It's Only A Day Away!

Yes, it was only a day away, but it was a fun day away!! Here's our adventures in Austin! Who knew it was only 3 hours away?!? But, because Trish & I don't like our pictures taken, here are Bear & Elephant to tell you about our trip!

7:45 am . . . time to leave. A little later than planned, but everyone is excited!



Had lunch at La Madeline. . . but nobody wanted to admit how much they ate. Here's the leftovers! It was delicious!




Here it is!! IKEA!! We spent 4 hours in there!! Found a ton of things. . . why can't money grow on trees?


Off to the outlet mall. Fossil didn't have the right watch, so we stopped to enjoy some Starbucks Passion Tea (and a small cookie)!







Off to pick up Trish's sister at the hospital where she works. Then, to her house to see about Bella. Bella's staying, so we stop at HEB. I do have to admit that it was a pretty cool HEB.



A Sugar Free Redbull for Bear for the drive home.



Back to IKEA to pick up our furniture. . . and a few other things!




OK, time to end the day. Time to head back to real life.


Enjoying the beautiful sunset (not bad for a moving shot)






As it gets darker, things aren't looking quite right.
Bear: I don't think we're going the right way. This doesn't look familiar.



Elephant: What town did we just go through?
Bear: Hamilton.
Elephant: Let's look at the map


Elephant: Nope, we missed our turn somewhere. Just take this other highway
and we'll be back on track. Glad we noticed that now!
We were heading for Ft. Worth!



So now, we're back on track headed back to Clyde.



We arrive home about 11:30 pm and I think Bear & Elephant are both exhausted!!
Thanks, Bear, for the WONDERFUL day!!
We MUST do that again sometime . . .
sometime soon!

I've got to (bom bom) get away I've got to (bom bom) run away

I don't usually get an itching to get out of town. I'm pretty much a homebody, but today the itch hit me! I have got to get out of here! Payton and Evan are at Aaron's parents' house for a couple of days, so I just have Jaxon. I have done all the painting on my scrapbook room that I can do. I'm still waiting on the bed, floor, and lights for that. I'm also waiting on Erica to get back so she can draw my zebra wall on. So, I can't do anything else in there. I don't have a lot of money to spend, so a huge shopping trip won't work. I just need to get away and do something. I feel like I've been on vacation for 2 weeks now and I haven't gone anywhere. Once I get back in the swing of things, it's hard to get away. Plus, Jesse's last day at BRM was on Friday, so now Aaron can't just up and go either.

Anyone up for a road trip for a day or two? Or anyone have any ideas on what I should do? Jaxon has a dr. appointment tomorrow (Monday) afternoon, but that's the only thing.

I'm not even sure that's the right song lyrics in my title, but I think you'll know what song I'm talking about. . I can't remember who sings it and I can't remember if "get away" or "run away" come first. . . . Oh well. . you get the idea.

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Me -- RAW on "vacation"

Gosh! What am I going to do with my time?
The house needs cleaned and rearranged. Done.
Now it needs decorated and repainted.
On my list of 'Things to do'.
Who am I?
Still not quite sure.
What if I don't go back to children's church?
God says to go there. So, what if you don't go back? What if you never did children's ministry again?
I go there in my mind. Walk & talk forever. All is fine. He still loves me.
I'm supposed to read The Shack again.
Heard Joyce Meyers talk about a spiritually mature person. They are calm when there is a storm blowing all around them.
Oops! Blew that one.
I am afraid of so many things.
God delivers me from some.
Others I'm still walking out and that' s ok.
Today I'm full of trust.
Tomorrow, not so much.
Today I'm bored.
I want to "run away from home".
I feel surrounded by people, but all alone.
That's ok, too.
Get my building today!
Yay! Something to do.
God says to learn to sit still and do nothing.
I can't!
I want to be around people.
No, I don't.
I can't really talk about what's going on with me. People might freak out.
So what if they did?
What the heck do I wear to church? Can I still wear my red shirt?
I put it on when I get home just because I like it.
Kids are fighting. They need a "vacation" from each other! ;)
Jaxon's still not sleeping very good.
I see a dim light of hope at the end of the tunnel.
I'm trying to disconnect from ministry.
It's a lot harder than you would think.
It's hard to go to church and do nothing.
There's chaos in children's church due to a wet floor.
I find myself trying to fix the problem instead of letting them figure it out.
STOP IT!
I'm loving my time off.
I've lost 10 pounds!
YAY ME!
I'm enjoying being out of the "rat race".
But, I don't think I could live my life without it.
Yes, I could.
God says to take 2 more weeks off.
But there are things to do! Things that need to be done!
Can I just be still? Can I just do nothing?
I want to be a somebody.
I want to be a "nobody".
What are my dreams?
Don't know very many.
Do I even have what it takes to make them come to pass if I did?
I'm just afraid I'll make a list and have to give them up anyway.
There's another fear -- AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Why does this identity thing have to be so hard?
Why do I keep crying at everything?
I haven't "lost it" in front of anyone in a really long time.
That is until the last few weeks. Seems to happen a lot.
God mended a broken relationship that I am VERY thankful for and EXCITED about.
God keeps pointing me out.
God tells me that I'm not a nuisance to Him and He's not going to tell me to go away.
God says there is a large mantle on me, but it's not a heavy one that weights me down.
He doesn't want me to walk with my head held low because I'm a woman, but He wants me to walk in confidence and authority.
God says I have the job and I am qualified.
God says He has great things for me and this is just the tip of the iceburg.

This is me on vacation. . . doesn't sound like much of an ideal vacation, does it? I'm ok with it. Let's just go forward so I don't have to do this again -- ever! ;) But, please know that I am ok. Really I am. Can this be my post that never happened?

TWO miracles @ the Laughlin House

Tuesday, Katieann had my kids all day. When I picked them up (long story), she said that Jaxon had taken a 4 hour nap that day. That was awesome considering that last week when she had them, he didn't sleep at all. That evening, he took another kind of long nap and woke up really fussy. His mouth is like a faucet and he was running a fever. He didn't sleep much Tuesday night and ran what seemed like a high fever all night.

Wednesday. . same thing. Not sleeping, not eating much, fussy, faucet at the mouth, etc.

Wednesday night. . same thing. . . no sleep.

So, yesterday (Thurs) I took him to the dr because I was just certain that it was an ear infection. He broke out with a little rash all over him that morning. She looks at him and comments on the rash. Looks at his ears -- nothing. It was one of those moments where you are almost disappointed that it's not an ear infection. She looks down his throat -- a little red, but she thinks it's probably a virus that has to run it's course. Or it could be just teething. That will be $51 please. UGH!

He does have a pretty bad rash on his bottom that I think is just eczema and she thought that too, but she gave me a prescription for a cream in case it's a yeast infection. She said it should clear up in 7 days.

Go to Wal-Mart to get the prescription . . . pure hell but that's for another blog another time.

So, last night after being fussy for HOURS, he finally fell asleep on Aaron at 7:45. We just let him sleep thinking he would be up for sure by 8:30 or 9. I went to bed at midnight and he was still asleep. He slept until 2:30 am!! That is a MIRACLE!! The only problem was that he had already slept 7 hours, so he was ready to be awake! Aaron took him outside and he fell asleep and slept until 7:15 am!! YAY GOD!!

I just went and laid him down for a nap and he went right to sleep with no fussing -- another miracle considering the last few days, but we won't count it.

MIRACLE #2:
So, while I"m up with Jaxon last night, I hear someone go in the boys' bathroom. I thought it was Aaron, but as I walk by Payton's room, I hear him say, "Mom." I went to the kitchen and got a bottle ready for Jaxon's next feeding and Payton came in the kitchen (yes, it about scared the ___ out of me). He said he had gone to the bathroom and wanted a drink of cold water. HE HAD WOKE UP AND WENT TO THE BATHROOM AND WAS STILL DRY!!! He got up this morning about 8 am and was still dry!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!

Now, you may be thinking that Jaxon woke him up, but not so. A freight train could come through Payton's room and he would probably sleep right through it. But, we've been praying and asking God to wake him up at night so he can go to the bathroom and it happened!! He was so proud of himself and we were very excited this morning!!

Today is supposed to be delivery day on my scrapbook building!! I'm getting ready to paint!! But my plan keeps changing! I definitely need to decide on a plan. I'm definitely changing the trim on the outside. . maybe that will be my first "paint transformation". Of course I'll have to post pictures later!

My Very Own FREECYCLE

I joined this "group" a while back. It is where people have things to give away, so they list it and people e-mail them and tell them they want it. Sometimes it's first come first serve. Other times, the givers take all the people who want the item and put their names in a hat and draw out a lucky winner. In my case, it's the first person to contact me via comment, text, call or e-mail.

Here are my 2 items that I'm giving away:

TAKEN: 2 white canisters from IKEA. These have now been replaced with my beautiful zebra canisters, so I don't have a use for them anymore.

TAKEN: Black candle holder that holds 12 candles. It was on my fireplace mantle, but I've totally rearranged and can't find a place for it anymore. Dust is probably included.

Adventures in Cupcake Baking

Aaron's birthday was on Saturday so Evan & I made him some cupcakes. Here's some pictures to document our adventure in cupcake baking.

At first, we forgot to add the water, so we had "cupcake soup" for a little while". With a few more stirs, we had cupcake batter.

OK, just one taste

Oh, what's one more going to hurt?
No, mom. I didn't have any cupcake batter!
Now they're done. When will they be cool enough to put frosting on?

Next it's time for SPRINKLES!!

Then 31 candles . . . yes, I said 31!!

Jaxon gets his first taste of cake. That piece really wasn't that big, but he sure made a mess out of it!!
Yes, mom. I think I like cake.

Time for a bath in the kitchen sink!

I've solved this dilema!!

Today on my first day off, I figured out why diets fail. . . are you ready? THE FOOD IS SO DARN EXPENSIVE!!!!

Last night I sat down with my little "program" and wrote out all the ingredients that I would need for a week -- remember that -- A WEEK! I made my list, although it was a little more unorganized than normal. But, I would make it work.

I went grocery shopping today (I know it's sad I had nothing else better to do). Anyway, I bought the things on that list. I picked up a few things for the boys' lunches and headed up to the cash register. I felt like I was going pretty good. And, I didn't buy any sweet cereal for the boys -- THAT'S HUGE! I even picked up some doughnut holes for them and put them back! (Shh! Don't tell them!)

So, I get up the cash register and the nice lady scans my groceries and the total? Remember, this is for ONE WEEK plus just a FEW other things. . . not much more at all!! Total: $220!!! That's for ONE WEEK!!

Now, I do know that some of the meals will be leftovers and this will probably last me longer than a week, but my goodness!! No wonder people jump off the bandwagon after just a few weeks!!

And, I couldn't even find a few things. . .anyone know what this is: Bragg's Liquid Aminos?

On another note, Aaron and the guys made it out of the grand canyon alive. He called this morning at 4:30 and said they were miserably hot. He said that yesterday it was 115 degrees IN THE SHADE! They left after he got off of the phone with me and it was 98 degrees at 5 am!! They got back to the top just after noon. They were riding around in a bus because it had a/c and they were waiting on his dad because he rode the donkey back up.

Please pray for me. I have 2 more days before Aaron gets home and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm exhausted. I couldn't go to sleep last night and finally dozed off after 1 am. Aaron called at 4:30. Jaxon got up at 5 am. Got back in bed at 5:30. Last looked at the clock at 6:03. Got up at 8 to get ready for Katieann to be here. I'm so tired.

Well, well, well -- Sorry it's long

Well, where to start? I think I've promised to post about my new scrapbook room for the last few posts. . . but don't really feel like it tonight. Well, maybe that can be the good news? I always hated when people ask if you want the good news or the bad news first. So, I'm going to give you some "bad" news, then some ok news, then some good news. How does that sound? Guess it doesn't matter, it's my blog. ;)

BAD NEWS:
Last Wednesday, I posted that I went to see Dr. A for my check up. This morning, I got a call from his office. My pap smear came back "abnormal". The phone conversation seemed like a blur really after she told me that. She said something about it could be anything from a yeast infection to a virus and don't worry. Don't worry? How do you say that? And how do you DO that? Oh, and they need me to come back in 3 months -- yes, 3 MONTHS -- and do a different one. I have to say that it all seems surreal. The fact is that I don't know anything besides "abnormal" which could be from several things. So, I really do have peace about it. But every once in a while, it tries to sneak up on me.

OK NEWS:
I'm taking the month of July off from children's church. I've had a heck of a week trying to fight it off and say I didn't need a break, although my husband knew better. This week I had a hard conversation with a person and it started with talking about control. Not being in children's church kind of freaks me out. I do totally believe my team will be just fine and do an amazing job. But, without children's church, I really don't know who I am. Most people relate to me through children's church and I've been serving in a church since I was 13 years old. I don't know how to 'just go to church'. But, I guess I'm going to learn.

I realized the other day that my kids need me, too. I've never been "just a mom" or "just a wife". Just a few months after Aaron and I were married, I started doing children's ministry and I've been doing it ever since with about 7 months in there somewhere that I didn't when we came to TCC/KLF. So, I'll have 20-30 hours a week that I was spending on children's church to spend on my husband, my kids, my house, myself. . . yikes -- myself. I have had Katieann watching the boys on Tuesdays so I can go up to the office to work, but I'm looking forward to having a day of doing whatever I want. . . although I'm not quite sure what that would be just yet.

The other day, Becky stopped by my office and I just flat out told her -- I'm not sure who I am apart from children's ministry. It almost makes me want to shake to even think about time off. There are some fears there, but I know this is God's timing and all will be ok. Monday I'm planning on tying up some loose ends and let everything start on Tuesday.

But, I am looking forward to a few things. On the top of my list is to clean my baseboards. Yes, you read that right -- the baseboards. I moved a dresser the other day and realized how bad they were behind the furniture and as I started looking, I realized how dirty they were out in the open! So, they will be getting cleaned for sure. Maybe a room or two will be a coat of paint. . one of my favorite pastimes.

GOOD NEWS X 4:
OK, so we've reached the 'good news' part and I actually have 4 things that are good. After going to Dr. A last week, I decided to quit drinking Dr. Pepper (or any coke product) and sweet tea. Day 1 was REALLY rough. I had the worst headache I've ever had! I totally understood why my mom used Dr. Pepper like ibuprofen. So, it's now been a week since I've had any of that and it's working out ok. I weighed myself on my scale when I got home last week and I weighed myself today. . . 2 pounds gone!! I am eating better, too. Today I took the kids to PrimeTime and we had lunch there. I saw the people next to me enjoying their giant hamburgers and I really wanted one. But, I refused and I had their grilled chicken salad. I was very impressed with how it hit the spot. And, I didn't feel extra heavy after I ate it. I have been walking when I get a chance for about 45 minutes. I always feel really good afterwards. I ordered a 90 day weight-loss program from Marty Copeland (Kenneth Copeland's daughter) and I'm going to start doing it once I go grocery shopping again. The good news is that when I go back to Dr. A for my 2nd pap smear, I should weigh quite a bit less. . . let's hope so.

GOOD NEWS #2:
I had a meeting this week with the Food Bank to talk about the possibility of using the portable building behind the CCRC for backpacks. It has to be insulated, cleaned out, etc. but I couldn't move forward on that until I had their ok. I got an e-mail a few weeks ago that they strongly discouraged using portable buildings for food distribution, but they would come and look at it. When they came on Tuesday, they were so excited for me and gave me the thumbs up. I could just go ON and ON and ON about how amazing those people are. I love working with them!!

GOOD NEWS #3:
I'm getting a new scrapbook room . . well, scrapbook building!! I'm so excited! Aaron won a hunting lodge from Hawk Portable Buildings at the single parent fundraiser and thought it would be for his dad. But, his dad suggested we take it and use it for my scrapbook room!! I went and talked to Cody about it and he said it would be about 3 weeks. Then, he came over on Tuesday night and had dinner with us and he said they already had one built & if I wanted it, they could deliver it on Friday! I did make a few minor changes to it, so I'm not quite sure I'll get it tomorrow, but it's possible. I'm just excited about it!! Randy also offered to help me with shelving/cabinets and with getting the electricity hooked up once it's in my backyard. It is also going to serve as an extra bedroom for us. It is going to have a bed that folds out from the wall so that when I need it, I can use it as a guest room, but when I don't, I still have floor space and it doesn't feel as cramped. I am totally excited about my very own space. Trish told me I could decorate it like the nursery I never got to paint . . . good idea! I already have ideas on how it is going to be. Hopefully I can get some of that done while Aaron's gone to the Grand Canyon. . . . which leads me to

GOOD NEWS #4:
Aaron left this evening for the Grand Canyon. . actually I think they're driving there tomorrow. I'm extremely excited for him. Yes, that means I have the kids 24/7 for 6 maybe 7 days, but I'm excited for him. Please pray for them while they're gone (Joel went with him). Please pray for us to find things to do. . . things that don't cost a lot of money. Pray that I sleep decent so I can be the fun mom and not the grouchy mom.

Please pray for Payton. He still has to wear Pull-Ups at night because he is such a hard sleeper that he wets the bed. Today we were at Sams and I bought some and he got really embarrassed. Most people think they're for Evan and I don't correct them IF they say anything, but Payton really got embarrassed today. He almost started crying in Sams! We all want this to stop so bad.

Well, that was WAY longer than I had originally planned. Oh well. . . lots going on. . . no lull here!

Gifts & Surprises!!

Aren't these the prettiest zebra canisters you've ever seen? My friend, Trish, bought them for me while she was in Austin. I absolutely love them!! I find myself looking at them again and again! Yes, Trish, I was hugging you on the inside!! Thank you!!

In other news, my new scrapbook room will be here on Friday (I think)!! YAY!! I'll have to post more on that later. . . lots going on. . . just need time to blog it all out! Probably later today!

Summer Movie Fun

The boys & I went to see Kung Fu Panda today. . cute film. . but I almost fell asleep twice. . not sure if it's because the movie was boring or I was just exhausted from water day.

Anyway, Century 12 has movies on Tuesdays at 10 am and the tickets are only $1 per person!!! Here's the schedule:

June 24th: The Last Mimzy
July 1st: Mr. Bean's Holiday
July 8th: The Water Horse
July 15th: Surf's Up
July 22nd: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
July 29th: Open Season
August 5th: Alvin & the Chipmunks

So, there's a bargain for you!! If I were you, I'd probably go to fandango.com and go ahead and order tickets for it. . . I'm sure if word gets out (if it hasn't already), the will be sold out.

OK, Cherith. . you asked for it!

So, I went to see Dr. A this morning. Nothing more than my yearly stuff. Linda calls me back and takes my blood pressure. All is fine. Then she tells me to step on the scale. I was almost as scared as I was when I was 9 months pregnant! So, up I go and I watch her slide that little thing across. . . and across. . . and across!! When it finally stopped, I about fell off of the scale!! WHAT?!?!?!

Now, last week I had to go buy new clothes. All my summer clothes were maternity clothes from last year and I was tired of wearing maternity shirts and I couldn't even FIT into my maternity capris!! So I had to go shopping. . . have I ever said how much I HATE clothes shopping?!? But, I made it through. I did have to buy the largest size I've EVER bought -- EVER. But, I was ok . . . well, ok enough because I HAD to have clothes and there wasn't even anything I could do overnight that would change my body. So I just decided that size didn't matter and I wasn't going to be depressed about it.

Not today!!

Seeing her write that number down on that page. . . what in the world? I have gained 14 pounds since my 6 week post-partum appointment!! 14 pounds in 5 months!! What the heck? I just wanted to cry! Really? At that moment, I was almost hoping that I was pregnant, so at least I could blame it on that! But, I wasn't. Right now I weigh what I did when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant!!

There was a few weeks where I was walking 2 to 2.5 miles a night and I wasn't noticing any change. So, I stopped. So stinkin' frustrating. I didn't think I was doing that bad. . sure, I've had one too many cokes I'm sure over the last few weeks. . . but 14 pounds worth? Don't think so.

Then, I stop by Cherith's to borrow her Slim in 6 DVD and Chassity is there. . . yes, skinny model Chassity. I tell her what I'm looking for and she says, "Oh I have been looking for someone to work out with!! Maybe we could work out together! That would be perfect!" Out of my mouth came "Possibly" when in my head I was thinking "Absolutely not! Why in the world would I want to work out with you? Why in the world do you really need to workout anyway? There's no way I'm going to allow you to see me fumble through a workout video!"

Now, don't tell me "oh you just had a baby". . . I had a baby 6 1/2 months ago and I weigh almost what I did when I had him! It's just plain disgusting.

So, I'm going to do something. . not sure what yet. For starters, I'm giving up sweets -- not drinking cokes or sweet tea (can you kill me now?). And, if you see me grab for one of those, will you just slap me?

GOOD NEWS FLASH: I am getting a new scrapbook room. . . I'll have to post about that later.

Waterpark Fun

Yesterday Aaron called and had a break in the action at work, so he was ready to get out of town. We drove to Wichita Falls last night and stayed at the Howard Johnson hotel. I was a little leary at first, but it was really nice. They had 3 pools. One that was 12 to 18 inches deep, which was perfect for Jaxon. The second pool went to 5 feet deep, which the older boys loved. There was an outdoor pool on the 3rd floor, but we didn't use it at all.

We got up this morning and went to Castaway Cove -- a water park there. It was a lot of fun. Jaxon and I hung out in the baby pool for a little while. The water was FREEZING cold! The older boys and Aaron had fun going from ride to ride. Who knew that Evan would have no fear of ANYTHING! There was this one ride called the Cliffhanger. I rode it once with Payton and Evan and that was enough for me. Evan kept going back for more!! He even rode it by himself once. The lifeguards at the top were asking him, "Are you sure you want to ride by yourself?" Evan said, "Yes" jumping up and down. Away he went with not even a peep or a scream! The lifeguards were impressed!

Jaxon fell asleep soon after lunch, so him and I hung out in the shade for the rest of the day. After being dried off for a while, the water was so cold that he just screamed when we tried to get back in.

So, we're back and we're all a little sunburned . . some more than others. But, it really was fun to just get away for the day and do something fun.

As for an update on Jaxon, he's doing much better. He's only been waking up once a night, which is a HUGE improvement!! This morning he sounded a little raspy, but I think he'll be ok. Last week, I took one of his prescriptions into Wal-Mart to see how much it was going to cost. I knew it was going to be expensive, but I didn't know how bad it would be for sure. So, I asked the lady how much Pulmicort costs. She looks it up in her computer and says that one dose is $175/box and the other dose is $205/box!! Really . . . how are people supposed to afford that? That is enough medicine for him for a month . . . $175 PER MONTH (at least)!!! It is a preventative medicine, which is good, but still!! It's actually cheaper for me to let him start wheezing bad, take him to the dr and get the prescription for the oral steroid, which is $40 and he only has to take that for 5 days!

So, now I'm REALLY believing God is taking care of all of this. Good news is that I was able to get my hands on some samples today. That is definitely some GOOD NEWS!

Jaxon

This sweet, adorable, loveable, pinchable, squeezable little guy needs to be healed. This picture is from a few weeks ago. . . seems like the last time he did that -- SLEEP that is. Last week, he was wheezing and coughing until he threw up. He would wake up in the middle of the night and cough until he threw up. Then, he was hungry, so I fed him. He would start coughing and it would all come back up.

On Saturday I took him to the doctor and she gave him an oral steroid to help with the wheezing and amoxicilin because he had the start of a double ear infection. The thing is that he still isn't sleeping. Last night he got up at 12, 1, 2, 3, 5, & 7. Aaron did get up with him at 3, but this is wearing me out.

The medicine could be what is keeping him awake, but it's not like I can just stop giving it to him.

I seem to be functioning fine, but I feel very checked out. I'm definitely on auto-pilot. I drove to Aaron's warehouse this morning and the last thing I remember is leaving the First Baptist Church (kids went to VBS). I didn't remember driving to Abilene. I'm just exhausted, but almost so tired that I can't sleep. Make sense?

The other night after being thrown up on for about the 5th time, I started singing that song, "I went to the enemy's camp and I took back what he stole from me." The Lord showed me a picture of me throwing back the asthma, eczema, & allergies. So, then I started singing "I went to the enemy's camp and I threw back what he gave to me." Today I'm still singing.

The good news is that he doesn't sound so "wheezy" and I've started spacing his breathing treatments out a little more. Just 2 more days on the steroid. I think that's a good thing! Another good thing is that the eczema is looking MUCH MUCH better!! Even the spot in his neck that just wouldn't budge is just a little pink, but not red and irritated like it has been!!

Update

It's day 2 of summer vacation and we're surviving. Sure there are sibling "things" that are taking place. . . most of them have to do with Evan doing things "wrong". But, the two of them are in their room cleaning it with Third Day blaring and I can hear both of them singing away. . . oh, I hope this is a predictor of how summer is going to go! The goal for today is to play outside before it reaches 100 degrees.

My little "speech" for the Food Bank went WONDERFUL!! They told me that I had 5-10 minutes to share how we got the idea, how we run it, the program itself, etc. The morning of the talk, I get a phone call at 7 am to tell me that my babysitter couldn't do it because her child had been throwing up all night. Went to Plan B babysitter and it worked out perfectly. But, that was a hectic morning at our house and I was running behind, which I HATE! I dropped the kids off and headed to town with nothing. I hadn't written anything down. I hadn't really thought about what I was going to talk about for sure. I had planned on doing that the day before, but it was interrupted by a 3 1/2 hour meeting.

I get to the meeting and I'm just a little late (my biggest pet peeve). They gave us some paper work to fill out and a little tablet of paper. The meeting was much bigger than I had thought. So, I decided to write a few things down that I wanted to be sure to say. Here's what I wrote:

Started with 6. Now at 47.

Kids collecting the money. Important for them to learn to serve.

Stay-at-home-moms pack backpacks. Even 18 month old can pack.

Little boy who had no food.

When I got up there, everything started to flow. People started crying and I wasn't even trying to make people cry. In my head, I gave the Holy Spirit a high-five because it was all Him. The Lord told me to share about Landon and how he came in my office and asked me for money to go in his bank. I gave him some change and he said, "Is that all you got?" I told him my purse was in the back and I would get it in a minute. He went next door to Brenda's office and asked her for money. Again, I heard him say, "Is that all you got?". Then, back to my office to see if I had gotten my purse yet. I talked about how he was 3 years old and knew the purpose of the banks. I talked about how the first week our kids brought in $721. As I kept talking about our kids and how amazing this backpack thing is going, I just saw lightbulbs going on all over the room.

A lightbulb went off in my head, too. As I looked around the room, I noticed that 90% of these people are in their 60s, 70s, and even probably 80s. Where are people my age? Yes, my age people are probably working, but are they serving? I believe the reason most people my age don't serve is because we weren't allowed to when we were younger. We were always too little to do anything. But, I want to change that. I want Landon to know that right now (at 3 years old), he is making a difference. When he's 8 or 9, he's making a difference. I believe that by the time he's a teenager, he's going to absolutely know that he can make a difference, which is probably the number one reason people serve.

Anyway, I talked for probably 10 minutes or so and when I sat down, I just felt like I had knocked it out of the ballpark. Gary Cheek was there and he gave me a high-five when I sat down. Then, he had to leave. I had to leave soon after too, so that I could pick up my kids. I walked to the back to tell Kristi that I had to leave and 3 women got up out of their seats and came to thank me for what I'm doing and to tell me how much my talk meant to them.

I left the meeting and met Aaron for lunch at Chick-fil-A. As I pulled in the parking lot, Brandon called me and said he heard that I hit it out of the ballpark. I was so proud and excited. He also said the Methodist Church had already called and wants to send people to help pack backpacks. The Food Bank meeting wasn't even over yet!!

When I got home, I had an e-mail that said I had 5 minutes MAX! Because I'm all about the rules, I felt bad. I e-mailed Kristi and apologized for going over because I didn't get the e-mail until I got home. She e-mailed me back and told me that my talk was amazing and that she had 10 people want more information about backpacks. This past week I saw her and she said she's had 17 people contact her about backpacks. How cool is that?

So, yesterday me and the Wilson clan packed 47 backpacks to give away to the kids today (the last day of school). Then, we packed 117 sacks that we are going to hand out at the CCRC for the summer months. I'm telling you, we were some sack packing fools!! We had piles and piles of cardboard boxes. Jocie said it was kind of like shopping. We used the shopping cart to take all the sacks to the back, which REALLY made it like shopping.

This summer we're going to be remodeling a portable building that is behind the CCRC and it's going to be strictly for backpacks. I'm really excited about that. I thought Gary was going to be overseeing it, but I found out yesterday that it's me. Now, I am going to work on finding out how much it will cost and get that show on the road. I'm really excited about that!

So, this post ended up being a lot longer than I had expected, but I just had to share how good God is. I heard a message last year by Willie George titled "When God has a Plan, He Needs a Man". . . or woman, in my case. That's all this is . . God had a plan and I was willing. He's the one that is growing this thing. He's the one who has made this thing explode. I'm just a willing vessel.

Now my blogging time is up. Payton just came and asked for the vacuum so he could make his room really clean. . . looks like summer vacation is looking up . . as long as that attitude continues!

A budding writer?

Here are a few stories that Payton has written at school over the last week or so. How he spelled, how he worded things:

Once upon a time Joebob, Hairybob, Billybob were kings of fat pigs. And then the big bad wolf tried to blow there houses down while they were rideing their dirt bikes. One day a fat pig came up to Joebob and said how can I die?

He didn't have time to finish. This one came home yesterday:

Lady bugs can fly and they have a hard shell. Lady bugs have black spots. Lady bugs are round. lady bugs taste bad. lady bugs help farmers.

My question is . . . how does he know lady bugs taste bad?!?! And, why did the pig want to die?!?

NKOTB

I'll one up you, Brandi!! (wink, wink)! It's their new song, Summertime. They'll be in Dallas in October. . anyone interested?! I think it would be a blast just to go and act like we're 15 all over again. . . well, at least those of us who remember them!! ;)

Something Fun Happened Today

Today Katianne came over to watch Jaxon & Evan for me. I went to Payton's school awards program thing and came back to Clyde and went to the church to get some work done. My jump drive has been missing since I was up there last week. I haven't been able to find it anywhere. So, this afternoon was wasted on me trying to find it up at the church. I have tore my desk at home and church apart trying to find it. I've looked all in my car. I've dumped out the diaper bag and my purse and the computer bag that I use to transport my computer. The thing is that EVERYTHING is on that jump drive. . . and I mean EVERYTHING!! I couldn't get anything done at the church today without it.

I went to the school to pick up backpacks and on my way back to the church, I was reminded of a Bill Johnson sermon a few weeks ago where he was talking about how people were saying, "I want my ____ back." and things were coming back to them. One guy wanted his special pocket knife back and he was sitting in his hotel room and said, "I want my knife back." It fell from the ceiling onto the bed.

So, on my way back to the church, I said, "God, I want my jump drive back." It didn't fall from the ceiling and it didn't just reappear in my car like I thought it should. I went back to my office and searched some more. Then, it was time to go home. I was frustrated because I paid Katiann to come and watch my boys while I looked for this silly jump drive so I could get some work done.

After she left, I sat down to plug my computer back in and looked behind the pencil holder on my desk and there was my jump drive. I can't tell you how many times I've completely cleaned that area out looking for the thing. So, my testimony today is that I got it back!!!

P.S. I also got an e-mail today and next Wednesday, I'm giving a little talk at a Food Bank something about our backpack program. I'm really excited about that!!

Future So Bright. . .

Here's Jaxon in Evan's "Super Cool Sunglasses". Could this kid be any more adorable?!

On The Move. . .

Last night I was on the phone with my mom and Jaxon was laying in the floor. He's been trying to roll over for quite some time, but he would get stuck about 1/2 of the way. But, last night he rolled right over. Payton & Evan rolled from their tummies to their backs first because they were so fat they couldn't get over. But, Jaxon decided to do things a little different.

Here are pictures from this morning:

Random Things

Today I was thinking about a lot of things. This is probably going to be one of those rambling posts. . so bear with me.
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I was thinking about the blizzard that we went through at Christmas time. We were driving along just fine. . slow, but fine. It was really cold and the snow and wind were blowing but we could still see. When up ahead there's a car coming and he's flashing his lights. Aaron had enough wisdom to slow down. Just past that truck, the snow was blowing so hard that we couldn't see the front of our car -- total white out. Even in what should have been a very scary situation, there was a peace in our car that we didn't quite understand. Payton & Evan were watching a movie and Jaxon was snoozin' away (which was a rare).

Aaron and I were trying to squint to see the road. . . the car in front of us. . . if there were cars behind us . . . the yellow stripe . . . the white lines. . . anything really. When all of the sudden, the snow seemed to be blocked by something and it allowed us to see better. On the right, there was a massive collision. One pick-up and one semi-truck in the ditch. We didn't see any people, though. Just feet away on the left side was another pick-up or 2 in the ditch. We decide to keep moving so that nobody comes up behind us and smashes into us just because they can't see. Besides, our car was completely loaded and we didn't have room for anyone.

As we kept driving, it kept getting worse. On the right was a black car . . maybe SUV. . . and another semi-truck. Both are crumpled up. The windshield on the SUV was completely busted out. The other windows were gone, too. There was a man standing there trying to pull these legs from the passenger side window. The hole was really small due to the car being all smashed in. Can this person be alive. . really? If so, can they really fit through that hole? Here she comes with just a scratch on her face. She stands to her feet and all she has on is a thin leather jacket, a silk shirt, a pair of jeans, and some high heels. It's freezing outside but there isn't anywhere to go.

We get stalled in the road because nobody in front of us is moving forward. This is when fear set in. If there was someone coming behind us, they wouldn't be able to see us before it was too late. We tried to get off on the shoulder, but wrecked vehicles were everywhere. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity watching people walking around outside and praying that nobody was coming from either direction. If there was another wreck, it could literally wipe out the people standing around outside waiting for help -- I didn't want to see that.

Finally, we start to move and get past all of the wreckage. As we get through all the mess, we meet another truck that is speeding and heading right for the mess. Aaron starts flashing his lights and honking the horn trying to get that guy to slow down. Our minds went a million directions thinking about what would have happened if that truck hadn't slowed down. Then we see one firetruck and one ambulance headed to the wreck with their lights flashing. We knew they were going to need more than that to take care of those people. But we felt less than helpful. And, we had to do what was best for our family. Now that there was help on the way, we had to just get us to a safe place.

We decide to detour to Aaron's grandpa's house until the storm blows over. It postponed our plans and frustrated my day. We were late for Christmas.

We went out later with snow chains on the tires that Aaron's grandpa let us borrow. We get to the intersection and there sits a police car. The policeman gets out and tells us that we can't go on. You can't get into Pampa and you can't get out. All the roads have been shut down due to drifts. We point out that we have snow chains and it doesn't matter. Nobody is getting through. So, we turn around.

On our way back to his grandpa's house, Aaron decides to go down a dirt road and try to go around. We see a few places where the drifts have almost blown across the road. We just wanted to get to our destination. We get back to the highway and the road are clear. We drive for a little ways with the chains still on, but soon stopped to take them off. The road was just fine. So fine that we could drive the speed limit without any problems.

We get to our destination just a few hours late, but we arrived. Later we saw on the news that it was a 26 car pile-up where one man died. We talk about it all that night. We're both thanking God that we made it through. The kids had no idea what we just lived through. I like it that way. We talked about the "what if's" and "did you see that?" kind of things. We didn't let our minds go to certain places in the "what if's categories". It was just too much. But we made sure to let people know that God kept us safe and sound. There are no doubts in our minds that angels were all around our vehicle that day.
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There a ton of analogies going through my head right now about life. Lots of them. Lots of them I'm walking out right now. Not sure why I posted this. . . I think it was just to get it out of my head, even though I didn't list what's going on right now with me. Lots of good things. Lots of frustrating things. Lots of "what if" kinds of things. But in the middle of it all, I know God is there with a plan to get me to my destination . . . even if I have to stop for a while and wait or maybe find a different way to get me there.

For Hire . . .

If there is one thing about Payton that I LOVE, it's that he is a hard worker. He loves to work. I heard the lawn mower running the other day and thought Aaron was mowing the grass on the riding mower. But, to my surprise, it was Payton with the push mower.


He got the front yard mowed and started on the back before he got tired. But, the next day he came home from school and got right to work on it. He doesn't really mow in perfect straight lines, but he's almost got it done. He mows in lines for a while and then decides to come up toward the house. . . then it's back to lines and back towards the tree. He does look sometimes to see where else he has to mow.


He's mowed our yard for $5. He really wants a Rangers jersey that costs $60. He asked me yesterday if him and I could put our money together and buy it. I told him that he could also earn money by doing chores around the house. He's all on board, so today I'm working on a list for him. He wants to mow our grass every week so he can buy the jersey. I am just hoping he sticks with it, but I am glad that he doesn't just expect me to buy it for him. Although I'm sure he thinks that would be nice.

If you haven't gone green. . .

I could use your plastic sacks!! We ran out today packing backpacks. So, if you have a stash of those Wal-Mart or HEB or anywhere else sacks, could you bring them to church on Sunday? I would really appreciate it!!

The last few weeks. . .

Gosh! I've been wanting to make a list of the things I've been working on . . . here it goes!!

Made 60 of these:

Watching this guy get bigger. He now has 1 tooth on the bottom. Jaxon was diagnosed with asthma and eczema last week. He is doing much better, but I'm believing God has healed him. When he went to the dr., we weighed 20 lbs. 14 oz and was 26 inches long . . one week shy of being 5 months old!

Packing Backpacks. . . we're up to 44 kids!!
Yes, I realize that is an old picture.

Loving this guy:

Watching Payton play baseball:

Made 2 of these for a wedding shower:
There are what seemed like a million flowers pinned on this topiary. I loved the final outcome!

This is something really cool about this wedding shower. The bridesmaids all talked about the shower, but not really about details like colors, etc. We all show up with our different parts and everything matched!! I also made her a recipe box that I didn't get a picture of somehow.

I helped fix this cake after it made the ride from Abilene to Dallas and didn't exactly look the same when we got there! Let me tell you, this cake has a story!! It was perfect for the shower, though.
That punch is the BEST punch I've EVER HAD -- EVER!!

Love ya, Niki!!

You too Natalee!!

Jaxon has his first taste of cereal. . . he wasn't impressed.


Hosted a 4th & 5th grade girls Princess Party
(INSERT PICTURE HERE)
Somehow I didn't get pictures with my camera, but I'll have some later thanks to Kelly N.

Hosted a Celebration Sunday LUAU for over 80 kids that was a BLAST!!
Say Hi to Eric!!

The kids loved this!!

Thank you to Trish and JoAnn and Alicia who came in and helped out!! It was a blast, but that was quite a clean up!!

So, I've been one busy girl!! I keep thinking that things will slow down next week, but next week never seems to get here!!

Watch Out Worship Band!

Yesterday afternoon, Evan had his "drums" set up in the living room. I asked him to take them outside to practice. He told me that when Payton got home, they were going to have church. I asked him what they were going to do and he said he was going to play the drums and Payton was going to play the guitar. Then he stopped and said, "But I need 2 pianos."

So, when Payton got home, here's their church.



Cherith, don't you think they can have a spot on your worship album? I'm sure this song that Evan wrote will convince you they're good enough!! This is the first song Evan wrote himself titled "We're Singing All Over the Place".



Come on, Cherith!! Don't you see how amazing they are?! ;)

FYI

Passing Out Backpacks

I cannot tell you how humbled I was this afternoon. I took all the backpacks up to the school -- all 27 (serving 31 kids) of them filled with food and ready to go to these kids. We had a short meeting just to go over the details and then they started bringing in the kids. They brought in the Pre-K kids and they all sat in a circle in the floor while Mrs. B went over the stuff. One little boy hugged his backpack and said, "This is all my food? For me?" Mrs. B was telling them to not share their food with their friends. They could share it with their brothers and sisters, but not their friends. Another little boy said, "Do I have to share with my parents?" Mrs. B told him that it was his food and he could decide if he wanted to do that or not. A smile came across his face. Another child said, "Are you doing this because we don't have any food in our house?" That's when I almost lost it. After that class left, Mrs. B looked at K (from the food bank) and asked her how she was doing. She was just smiling and said she was fine. Mrs. B looked at me and asked me how I was doing. She said, "Are you about to cry?" I had to be honest -- I was!! I told them that it made me sad, but made me very excited about being able to put food in their hands today.

I explained how we were using our stay-at-home-moms and mainly their kids to pack the backpacks. They thought it was genius (thank Joel for that one)! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited the school is about this program and our willingness to bless their kids. What an exciting adventure this is!! God is so awesome!!

Details on Backpack Packing

This week I wanted to get a system together and see what would work and what wouldn't before I invited moms with a bunch of kids up there! ;) Now I have a system and it's so easy, so I'll be calling people in the following weeks to help. Yes, we might do it sometime on a Thursday at lunch. That would be fun!

Putting those things together so fast yesterday gave me hope that we really can do 100 backpacks! I think God's increased my goal to 300 backpacks. How fun would that be?!?

Also be thinking. . . we're throwing around the idea of making sandwiches 2 to 3 times a week during the summer and delivering them to these kids. It's an idea for now. We will try to at least continue the backpacks through the summer. I have a meeting today with the Food Bank and the school, so I'm going to ask how far we can take this thing!!

So, be watching for my call over the next few weeks!!!

Backpacks for Kids -- Day 1

Today was the first day of packing backpacks!! You might not believe this, but we packed 25 backpacks in 20 minutes!! It was very organized and efficient. The kids LOVED it!! They were wanting to pack more!! It was Krissy, Emma, Avery, Blaise, Cherith (and Justus), Evan, Hannah, and me. I'm telling you, once those kids got the hang of it, they knocked those backpacks out!!

I got home from doing those backpacks and got an e-mail that they had 2 more! So, I went back and did 2 more. It didn't take but about 5 minutes. Got home and got another e-mail this afternoon that they are going to have probably 2 more by tomorrow!! Praise God!! I've said this all day, but I'm not excited that there are hungry kids in C-town. I'm excited that we're finding them and we're doing something about it.

Here are a few pictures from today. I have pictures with all the kids in them, but I didn't want to post their pictures on the internet before I had permission.

So, here's one of Evan packing his sack to put inside a backpack.

Here are the backpacks all ready to go. I went to the store this afternoon and bought luggage tags for all of them so we know whose backpack is whose. Those are now on and they are ready to go out tomorrow afternoon!! Please pray over these backpacks!!

Tonight, Evan went with me up to the CCRC to put the luggage tags on the backpacks and add some cereal to them. On the way up there, Evan asked me who the backpacks were for. I told him they were for kids in C who might not have enough food at home for them to eat. In his little voice he said, "Well, that's just silly." I had to agree.


Please pray that we find 4 cases of cereal. I know that sounds so silly, but that's been the only "kink" we've had. We're not sure where they are or what happened, but we need to find them. I'm not worried, but it's just crazy that 4 CASES of cereal can disappear!! But hey. If that's the only kink there is in this whole thing, we're doing really good!!

Backpack Update

This Friday, we are handing out 25 backpacks!! How exciting is that?!?! Last Friday the count was 8, today it's 25!! I am so excited about this whole thing! I feel like it's going so fast, but also so slow. Tomorrow we'll be packing the food and Friday we'll be delivering it. I can't wait!!

Some have asked me, so I'll post it here. If you wanted to sponsor a child, it would be $15 per month per child. I am not worried about the money -- God will take care of that part, but some have asked, so here it is.

Continue to pray for us!! The school is very excited and they are so on board with this!! Last Friday the school called me and said they had 8 kids they wanted to send food to. I didn't have enough time to go get the food and bag it up, etc. When I explained that to the lady, she said that was ok because they would just go buy some food and make up some backpacks for the kids to take home that day. That is some dedication!! Now it's all coming together like it's supposed to and I'm so excited!! Joel picked up the food and backpacks today and delivered it to the CCRC, so all we have to do is pack it all up tomorrow!! YAY!!

Correction

The book I'm reading right now is titled He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobson. I put the wrong title in my other post.

See This?

What do you see when you see this?

You might see my back patio. You might see the waterhose or the grill. I see my new scrapbook room. Don't you see it? Instead of those windows, french doors that lead into my new "bonus room" all for me. Walls and a roof that look like they were original to the house. Or maybe instead of the door that leads outside, that door leads to my very own creating space. Zebra painted walls. Hardwood floors. A couch for reading or relaxing. My creative juices flowing. Paper scraps all organized. Embellishments in their place. Of course there's a mess on the table. . that's how you can tell something creative is going on.

So, where am I going with all of this? On Wednesday night, Aaron asked me what I thought about having my own room built where our patio is now. I didn't really get excited about it because I know we don't have the money to do it right now. I've been working on a few projects lately that have taken over the living room. In the last month, I've made 48 wedding shower invitations, 50 recipe cards (covered front and back), and a bouquet of flowers. I think Aaron's tired of seeing my scraps and unfinished projects cluttering up the living room.

Anyway, Aaron had Randy come over on Thursday morning. I was so excited to even think this was a possibility! We were talking about all the different options that I have. Randy kept telling me that this wasn't a big deal. I know he was talking about the construction of it all, but I also took it that it wasn't a big deal for God. I started getting excited. I know that right now we don't have the money to add this room on to our house, but I know who does! My God has enough money to do this just for me. I only need $8,000 to $10,000. That used to be a large amount to me to believe God for, but not anymore! Remember, I'm his favorite! ;)

So, for the last few days when I go outside and stand on this patio I've been thanking God for my new creating space. I've even thought about doing a little scrapbooking/altering items and put the money towards my new space. I'm not sure that would really work, but it's an idea for sure! Now, look back at the picture. Don't you see my new creative space this time?

Food For Thought

I picked this book up in California titled He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobsen. It was sitting on a table in the bookstore and I was immediately drawn to it. I know God told me to buy it for someone in our church, but I decided to read it first. ;)

So, on page 17-18, these words jumped out at me:
For long after we've put away our daisies, many of us continue to play the game with God. This time we don't pluck flower petals, but probe through our circumstances trying to figure out exactly how God feels about us.

I got a raise. He loves me!
I didn't get the promotion I wanted; I lost my job altogether. He loves me not!
Something in the Bible inspired me today. He loves me!
My child is seriously ill. He loves me not!
I gave money to someone in need. He loves me!
I let my anger get the best of me. He loves me not!
Something for which I prayed actually happened. He loves me!
I stretched the truth to get out of a tight spot. He loves me not!
A friend called me to encourage me unexpectedly. He loves me!
My car needs a new transmission. He loves me not!


We were on the plane to Dallas when I read that and I stopped reading for a minute. This kind of slapped me in the face. How many times have I done that? I asked God to again show me a picture of how He sees me. I have learned to much in this book and I'm only on page 49. I just was picking it up this morning to read a few pages and I felt like I was to post this on my blog. Maybe just for me. . maybe for someone else. I commit right now to stop playing the daisy game of He loves me, He loves me not.

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So, this afternoon, I was thinking about this book, thinking about this post and I realized that I do this with my husband, too.
He does things my way. He loves me.
He does things his way. He loves me not.
He gives me money. He loves me.
He tells me I've spent too much. He loves me not.

Gosh! I think I do this more than I realize! Thank you Lord for bringing this to my attention and allowing me to deal with it all.