Wordless Wednesday...

Breath of Fresh Air...

That's what I felt like I got last night.

Gram, BFF, C and her mom, our great friend L and I all went to see Luci Swindoll, Marilynn Meberg, Lisa Whelchel and Mary Graham speak in a neighboring community.

I want to be that funny and laid back and wise when I grow up! 

They are some great women, and it was a lovely time just to sit back and giggle with a room full of ladies from all walks of life.

Here's the super cool pics we got!

I highly recommend breaking away with the girls occasionally.

We were actually a small slice of our normal Women of Faith group who have enjoyed going to the conferences the last several years!

It was hard to leave the house, Ace had been sick all day and Bug had ballet, I found out that I was on call at work, but I am so thankful I was able to pull it off.

Shocked!

Yesterday we celebrated Sweet Girl's bday.

It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since that bunch of sweetness came along!

Well, little did we know, JJ and C had a huge surprise cooked up!

That's right, even though she doesn't look thrilled here, Sweet Girl's going to be a big sister!!

Here's the kicker...

Due July 8th!

Everybody was shocked and excited.

I still giggle a little every time I think about it!

We actually have the same Dr. and use the same hospital.

Gram thinks, since we already have so many shared bdays in our family, that we should just plan these two that way :)

We'll see.

All that to say, congrats JJ, C, and Sweet Girl!!

We are so excited.

Thankful...

We had a great Thanksgiving.

And I have no pictures to prove it!

We made 3 different stops, lots of family, and good food.

(Except I figured out very early in the first meal that me and turkey were not meant to be this year.  Which didn't surprise me too much, I couldn't eat any kind of poultry while preggers with Bug.)

My favorite part of the day was the ride home...

we decided to be original on the way home from Gram's and list the things we were Thankful for.

The kids came up with several...

family, friends, mom and dad, dogs...

I am thankful for our home and family,

my new work schedule and our many blessings.

Hubs, now he took the cake.

He was most thankful, in that moment, for his unborn child.

AWW, I thought!  Honey that's so sweet.

Then he explained that he is so thankful that it is his quietest child.

ha ha, daddy!

Just give it about 7 more months :)

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Few Questions Answered...

(Ok, I'm reposting this with a disclaimer...
it was not intended to be rude, bad-natured, or snarkey.
Just meant to answer some questions that kept coming up.
I decided to repost it because I've had more people complain that I took it down than I expected.
Just know it wasn't meant to hurt feelings or anything like that.)

There seem to be a few questions floating around, so I'll answer a few...

*When are we due?

   July 4th

*Are we crazy?
 No, we don't think so.

*What about Bug and Ace?  

They are over the moon excited.

*How long have you known?

  Several weeks, and yes, it's been a very hard secret to keep.

*Was this planned? 

 While I think that's a little rude, I'll assure you it wasn't an accident.

*How am I feeling?  

Excited, and actually haven't been sick like the last 2 times, which, oddly enough has been a little unnerving.

*How did I change Hubs mind/win the battle/manage negotiations? 

This is the most popular question, because Hubs has been very verbally opposed to more children...he plays a good part.  He's just as excited as the rest of us.

*Why did I let Hubs put the news out on Facebook? (esp since I hate Facebook)

  Well, Hubs was excited and had teased me about posting it since we found out, I figured I'd let him have his fun.  It's been amusing to look at the comments he's gotten.

*Why did we keep it a secret so long?

   Well, I'm just weird like that.  I wanted to let the kids know first, but wanted to make sure that everything was OK, so we waited until we had been to the doctor and seen the heartbeat.  We actually didn't tell Bug about Ace until we found out he was a "Brudder", but she was 2 then...not 6 & 4.

* Why another one, you have one of each?

  Well, nosey again, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having as many kids as you feel led to have, especially if you can take care of them.  I, personally, have never felt like Ace was our last baby (and am also the oldest of 4, so big families aren't all that strange to me).  Yes, I know babies are expensive, and that we have weird schedules, and while I can't do anything about the first, our schedules won't be so tricky soon, we hope.

So, that about wraps it up for now.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Just know we are very excited and looking forward to meeting our new family member!

Thanks for all of your love and support.

Wordless Wednesday...

The Gospel...

According to Ace.

First, just let me get 2 things out of the way really quickly...

1.) I'd like to apologize to the Rangers, and all their fans, for the apparent curse the new TV put on the World Series.  We feel really bad, but we're not returning the TV.

2.) So sorry, to all you kind fans, for the blogging hiatus.  It won't happen again (you know, until it does.).

So, Wednesday morning, on the way to school from Gram's house, the kids decided that they wanted to run through some of their memory verses.

Happily, Bug memorized her whole Children in Action scripture this month and didn't need any help!

Ace's Wee School scriptures are stickered to the back of his folder, so Bug would read them off and he would chime in at random...

until...

(and this was one of these things that makes me wish I had a video camera pointing to the back of my car like the one in Cash Cab.)

He pointed his pointer finger up in the air and pronounced

"Here's one Bug...

"You got ta be KIND to won anoder,

and when da phire awarm gowes offpf 

you got ta get owt ob the building phast....

and you better NOT get out ob da wine!"

I think that's just how Jesus would have said it!

You know, if there were actually "phire awarms" in the bible.

He'd want us to stay in line and be safe.

So, I just giggle a little inside and told him he was doing a great job.

And Jesus really does love it when we're kind to one another!

Why You Should Listen To Your Husband...

Sometimes, as wives, we just don't listen as well as we could.

We smile and nod, say "OK, sure honey."

Well, from now on I'm going to be a little more careful.

Way back, eons ago, in July, Hubs told me

"This is the Ranger's year.  I need you to know that if they go to the World Series I'm going to buy a big TV and watch them in HD."

Well, I said "OK, sure honey." and never thought about it again.

Hubs brought it up again when the Rangers started playing Tampa Bay in the play offs.

Once again, "OK."

I mean seriously.

I've been a Rangers fan for a big chunk of my life,

we all know that it's fun to go to games, but the win some and loose some, and never get past the first round of the playoffs.

Except, of course, the one time I didn't really want them to.

So, I've heard that facebook (which I do not endorse at all) has been all a-flutter.

I don't think they actually made a group for him, but once Hubs posted this little wager, he's had a lot of people rooting for him.

Sigh.

So, to everybody that's been wondering if I'm good on my word...

I am.

To quote Hubs, here's your 

"55 inches of LED HD Gloriousness"

right in my living room.

He'll be parked here on the couch with buddies tonight by 7pm.

Don't call him, he'll be busy :)

Forget the Apple...

Bugs had a loose tooth for weeks.

Just a little know fact about me...

I can't stand wiggley teeth.

ICK!

I know, I'm a nurse.

I can handle all sorts of grossness, but wiggle a tooth and I'm out!

So, Gram has been our tooth checker and puller of choice.

Well, this morning, Bug would not let Gram close enough to pull it.

I warned her that today was a sleeping day and I could not get up and come to school if something happened.

Much to our surprise, this afternoon at our ritual Braums trip, Bug had quite the surprise after a bite into her icecream cone. (Pistachio Almond in a waffle cone)

That's right!

Just fell out in her cone!

She was very proud and excited.

Here's the new look

(try to ignore the katsup on her face)

Wordless Wednesday...

What To Do...

What is a Hubs to do when his favorite Rangers have a playoff game and his family has season tickets to the local football game???

What any respectable guy would do...

download the mlb.com app on his phone,

and beg headphones from his wife.

He'd dedicated!

He even shared :)

for a second.

Here's some more random pics from the night...

(and they say Bug looks like me)

(I don't see it)

And like any good daughter, she tried to take her daddy's mind off the fact that the Rangers game ended tragically!

Such a silly sweet girl!

Our Day At The "Festival"...

Hubs had to work Sat, and the kids and I decided to go to a local "festival" to watch K&K be scouts in the parade.  Trips without Hubs are always interesting.

But, we can't just sit at home and be bored.

We met up with BFF before the parade, and waited patiently.

Well, Ace woke up on the wrong side of the bed, so there wasn't anything patient about him at all.

We were excited to run into Grumpy Phil!

Grumpy was very nice to hold up Ace, who wasn't tolerating the sirens on the fire engines.

Oh the irony.

That's saying a lot, because Ace tipped the scales at 53lbs at his most recent visit to the pediatrician.

Bug enjoyed the face painting!

After the parade we said by to K&K and headed for the game section...

This is where I came to a big career decision.

For as much at these folk charge a kid,

I need to cash in my retirement and buy inflatables!

Geeze, Louise!

Then it was time for corn dogs and old fashioned root beer!

Yum!

We had a great time.

The kids were troopers when it came to the long walk back to the car.

A few tips so remember next year...

don't go near the inflatables,

tin cups of root beer get really cold,

2 tin cups of root beer get heavy on the long way back to the car,

bring Hubs, he's good at carrying heavy stuff.

If you feed your kids corn dogs at 1100, the monsters will eat your chocolate stash at home by 230.

I Tried To Get Us A Guest Blogger...

But he looked at me like I was stupid.

So, Hubs came home from shopping last Sunday very excited, 

very excited, and going on and on about pictures and my blog.

Call me cornfused!

Usually the only things he says about my blog are complaints about his picture being there...

and accusations of embellishments.

There are none...just so we're straight on that.

Facts only here...

I can't help it if our life is that crazy sometimes.

Focus.

OK, now for Hubs' story.

He'd been sick, didn't feel up to church, so he dropped off the kids and picked up some groceries I needed for the party later that day.

When he stopped to get gas at the WM he pulled up by the Gator Country truck.

Gator Country has their own show on CMT,

Hubs and the kids love the show

(which I think was named Gator 911, but we're not 100%, and can't agree)

(I know, insert smart comment here....)

Hubs asked the guy if he could take a pic of the truck to show the kids when he picked him up and he said yes, then went' above and beyond...

Check it out...

(I'll bet you guys didn't know Hubs could smile that big!)

Hubs said Gary Saurage was a really nice guy,
he even told Hubs if he could brink the kids to his show later that afternoon, he'd work them into his show!
Unfortunately there was no way they could make it because of Ace's party.

So that's Hubs' story.
We'll just pretend he agreed to guest blog.
Thank-you, dear for thinking of my blog when you saw the Gator Country truck!
We appreciate ya!

Pumpkin Pie...

So, last Monday I wrote a whole whiny post about Ace being sick.

I was bad...involved mucus, vapor rub, and the lengths we go to as moms to heal our people.

I caught myself before I posted it, and eventually deleted it.

You guys don't come here to hear me whine,

HOWEVER,

I will just casually mention (because it leads into my story) that by Monday afternoon I was ready to join the circus.  Ace was too sick for school, but plenty well enough drive a mommy CRAZY.

So, last Wednesday was Ace's class trip to the pumpkin patch...

except he told BFF all about his trip to "The Pumpkin Pie!"

So, we headed out to "Pumpkin Pie" with his class.

His teachers were very excited to see him after missing 2 days of school.

We had a blast!

We started out by feeding some of the farm animals.

There were longhorns, sheep and goats to feed.

And, I don't think I can ever accurately or adequately shout out my love for Hubs.

He's awesome, and a great dad!

And without him at "Pumpkin Pie"

Ace and I would have donated our food cups to another family.

It wasn't long before he proved that no harm would come to either of us, and we weren't going to loose any fingers showing kindness to God's creations.

But because I like to keep it real here, I'll admit that those sheep were too aggressive for me...and their tongues were too big...I stuck to the small mouthed, non drooling little goats.

So, after we were all out of food, we headed over to the hayride, were we were on the lookout for the hay farmer who had been missing...

and we found him :)

(please know that no farmers were actually harmed at the "Pumpkin Pie")

We wrapped up our day by picking our pumpkins and having a picnic.

And once again we were glad to have Hubs with us.

Boys who have been sick for a week solid like to pick big pumpkins, get gripey quick, and refuse to carry their pumpkins to the car...

The man is amazing!

And now that I've officially mortified Hubs on the WWW I'll leave you with a random tidbit.

I can't remember where I read it recently, but somewhere it said that goats have rectangular irises...I wasn't buying it.

REDICULOUS! I said...

One word for you...

CREEPY!

(I did not feed the creepy goats BTW)

Wordless Wednesday...

Party Animal...

Ace had a great party Sunday night.

Just a small party with our family.

In lieu of candy filled goody bags, this year I decided we'd make candy apples!

The kids loved them, and they were so easy to do!

I had several different toppings layed out in bowls.

We had chopped peanuts, sprinkles, marshmallows, and mini m&m's.

Hubs was in charge of dipping the apples and the kids each decorated their own.

It was a real hit!

After the apples were decorated we moved them to the freezer in the garage to let them set.

Well, almost all of them,

Uncle J couldn't wait.

Evidently I missed the picture of a lifetime when Hubs caught Uncle J in the garage eating his apple :)

Ace was also very excited about his cake.

Granny Lin has a signature bday present...

1 bag of monster cookies,

2 Dr peppers,

$5 in your card.

Mommy loves this present.

Monster cookies are the best.

Well, this year, Ace had different plans.

When Granny Lin asked about what cookies he wanted this year, he threw a curve ball.

He didn't want cookies...

He wanted a "phootball"cake.

He insisted.

So, she did what any respectable Granny Lin would do...

she made that boy his "phootball" cake.

And she did a great job!

He was so proud of his cake.

(and I love his cheesy grin!)

...just got called into work early, TBC...

4 Years Ago Today...

Our family grew by 8 lbs 9oz!

This sweet boy definitely changed our lives!

We were so happy, and very surprised that he decided to arrive 3 weeks early!

Daddy was excited to break record land speeds after he got the call,

Bug was excited to stay the week at Granny and Poppy's,

I thought I was going to get a cute 6 lb early baby.

This boy changed our family.

He was the happiest baby!

Here's 1 yr old

2 years...

and 3...

4!

Ace,

You have brought us so much joy!

You're a big boy now,

you've gone from 8lbs 9oz to 55 lbs!

You love to eat, run, and do anything outside.

You are always smiling and make us laugh all the time!

Daddy, Bug and I love you so much and can't wait to watch to grow even more!