Million Voices

Last night was a Date Night for Jason and I. It's the first time we've been able to "escape" without kids since before our anniversary (July). This was a much needed evening, and was SUCH a blessing!! So what did we do???

We went to a Christian rock concert!! Heck yes! Actually this concert was Jason's birthday gift back in September and it got resceduled for last night because of the hurricane. Even though it was a Monday night, it was AWESOME! Barlow Girl was the headliner band and we also saw newcommers Brooke Barrettsmith and Jimmy Needham. Barlow Girl rocked the place and although it was a chilly evening, it was awesome inside and the whole place was jumping, screaming, and praising God.

One of the cool peeps we got to meet that night was Liz Jordan from the afternoon show at KSBJ - the local radio station we listen too. They were the ones sponsoring the event.

It was just like being in college again with no cares in the world and no kids to put to bed. We did miss them and thought about bringing them, but I am glad we didn't because I doubt they could last through 3 hours of loud music. :)

We were pretty close to the stage - the people were life size, not itty bitty....We were in Row T on the main floor and in the center of the auditorium. SO COOL!!! The last time we saw Barlow Girl was back in 2004 at Spirit West Coast - Southern California. This was SO much better than that!!!! The music pounded and the sound resonated throughout the whole building and it just sounded so amazing. We are hoping to go to a Christmas concert featuring Avalon among others right after Thanksgiving. Be sure to check out the rockin' video at the bottom of what we experienced! Don't forget to page down to the bottom and pause the music player. :)

Here's some pictures of our night out:
(sorry they aren't that clear, the light versus dark room was throwing the flash and focus off):

Below: Rocking video of the night

1..2..3..

I just had to share this little video of Joshie learning to count. It seems that "coloring" is the only thing he sits still for longer than 5 minutes for!

Update on the house

So I know a lot of you are wondering how the house is coming along....and if you're not, then here's pictures anyways! :) Its been 3 weeks since we've moved and I know its not much, but its slowly becoming "our home". It helps that the fall season has arrived with the cold weather and the hickory smell in the air. I am so much more motivated when its in the 60's outside than when its the 90's outside.

Well, here's some pictures of some areas that are "finished" like I like them. Granted the guest bathroom still has a painted border that I have to paint with french sayings on it. I'll post pics when that gets done....

The breakfast nook

Another view of the kitchen table

Here's the Paris themed guest bathroom
(downstairs bath)

And of course "The Great Room" aka the living room

Mischief

All I have to say is that when it gets quiet around here, you know that someone - or should I say, Joshie and Jenna - are up to something..... Just like a scary movie and the scene goes quiet and you anticipate the villian popping out somewhere; when it gets quiet around here, I anticipate finding something popping out too....

Here's what I found when I was cooking dinner today:

And then of course - you know that it still looks like we moved in to our house even though we've been here 2 weeks because you can get SO MUCH ACCOMPLISHED with two mischief makers. Seems like anything left out - whether its to be put away or still deciding on where to put it - the kids think its fair game. Tonight while I was cleaning up dinner I found Joshie in the baby bath tub....He said he was going "nite-nite" in it. So apparently its not only a bath tub, but also a bed! Who knew! Can't wait to see what life will be like when we have three little ones roaming the house!

"Growing Up"

It's official now - Jenna is walking on her own. Granted she still gets frustrated and will sit down and "pout" or cry and then just crawl wherever she's going, but last night she walked all the way across the kitchen by herself. In a way I've been expecting this and have been anticipating this event for a while now. But now that its happened, its kinda sad....she's not as cuddly anymore! Nope, her new best friend is Joshie...playing with him is more fun. LOL...

For some of you reading this it might seem early for Jenna to be walking - she'll be 11 months on the 1st of Nov. I guess in a way it is early, but Joshie started walking at 7 months, so to us, its not really all that early. I guess that's why God made so many babies so different! She's on her own little time line, and that's fine by us. :)

One of the cute things she is doing now is she's starting to really exibhit her personallity. She loves to "perform" for Joshie and of course he hams it up for her. Here's one of her little "moves" - she likes to dance...

Disconnected....

We have been in our new house for about 2 weeks now...LOVE IT! Never knew though that not having internet connection for so long would be so "weird". We had no TV either, which we are used to since we just had an antennae before and the only difference here is that instead of 3 channels, we got two and you had to sit in a specific way to see it. Well, because of the hurricane (which was now over a month ago!) the internet hook-up service was back-ordered. And since we have fiberoptic wiring out here rather than DSL, we actually are going to have TV for the first time!

I've felt so "disconnected" without internet - no email, no blogging, and of course, keeping up with school was the hardest part since everything is web based now adays! I would check my email at school and without fail there was always at least 20 emails! So overwhelming! Plus, my cell phone is broken so I can't send/receive text messages or dial out if a number has a 3, 6, or 9 in it! And the all important "menu" button is also broken. Sadness....but at least that is under warrenty, so I should have a new phone here pretty quick.

With all that being said, we are enjoying the new house and are slowly putting things in its place. I never realized what a slow process this is with little ones. That and the fact that I actually have space to put things is amazing and I don't know the "exact" place to put some things yet. I don't want to be moving for the rest of my life, or just throw things in a temporary place because that's what happened at our other house and it ended up staying in that place!

So what have we been up to the last two weeks? Jason and I have just been plugging away at life as usual, but the kids have been having some fun...Here's some pictures to show you what everyone's been up to:

Yep - Jenna's not only standing on her own, but taking anywhere from one to five steps. She can walk a short distance with something in her hands


The kids enjoying their new playroom right before bath time

Our new little bean at 13 and a half weeks.

Joshie says "baby seeping"and then starts to whisper....

So cute!

Our little mischief maker!

And then of course you have "distructo baby" - she destroys everything she touches and makes so many messes!

Blue Crew

As a mom you want your kids to experience the best. We may be in Texas, but you cannot forsake your baseball team....especially now that they are in the playoffs and actually have a shot of making it past the NLDS. Jason's sister sent us this last year for Joshie's birthday. It finally fits....and the Dodgers are playing in post season! I'm calling it: Dodgers are going all the way this year!

A New Beginning

So the main reason why I haven't kept you all updated with our family lately is not just because of the hurricane. We had to reschedule Joshua's birthday party, and this Saturday we are moving to a new house!

This is a good move for us as it is a bigger house and sort of a new beginning. Our current house is 1500 sq. feet and with almost 5 in our family and a dog it gets pretty small really fast. Plus, it was our first house and there are a ton of things we learn that are essential in buying a house - like having linen closets! The new house is a little more than 2300 sq. feet and has 4 bedrooms with a children's play retreat upstairs. That means no more living room as their play area!! I can finally have a clean and representable living area and kitchen.

Its been crazy with all the other things going on, but its a true Godsend. We will be closer to our friends from church and Joshie's close friend, Daniel. All in all, we needed more space and something that could feel like "home". If you ever want to come and visit, we've got the room for you now!!! LOL.... Here's some pictures of the new house. Keep in mind the houses next door are still being finished. Hope you like them. If you want to know our new address, just email me. :)

Inside the breakfast nook

Living room looking into the kitchen and front door

The kitchen (and kids)

The 4th bedroom and the stairs (joshie loves stairs!)

The back yard

Thoughts on Turning Two

Joshie here. This past weekened I had a birthday party for my 2nd birthday. It was a lot of fun! We had to reschedule it because of the hurricane, but I dind't mind - my friends and family still got to come and play with me. We had a race car theme because I love cars! Vroom!! I really liked it when they sang Happy Birthday to me. It made me smile and laugh. The cake was good, but I wanted to play more than eat cake, so mommy saved my piece of cake for later. I played so hard that I fell asleep early and slept until 7 the next morning. I was wiped out!! Here are some pictures of my party:

The sign mommy made for the mailbox

My cool car cake!

Grandma Sherrie got my a tent and filled it with balls!
That was a lot of fun to play in

Grandma Debbe and Grandpa Joe gave me a tricycle...
I'm not quite tall enough, but its fun riding with Jenna

Jenna is turning into a little acrobat

Here's all my cousins!

From L to R: Caitlyn (3 mo.), Jacob (3 yr), Jenna (10 mo.), Megan (5 mo.), Joshie (2 yr) and Elisha (1 yr). Elisha's birthday is only 2 days after mine - he's my birthday buddy too, not just a cool cousin!

Thank you for looking at my special birthday pictures! I've grown a lot since last year. I love to talk in sentences and am learning so much more each day! I know how to crack jokes too. When we take daddy to work in the morning, I tell mommy and daddy "joshie sleeping....shhhh"...I'm really not sleeping, just pretending. Its funny though and it makes mommy and daddy laugh when I pretend to snore like daddy. :)