Non-Stop "Fun"!!

This week has been so crazy that I have no idea what day of the week it is any more. Forget the date - I need to know that today is Monday, or Thursday, or Saturday. I remember the days when I was in school and before I had kids - Summer meant sleeping in, watching your favorite T.V. shows, bbq, and then ultimately getting "bored" around the end of July. Not the case when you enter "adulthood".....

This year has been a transition year as I feel like I am no longer a part of that "college generation" anymore. Its not cool to wear some of the styles that I wore a few years ago, I think its late when I am up past ten, there's no more "midnight basketball" with friends, and of course now I have a career, not a job, kids and husband to provide for. I love my "new life", but transition is always hard. I feel so much a part of the younger generation still in that I text more than I talk, and change is happening all around me. But I love it! Life is an adventure and you only live once, so how am I going to live so that it impacts the future?

This past week I was in Fort Worth (right by Dallas) for a teacher's conference and to recieve the certification of recognition for our school through the NAUMS (National Association of University Model Schools) It was an interesting town as I leared that it was primarily a "cow heardnin' town" way back in the day. Not much to see out there. Reminded me of Old Riverside, but not as many buildings and trees. I learned a lot of cool things to take bakc to the classroom and hopefully transorm into a better teacher.

The only hitch was the company we ordered our bridesmaids dresses from - I called since my dress had not arrived yet at my dad's house and was notified the day before the weddingthat it was backorded!!! I had to then try and research ALL OVER to try and find a yellow dress by tomorrow! No luck on Thursday, so hopefully the day of I can find one...

After spending nearly a week there, it was time to drive home late Thrusday night to be home in time for my lil' sister's wedding the next day. We left around 10pm, and drove until 2am Friday morning. I was so happy just to be home and got a good 5 hours of sleep before staring the day off looking for a yellow dress. I looked all over, and thank God I found one at noon. It wasn't pale yellow, nor halter top, nor the type of dress I would really ever pick out - but it was a shade that was close and there was only ONE LEFT!

Below is a slide show of some pictures from the wedding - she and her groom, CJ, were married on the dock of the lake of a friend's house. It was beautiful (and hot). My sister , Jessica and I were bridesmaids along with three other girls. Joshie was the ring bearer and did a wonderful job. Vanessa's daughter, Caitlyn (2 months old) was also there dressed in purple. I think half the audience was made up of kids though!

After Vanessa's wedding, I finally got to see Jason and go home. It was nice to sleep in my own bed. It was nice to take a hot shower and tuck my little ones in bed. It was nice to sleep next to the man I love.

The next day was our cousin's third birthday - Jacob. He was having his birthday party at a new water park in the Woodlands....Oh my gosh - it was so much fun! We got there at 10am, when it opened, and stayed until closing, 8pm. The only time Joshie got out of the water was to eat lunch and dinner - and that I had to drag him out to do! The poor kid was sooo exhausted! Jenna did take a few naps in the pack n play while we were there but also had a wonderful time in the water. Here's a few pics of the place we celebrated.

Finally Sunday came! After church we got to go home and take a nap - everyone slept! But of course come evening we were off and running. We had another birthday party to go to at the pool. This time it was one of Jenna's friends from school - Sage. He's so adorable and we were so glad to be able to celebrate in him turning one! Thankfully though things went back to "normal" on Monday.... Too much fun for one weekend for me. :)

Finally, Sunday came! After church, we were able to all take "family nap time" (one of my new hobbies). But yet again we were off and running in the evening. We had another birthdya party to go to

Chaos creates character

You might think by the picture above that Jason brought me a lavish display of flowers.....Well he did do that - but that's not them. Nope....these are the flowers for my little sister's wedding, which is on Friday. Its been a little chaotic since finding out about the wedding two weeks ago, but I know that through all this chaos, God is building character in me and teaching me how to handle stress.



I love making flower arrangements, but not when I am leaving today for a teacher's conference 4 hours away in Dallas only to return the night before the wedding. It's all good though. I have learned that even though procrastination is usually "me" - there's no time to procrastinate here. I think that's good because otherwise, I might wait until the last minute to get it done. It's taught me that having things in order and completed in time, or ahead of time is better than waiting until the last minute and then being stessed about it.



To tell you the truth, I am not really all that stressed. I was yesterday with trying to make ure I had all the kids' things together since they will be with my dad and Sherrie for the week. That wa more stressful that the wedding! Who knew!! Anyways, here's a few pictures of the arrangements I put together....and yes, they are not real flowers....

Vanessa's bouquet (Bride)

Maid of Honor Bouquet
Bridesmaid's Bouquet
CJ's Boutinier (Groom)
And just for fun - here are the kid's "helping mommy pack"... I think they want to come with me...

I see you!

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

Dog Days of Summer

I suppose July is reffered to the "Dog Days of Summer" becuase it is smack in the middle of summer. School has been out for about 6 weeks, but is still 6 weeks from starting up again. It usually is the hottest, dryest month; and the time when kids are geting "bored" with the dullness of summer vacation.

I have been tutoring and working a little this summer, so it hasn't really seemed all that bad to me. To keep the kids occupied though I've been trying to spend time with them doing and learning new things. Joshie can count to five now and knows TONS of animal sounds. He's also learning to formulate actual sentences! We're leaving behind the "baby world" of one-word phrases and moving up to a more sophisticated communication world. Its been so neat to watch him develop during this time in his life! Jenna's exploring more of her world too - she is venturing to try and stand on her own and loves chasing Joshie around the house. Their favorite thing to do now is to crawl all around the living room and kitchen together giggling the whole way through. Its so cute to watch them play together!

One of the things we recently did was have summer portraits taken. There was a beach scene set up at the place we go. Surprisingly, Joshie was the one who did NOT like the sand. He would not touch it or let his feet touch it while sitting in the chair. It was hilarious!! Jenna on the other hand wanted to eat it! All in all though we got some good prints. Here's my favorites:

Three-Two-One

Three:
Three years ago today, Jason and I got married. Its been a hard three years, but one that has made everything worth it. Many people I know who have been married as long have not gone through the things our relationship has - things that have ultinmately refined and shaped it into the caring one we have now. Looking back, these past three years have created character in areas I thought were perfect, and stirred things that I thought would be fine just the way they were. Its when you allow your selves to be changed though that God can work through you and redefine things for His purpose.

We are stronger and happier than we were three years ago. We are living 1700 miles away from our closest family, a place we never thought we would ever live. In three years, we have seen good days, bad days, hot and cold days. We are at the place where we "know" each other - not a "dating type" of knowledge, but one that goes deeper. There's so much more to each of us and as we individually change and grow, so does our marriage. It adapts to meet the needs of each other in new ways. We have a family and careers. We have hurts and fears. But above all - we have each other.

Two:
Three years, and two kids later....Who would have ever thought that as we celebrate our third anniversary that we would already have two kids! I know I didn't!! The kids are such a wonderful, and unexpected blessing. It is true that God doesn't give you more than you can handle. I never thought that I would be able to handle two little ones so soon, but it is one of the things that has really added flavoring to our marriage to make it sweet to taste. I can't image today with out them. I can't imagine Jason not being a dad - he's so great with them and shows them his love each day. I love watching him with the little ones....

One:
Three years, two hearts entwined - beating as one....This is actually the first year that we are able to celebrate our wedding anniversary without expecting any kids!!! In all seriousness though, I wouldn't trade it for the world. "I am my beloved and my beloved is mine". We might go through so many hills, valleys and mountain peaks, but in the end we are together and as long as we keep our eyes focused up, all we can do is deepen our relationship into a richer, more meaningful life together.

I am looking forward to where we will be in 5, 10, 25, even 50 years from now. I look forward to reading this and laughing at how much further down life's road we have traveled. Marriage isn't always easy - but I wouldn't image life any other way.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July (okay, well, happy 5th of July...)!!

This year we decided to stay close to home since Jason had to work the next day (yes, I know - how dumb! But at least he had Friday off). The rest of my family that is here in TX was at the Lake at my dad's place, so we decided to go to a friend of ours from church. She is a dear friend of ours and used to watch Joshie while I was working full-time at Schindewolf. Her little boy, Daniel, is a year older than Josh and the two of them are close friends. Daniel is also infatuated with Jenna at the present moment...we'll see how long that lasts..LOL..You'll be able to see that infatuation in a picture in the slideshow below.

We had a great time with friends and got to make some new friends too. The kids decorated their bikes, wagons and scooters and we all walked down the block saying "Happy 4th of July!". There was so much good food too! There was brisket, sausages, hamburgers, hot dogs, sno cones, you name it! The best thing about living in Texas for the 4th though is the fireworks. They're legal here! I think we set off fireworks for a good 4 hours straight! It was awesome! Jenna didn't really make a big deal out of them, but Joshie didn't like to big noises. He stayed close to my side the whole night. Hope you enjoy some of our pictures of the fun holiday!

Family Time

This year for vacation, we decided to take some time as a family and just see some of the Houston sights that we really haven't seen in the almost three years we've lived here. Plus with the rising cost to fly, California was out of the question this year... :( But I am saving up for us to go out there next summer - hopefully for the 4th of July! :)

Anyways, Jason took a week off of work and we were able to have some time together with the kids that we really haven't been able to have with him working and me tutoring in the evenings. It was nice just to take time and relax. To not worry about where to be, getting laundry done, or keeping up with the kids, but to enjoy every minute of every day. The week seemed so much longer too! It was so nice!

One of the places we visited was the Houston Aquarium. I wrote about it earlier - Jason and Joshua had a daddy-son day and I got to spend some time with Jenna. Another place we visited was the Houston Zoo. We never knew there was a zoo in downtown Houston!! Granted it didn't compare to the San Diego zoo, it was nice to take the kiddos and Joshie seemed to enjoy it. We did learn though not to go to the zoo in the summer - there were hardly any animals out, and I actually got heat stroke from being so dehydrated. I didn't think it was that hot, but when you need water, it doesn't matter how hot it is outside!

The cool this is that they had different animals from most zoos. We saw a HUGE monitor lizard and an albnio crocadile, and a cebu! There's a VeggieTales silly song that talks about a Cebu, but I thought it was a made-up animal....nope! And it really does look like a cow. LOL....

Here's a little slide show of some other sights we saw at the zoo: