a family that loves to eat! We went to P.F. Chang's! The kids wanted to swim so that afternoon we just hung out at the hotel. Donna, my mom, and I snuck off to do some shopping by ourselves. They bought me a cute outfit at White House Black Market. I love jeans that make me feel cute! We finished the day off at Uncle Julio's for dinner and back to the hotel for a nighttime swim.











Day 4:
Drove home. Oh that wonderful drive from Dallas to Lubbock. Whew! Apparently Connor feels the same way. He did great for the most part. But from Post to Lubbock he screamed nonstop. Poor baby. It was like some cruel joke putting him in his carseat for so long. He had big tears running down his cheeks and he kept saying "mama, mama" looking at me to help him. It was so sad, but so sweet. We had so much fun, but we are glad to be home.