Happy Halloween

New Journeys

Tomorrow is a new month. With that new month will come a number of new journeys for me. I have decided to attempt to get my creative juices flowing again. I used to write much more than I do now (both in my blog and in private). I also used to be much more creative than I have been lately. Kids and life take time away and I am one of those people that often overlooks my own desires in order to take care of others. So a few things will start in November. As you can see from the link in my sidebar, I am going to participate in NaBloPoMo. It is a challenge to post everyday for a the month of November. I post several times a week, but I am challenging myself to post everyday...and on MOST days to post something decent. I want to improve as a writer. Even though my blog is about me and my life, it could be presented in a better fashion more often than not. I get lazy.

I am also going to start a photo challenge of sorts. A woman I greatly admire, Nicole, is a WONDERFUL photographer. She is participating in a project in which you take a self portrait of yourself everyday for a year. I got so caught up in reading her descriptions and looking at her photos I decided to do a modified version. Since I am not sure I can keep it up for a year, I am going to try it for the month of November. It is basically to inspire creativity and to give me a way to focus on giving a good description of what is going on with me daily....in my brain. I want to get back to the creative side of myself. If nothing else it will be something by me for me.

Let's see how it goes...

Peeking in...

I found a journal in the grocery cart at Central Market today. Normally when I find anything I just turn it in to a checker. That is until I was told by a friend of mine that in most retail places if the item turned in is not of any real value that it usually goes straight to the trash.

I carried the journal around in the cart while I did our shopping. Picking up mundane things that I normally buy at Central Market...fresh tortillas, coffee, foccacia bread, Burt bee's lip balm, guacamole, chicken tenderloins. It is one of those journals with a magnetic closure. I didn't open it. I carried it with me through the check out line. I took it out to the car and opened it up. I really was just looking to see if there was a name or some identifying item inside.

Here is what I know about this journals owner. He does not use this journal for deeply personal things. Mostly mundane to do lists...grocery lists etc. He also seems to be heavy into the death metal scene. Some of the bands he has listed are a little scary. He changes handwriting frequently and seems to be artistic in some manner. He works in a corporate job. Jason recognized much of the items on his to do list as computer and programming related things. He is a smoker. You can smell the smoke as you flip the pages. He likes soccer and seems to be a referee. He believes all pro athletes should have to attend 4 children's games a year to remind them of what the game is really about. Tenderloin is on his grocery list often. He is going to see Black Label Society on November 19th. Well, that is if I can get his ticket to him that was tucked into the journal. The one item that was inside that is now going to allow me to send this to him....a speeding ticket...with his address. So, Roger, I will drop your journal in the mail to you tomorrow. Sorry I am nosey!

Careful Girls...

He's a lady killer!

Why do you taunt me so?

I love Starbucks. OK, wait let me give you the full effect....I freaking LOOOOOOOVE Starbucks. I think they put crack in their coffee. Seriously, why else would I pay $5 for a cup of coffee???? Mom and I treated ourselves yesterday morning before I got my haircut (actually Mom treated us BOTH). OOOO it was tasty!

Children by day...

Crimefighters by night

Thursday Thirteen...Random

Thirteen Things I Am Currently Thinking About

1. I am not too much of a celebrity watcher, but I do keep up with the highlights. The whole Sara Evans divorce makes me very sad for some reason. The girl who does my hair looks JUST LIKE Sara Evans...I will have to get her take on it when I get my hair done Saturday.

2. I am not a fan of Madonna (I like her music, but have issues with her in other areas). HOWEVER, I think she is totally getting crapped on right now by the media.

3. My mom is flying in today for the weekend. I am so excited. I love my Mommy!

4. We are going to a birthday party on Saturday for Shana's son, Bishop. The boys are so excited. I am just happy to get to see Shana....Hello...BEEN WAY TOO LONG.

5. One of my favorite blogs has gone MIA.....Come back Nicole.

6. I am LOVING the new Beth Moore Bible Study! Seriously, I have cried so many times already doing this one.

7. I am starting a new challenge on November 1. It is a 30 day challenge. Given my negativity lately it will be hard. If you are married...Care to join?

8. I am currently having to restrain myself. We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year and I am so badly wanting to buy all sorts of new house stuff. I did get a gorgeous new table cloth on MAJOR sale that I am very proud of. But someone please give me a billion dollar gift certificate to Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel....PLEASE!

9. I hate being a women during certain times of the month.

10. As always, the school debate is still going on. Nursing school? Or No?

11. I really wish people would educate themselves on a subject before spouting off their opinion. I mean everyone is entitled to their opinion, but lordy....there are these things called FACTS people. Pick up a book or something.

12. I really want to go back to bed. Chase is NOT sleeping well. I think we are teething....JOY!

13. Did I mention my Mommy is coming today??? WOOHOO!


HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ALL!!!!

A Life With Boys...

Just when I thought yesterday was going to be an uneventful day...BAM....blood. Lots of blood at that.

Brodie and Austin were cleaning their room supposed to be cleaning their room. They were playing all sorts of games and irritating each other. Wrestling was involved...lots of wrestling. I kept telling them that they were getting too crazy. I told them no less than 15 times that someone was going to end up hurt. Then it happened. Austin picked up a metal bucket that they have in their room for books and was covering his face with it. Can you see it coming? Brodie then took that opportunity to punch the bucket from the other side. Yes folks, PUNCH THE BUCKET INTO HIS BROTHER'S FACE!

I ran to the room, Austin was clutching his face. I really didn't realize that it was all that bad. I took Brodie into the other room and stuck his nose in a corner (I refuse to spank for hitting, I think it is contradictory....though I do spank). It was then I heard THE shriek. Austin has this shriek when he gets freaked out. It is loud....like a freight train whistle. I ran to the other room and saw my poor baby with blood all over his face and running all down his hands. The edge of the bucket was apparently against Austin's upper gum when Brodie hit it and it busted his gum. I mean, BUSTED! Now, I am usually pretty calm and collected with injuries (we all remember Brodie's Tarzan incident). I was not so calm and collected this time. BUT, I faked it well. We cleaned it up and called Jason. Jason came home to check it out. We decided to wait and see how it looked. After an hour or so we decided our main concern was infection from the bucket. So Austin and I went to the quick care.

Long story short...he got antibiotics and the doctor said we might want to see a dentist today. The picture is of how it looked this morning( sorry that was the best pic I could get). We are going to see how it looks this afternoon after school before making a decision on the dentist.

Never a dull moment when raising boys....

It only took 8 years...

Yesterday was the first time in 8 years that I did not cry on October 22nd. I don't know if that can be attributed to healing or just the fact that we have been sick and my mind was mostly elsewhere. I didn't even realize that it was the 22nd until 9:00 last night. But, even with the realization, the tears stayed at bay. October 22, 1998 was the date that I "officially" lost my first pregnancy. That was the day I had my D&C. Though it was definitely an unplanned pregnancy and I was entirely too young, it was still a painful and emotional time. Within three weeks of that day I was married (again WAY too young)...it was a roller coaster time in my life. I was what I can now see in a DEEP state of depression for much of that time. I won't get into details, but I needed to acknowledge that day.

As for the sickly folks around here...we are better. Jason and I got knocked down by this far worse than Austin and luckily Brodie and Chase seem have avoided it completely. Jason and I still have the "rolly tummies" but they are getting better. Thanks to those of you that emailed. Sorry you girls that came to DFW this weekend for the WE WANNA MEET! I was so looking forward to meeting all you but didn't want to share our germs.

We have germs...

It all started with Austin and me up yesterday morning puking our brains out. (Nice visual right?) Now Jason has it....

Let's just hope that the baby and Brodie can steer clear of it. Not a fun few days in our house. We are now under quarantine.

My children are stars....

Brodie's choir had Parent's Night tonight. Jason and I were SO entertained watching our little star, Brodie, sing his heart out. He was so happy and outgoing. Last year he cried the whole time, so this is HUGE! It was so awesome.

We also found out tonight that Austin got one of the LEAD roles in our church's Christmas Choir production. My little leading men!!!

For Cason...

My sister in law is walking with my nephew Cason in the Heart walk in Lubbock this weekend. This is obviously a subject close to our hearts after what Cason went through after birth. She could really use everyone's support. I never ask my readers for anything, but if you can please click the link and at least read Cason's story and consider giving.

Come back here...

Chase is earning his name more and more everyday. He has mastered the inchworm crawl and the combat crawl and he is EVERYWHERE!!! Someone forgot to tell him he is only 5 months old. We always said when I was pregnant that I was in for it with this one. Well, he is living up to it. He will be full on crawling soon and I don't know what I am going to do. Not prepared!!!

Jack O'Lantern

The first of many pumpkin related posts. The boys got to carve their pumpkin the other night. It has been so rainy we haven't been able to do the other or paint the little ones. Hopefully this evening. Didn't they do a great job?

Five Months...

Chase is 5 months old today. He is growing like a weed and I can't believe how fast them time is going. I swear even after three kids I can't get over how fast it goes. I decided to give a run down of what all Chase is doing and loving at the moment.

Food: He is still a breast baby (who can blame him). He loves to nurse. He also LOVES his cereal every night. We have also recently tried squash, which he surprisingly liked. We are moving on to more foods in the coming weeks.

Active: BOY is this child active. He can already get up on his hands and knees and rock. Not long until we crawl. He is going to be early to crawl and early to walk like his daddy. He rolls EVERYWHERE. Gone are the days of leaving him in one spot and expecting him to stay there. He also loves his excersaucer and his jumper.

Funnies: Austin and Brodie are still the funniest two people alive as far as Chase is concerned. He loves his brothers. Chase is also getting good at recognizing when people are laughing at him. He is a ham (gee, wonder where that came from). He is still a pretty quiet baby, but man when he has something to say it comes out in streams. He loves to grab my hair and my cheek at the same time and try to love on my cheek. It is Chase Kisses!!!! He also loves his morning "talks" with his daddy while he gets ready for work.

Overall Chase is a lot like Austin and Brodie as babies in that he is so happy. Not much gets to him. Right now our challenge is learning to like our crib for more than 2 hours at a time. I also think we are beginning to teeth. So fun times ahead.

By the way, Austin took this picture and he has announced that he wants to be a photographer when he grows up....I think the kid has a future.

The Great Pumpkin...

Kree and I took the boys to the Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound today. We had so much fun. The boys brought home some small pumpkins that we are going to paint tomorrow. We stayed well over three hours and the weather was GORGEOUS! It really got me ready for fall...which happens to be my favorite time of year! I will have more pictures posted later when I get a chance to edit them.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend reading other blogs?

I would hate to admit this number...lately though I have been slacking. I probably spend about a hour a day reading and writing blogs. It is definitely my release.

Soup
Your community wants everyone to give one thing to put into a time capsule. What item would you choose to include?

Depends on what the purpose of the time capsule was. If it was just to give people in the future a glimpse of our culture I would put a cell phone or computer. If it was to give people a glimpse of me personally I would probably include a picture of my kids.

Salad
What is the most interesting tourist attraction you've ever visited?

I have been a lot of places and seen a lot of things....but the one that made the most impact on me was when I visited the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany.

Main Course
If you could give an award to anyone for anything, who would it be and what would the award be titled?

This is HARD. For now I will say, I would give an award to my aunt Kree. It would be titled...Coolest Aunt Ever award. Lame sounding, but hey I haven't had coffee yet. My aunt Kree rocks by the way!

Dessert
What do you think your favorite color reveals about your personality?

Well, my favorite color used to be green....not sure what that revealed about me. I love nature maybe? Now my favorite color is pink....that reveals my evolution into a girly girl. Well, as much as I can be a girly girl.

I am Holy...

I have been doing the new Beth Moore bible study called, "Daniel". It is intense and awesome.

Last night while Austin and Brodie were in choir I sat in my favorite chair in our church and started on some of the week's homework for the study. The theme of this week's study is hitting me hard and in tender places. One statement is now circled and highlighted and I have read it several times today. Beth made the statement about herself, but it very well could have been from my own lips:

"For much of my life I've had a fairly high regard for God, but I nourished a very low regard for myself. Much of my sin resulted from my unbelief that I was valuable and precious to God, coupled with my unwillingness to treat my own vessel as holy."---Beth Moore

It is hard for me, even now as a saved person, to wrap my mind around the fact that I am precious to God. That I am "the apple of His eye". I still have a hard time facing the fact that even with as awful as some of my sins have been, God still embraces me and get this...HE WANTS TO USE ME! I believe it...I have witnessed too much of His grace to not, but I just don't fathom WHY! The part of the study this week that I am taking with me is that I AM HOLY! God has consecrated me, cleansed me, declared me holy through Christ Jesus. How dare I treat myself as anything less. Even more so....How dare I let others and Satan use my holy vessel to toast unholy causes. I have repented of those sins and God has wiped them from memory. It is a testament to my faith that I can take him at His WORD. It is a testament to my faith that I can recognize the subtlety of Satan in trying to have me relive those sins and to wallow in them. I recognize it and I will not allow it.

"Vessels that have been treated as unholy can be treated as holy again"--Beth Moore

Blessed...

I am truly blessed in my life. I have not been very good at expressing the blessings that I have received lately. I am just in a moody season for some reason or another. Most of the time I am very happy, but I have been having some very big downs. I am not sure what it is, but I am working on it. Mostly through prayer. The trip to Lubbock put a lot of things in perspective for me. First off was missing my husband insanely. I don't give him the credit he deserves sometimes, but he is an amazing husband. The other part was just seeing my family. I feel selfish for some of the thoughts I have had over the past few months. I have been very "me" focused. It is mostly revolving around school for me, but that is for another time. I was going through some of the pictures from our trip, trying to ready them to upload online, when I found this picture of my nephew and me swinging.

OH, I am so blessed. I have three beautiful children that are such lights in the lives of so many people. I have a husband that amazes me daily. I have this PRECIOUS nephew, who I do not see enough, that just makes me melt. I have parents and grandparents and aunts that are so supportive and loving. I have a brother and sister-in-law that have shared their child with me and been such good friends to me. Oh, I am mightily blessed and I intend to start seeing my life that way...

Slave labor...

This post is mostly for my mom...

This is our new chore chart. So far it is working WONDERFULLY! Every weekday I put a few chores (written on Popsicle sticks) into each of the boys "To Do" pockets. They then get to move the sticks into their done pockets that they decorated when they are done.

It isn't that I think the kids should have to keep up the house (most of the time I have to go behind them and finish up since they are still kinda young). BUT, Jason and I are serious about teaching them that as a member of this family they have to help out. They are more than willing. I know I will miss this attitude when they are 10 years old.....

Home Sweet Home

Chase and Cason play around on the floor at Grandma's house.

Austin, Brodie and Mommy being silly while making Big Daddy a birthday cake.

Austin and Brodie doing a little climbing.

We are so glad to be home. We all had a great time while visiting in Lubbock. Will post more later!

The best birth control...

I am currently at my parents house...alone....with four children. We are having a blast, but it is just a little past 8 in the morning and I am already needing some caffeine. Talk about good birth control....

I think you all are S.O.L. for Jason and me trying for a fourth :-)

**edited at 10 am: I am awesome. Oldest two children are outside playing. One year old and 4 1/2 month old are both asleep. I rock**

Lubbock...

The boys and I made it to Lubbock. The drive here turned out to be pretty quick, thanks to the DVD player. Eliminates a lot of the "Are we there yet?" syndrome. We went to my old church today and got to see everyone. I haven't been able to get there on a Sunday since we moved and it was so great to see all my old friends. While I love our church in Dallas, there is something about my church in Lubbock that makes me feel very.....loved.

The boys are currently gearing up to go tear up PaPa's farm on their four wheelers. We just got back from paying a visit to the country club (my folks are playing in a tournament this weekend). We will be here until Thursday or Friday so things around here will be a little quieter than normal. Hope you all had a great weekend!!