Guess Who is 7?!??!?!

Warning: this momma's heart is about to burst with joy, memories, disbelief that time has really flown, pride, more joy!  Rylan and Jacob turn 7 today!  I really cannot believe that they are 7... it seems like yesterday that I was laying in that hospital bed, praying they would stay put until September 1!!! But they came at 31 weeks, on a Tuesday morning, QUITE expectedly unexpected!  And I blinked and they are 7...

 I am so proud of Rylan and Jacob.  First and foremost, they love God, Jesus and the Bible.  They have hidden MUCH of God's Word in their heart and I claim that they will never depart from it!  I am so proud of the way they follow the rules, seek to be peace-makers, are genuinely kind to others, and they way that they love each other.  Being an only child, I always dreamed of what it would be like to have a sibling... and I see the perfect relationship between these boys.  They fiercely defend each other and love each other.

I love their love of US and TX history.  I love that they still play with trains, army men, pretend food.  Books are their favorite toy... and any kind of weapon! hahaha  They watch Backyardigans as if they are in a trance.  They love all sports and are quite athletic.  They are both above level in reading and math and the writing is right where it should be.  I love that they set up museums and give tours to us.  I love that they sit for hours and narrate Star Wars battles as they act them out.  I love that they shoot hoops in the backyard until their faces are red.  I love that they behave good in public and private.  I love their loud, belly laughs and high-pitched squeals.  I love their sense of adventure and fun.  There is never a dull moment around this house!

Happy birthday to my precious boys!!! There is no greater joy than being your momma!

Little Boy Legs

Even as a child, I remember being aware of my feet touching (or not touching) the ground when I sat in   various places.  The boys are growing like weeds and I wanted to remember their legs when their feet do NOT touch the ground yet.

 One afternoon we were watching Backyardigans and I noticed their growing legs... it made me happy/sad.

 Rylan's are in the foreground and Jacob's in the background...

 Look at those growing legs!

 Jacob...

 Rylan always wiggles his little toes!  Always has, always will!

Loving the iPad

We are not huge gadget users, especially with the boys.  We are more board games and paper copy books kind of people.  But Jason did recently got an iPad, which means we all get to play on it a little bit.  The boys LOVE Angry Birds Star Wars.  They have to ask to use the iPad and we limit their time and monitor their play, but they LOVE this game!!! One morning, I walked in to find them all on top of each other taking turns flinging those silly little birds across Hoth.  It was CLASSIC Rylan and Jacob!

Battle for the Galaxy

Ever since Annelise's birthday party back in 2008, the boys have liked Star Wars.  We let them watch it this past January.  Ever since then, the OBSESSION has only grown!!! This is a typical day at our house... Star Wars battle!!!  My favorite part is the pay-by-play commentary they give as "fighting" each other.  Rylan is on his knees because he is Yoda and Yoda is short.

 Mr. Serious Battle Face...

 Attack Face!!!

 Notice the height on Rylan's leap!  This took a few tries to time it right with the camera, but he did not mind one little bit!  This is his newest move and it ROCKS!

Praying

One perk of teaching the first grade Bible class this year is getting to teach my own kids!!!  One night in class while Daesha was praying, I saw this precious sight.  I could not resist snapping a photo!!  That sweet boy of mine loves to pray to His God.  Over the past year, his prayers have left the comfort zone of thanking God for Lambert, Pico and CuCu.  It is so sweet to hear is sweet voice and tender words.  Be still, my heart...

Dog Sitting

The boys got their first job in July!  Deena's family was going out of town for a little over a week and they asked the boys to dog sit!  The boys have never really been around dogs and they are both quite skiddish around them, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to get over the skiddish-ness!  Mister, Buffy and Sparky quickly took over our hearts!

 We went three times a day for 30-45 minutes.  At first Mister would not come near the bouncy six year olds, but by about the third day, he was sitting in their laps!!!

 Even though we loved all the dogs, the boys said Mister was their favorite! hahaha

 Jacob was so excited when Mister kissed his nose!

 Buffy and Sparky made quite a pair.  They would waddle over and get plenty of petting while the boys sat on the floor.  They were all really great dogs who were good with kids.

Mrs. Deena even paid the boys quite generously for their labor.  They want to combine their money and get a BIG Lego Star Wars set.  We are making them wait until after their BD since we have already bought a few sets... and they are fine with waiting!  We can't wait for Deena's family to go out of town again so that we can love on those dogs!

Rylan's Surgery

On July 10th, Rylan had another ENT surgery.  This time he had his tonsils removed and cheek sinuses cleared.  Getting to this decision was a long, yet whirlwind, journey!  In mid-May on a Friday night he got into a terrible coughing fit.  The coughs had never really gone away since NOVEMBER, the first time he had strep throat this year.  That fateful May night, he got to coughing so that he vomited several times.  It was not a good night for anyone!  So the next morning we took him to the pedi for answers.  Our regular doc was not on call and we saw one of her associates.  She gave us some meds and told us to come back in a week if there was no change.  So a week passed and we showed back up at her doorstep.  She ordered x-rays, bloodwork, a TON of meds and sent us to an allergist for allergy testing. The allergy testing came back NEGATIVE - which shocked us all to pieces!  The allergist did a CT scan of his head and discovered that all of of sinuses were clogged.  The amount of snot in this kids head was HUGE!!! So he sent us to an ENT.  The ENT took one look at that scan and said he needed sinus surgery.  At this point, a FREAKING OUT mom came out in me!  Remember, Jason had been gone for almost 4 weeks on Cat claims, I was still working, VBS was getting into  high gear and I was making 2 scrapbooks for end of the year gifts from each boys class.  After much prayer, deep breathing and more prayer, we decided to go ahead and do the surgery.  Since he had strep throat 4 times in Kinder, the ENT wanted to take out his tonsils while they were already in there for the sinuses.  

Fast forward to July... Rylan thinks this is going to be the best thing ever because he gets to eat ice cream for 2 YEARS!!!  The day before we let him pick what meal of crunchy, spicy food he wanted and of course, he picked Jimmy Changa's!  We let him eat all the chips and salsa his little heart desired!!!

 This is right before surgery.  He took Nemo and his new fave Star Wars blanket.  The surgery center gave him "Light" the frog.  He was in good spirits and ready to do it!

 This was once we got home.  The surgery went very smooth and overall his recovery was great.  The nurses called Jason and I back to the recovery room minutes after he came out of surgery.  For two non-medical folks, it was a little scary to see your child SO disoriented, scared, hurting, etc.  Jason almost passed out and I got a little woozy too.

 Over the next two weeks, he mostly stayed in his jammies, built Legos, watched FAR too many movies, ate boxes and boxes of popsicles and generally snuggled us up all day!  It was WONDERFUL!!!

Now he is back to everything, except tortilla chips.  But once those get cleared, I see Jimmy Changa's in our future!

Summer Weddings

This weekend one of my sweet darlings got married!  Several years ago, I had the honor of teaching the high school girls class at church.  It was one of those experiences that I will never forget and made bonds with those girls that are still strong!  This summer, two of my girls have gotten married to fine Christian young men.  My momma heart bursts with joy and pride for them!!!

In May, Melanie married Andy.  They have got to be the cutest couple on the face of the earth.  He is such a kind and tender-hearted young man.  Their wedding was absolutely beautiful and pinterest!!!  Deena and Melanie worked very hard to create a magical night!  Jason was out of town, so here are my two favorite little guys...

 And the blushing bride and groom!  They are a perfect match if I ever saw one!

This past weekend was Christine and Spencer's wedding.  They are a Harding couple and you all know I love that!!! My camera died when we got up to take a photo with them, but these two are perfect too!  Allison is the friend who brought Christine to church in jr. high.  Now Christine's whole family are Christians!!!  They have been the best of friends and I love them both dearly.

 Here are the bride and groom with Allison.  Spencer loves the Mavs, so we knew he got our seal of approval! hahaha  But in all seriousness, he is a fine preacher's son.  They are precious!

I cannot believe my teen girls are growing up into such beautiful brides!  My prayer is that they will have long and faithful marriages!

More fun with Legos!!

Blaine brought the boys their birthday gift a little early.  It was LEGOS!!!  So after they left, the boys had fun building their new sets.  We love them!!!  Thank you Blaine and Lauren!

Flamingo Reunion

Last week, our dear Flamingos came to visit us from OK.  Their first stop was LaBrisa for some green sauce!!! Holly and family were in Boston and Lacie and family could not come down, but 4 out of 6 was still GREAT!!! We all ate so much that we were slightly miserable and not even hungry for Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake!! Now that's full!

 Thursday morning we all headed over to Robyn's for some water-y fun!  Here are the boys loving the pool...

 and the sweet girls loving it too!

 The dads got hot and moved their washer game inside while the momma's stayed on the porch watching the kids.  It was really nice to all be able to visit and talk and talk and talk!  We got pizzas for lunch and the Pat cooked hot dogs for dinner. We grazed most of the day on chips and dips too!

At the beginning of the summer, Ralph found this flamingo thermometer at an auction.  He saw it and bought it for the Flamingos to share!  So it's like the sisterhood of the traveling pants... except we travel a porch thermometer!  Robyn is passing it on to Lyndsey until our next gathering!

 All our little fish!

 They stayed out in the pool or trampoline for 5 hours!  They all has the most adorable wrinkled toes!!!

 After sending the daddies home with the kids, the mommas went to Kemah for dessert.  Bubba Gump's got 8 thumbs DOWN, but the experience and talking was wonderful!!!

After dessert we went back to Heather's until 2:30am and talked and talked!  Lyndsey and family stayed with us, so once we drove home we got our 3rd wind and talked until 4:30am!  Yes, we are CRAZY!!!  Then the next morning, they left.  It was soooo fast, but oh so wonderful too!

Bible Teachers Workshop 2013

Last October, I was contacted by the Central Texas Bible Teacher's Workshop committee to present again this summer.  They wanted me to present Hide the Word, which is our congregation's memory work program that I helped to develop.  Since Daesha was a key creator too, I asked her to join me in the madness, I mean, FUN!!!

We started preparing in November, but the two weeks before we were working like crazy to get it all done.  By early-May we had made it to 3rd grade and we discovered there was not much already created, so we created 3rd grade.  Then the same story for 4th grade and 5th grade.  We asked Debra E. to help us with 4th and 5th grades since we don't know much about teaching that age of kids.  By early July those 3 grade levels were done and we could finally focus on the presentation aspect.

The big day finally arrived and we had everything all set up!  These are the samples we showed for age 2-second grade.  

 These are the samples we showed for grades 3-5.

 And here's the whole room!

 At one point, Daesha and I actually said we were tired of talking!!! Jason never thought he would hear me say those words!  That week before was gruelling... but we still had fun!

Our classes were extremely well received.  We even had several ladies in tears of conviction about the renewed importance of memory work.  We've also been asked by about 3 dozen ladies for more samples and CDs.  It was an very encouraging experience and humbing to share this with others. We have a group of very dedicated and smart teachers were dreamed it all up.  It is my prayer that dozens of kids will grow closer to God through his Word!

Happy 2nd Birthday Austin!

We were in DFW for Austin's 2nd birthday!  His party was dinosaur and the kids got to swim.  It was lots of fun for all!!  This is the best cousin photo of the day...

 And here's the birthday boy with his family!

We love you Austin and are glad we got to celebrate with you!!

Rangers Game!!

On July 5th, we got to go to our first Rangers game at the Ballpark at Arlington.  It was a beautiful park!!!

 All three of my boys were BEYOND excited!!!

 It was special to share this fun experience with Mark and Martha!

Jacob could not find his Rangers hat before we left home, so he was "forced" to get a new one!  Sooo, Rylan "needed" something new too.  He picked a Nolan Ryan jersey t-shirt.  And of course, Jason "needed" a new shirt too, so he got a Nolan Ryan shirt too.  Then about the 6th inning as Rylan and Jason were wearing their new Ryan shirts, Jacob looked up at me with those blue eyes and adorable dimples and said, "Momma, I sure wouldn't mind a Ryan shirt too..."  So, $25 later, we had our third Ryan shirt! :)

 This was our view from our seats.  They were GREAT seats!!! Good view, cool breeze, in the shade... it was a great night for baseball!

 The boys are SOOO serious during games... especially while the Rangers were batting.

 We all went crazy when Nelson Cruz hit a Grand Slam!!! (And we got a coupon from Denney's for a free Grand Slam!)

 Jacob also got a team set of trading cards... which he promptly opened and looked at over and over and over again!

 Rylan's treat was cotton candy!  That kids has a sweet tooth!

 After the Rangers beat the Astro's 10-5, the Friday night firework show began.  It was a GREAT show!!!

On the way home, the kids crashed and we all slept until 10:15 the next morning!!! That is what I call a perfect night at the Ballpark!