Wish I Was a Foodie . . .

Last night, I watched the movie, Julie & Julia. It was a cute little movie and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. But, it made me realize something about myself.

I AM A PICKY EATER!!

So, Aaron's been telling me this over the past few weeks. We went to Bonterra one night and I tried something new -- some kind of Ravioli with Rockefeller Sauce. I took one bite and knew it wasn't for me. The texture was fine and it looked delicious, but it left an after taste in my mouth that I didn't like. Now, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bonterra and it's food. That night, I just decided to try something new and it wasn't my thing.

Then, there's other restaurants. I usually don't venture away from something that I know I'll like -- like steak. And, I always order the same thing when I find something that I do like. For example, when I go to

Chili's: Chicken Enchilada Soup & Caesar Salad. Sometimes a turkey sandwich and sometimes Quesadilla Explosion Salad. But, I think that's it.

Or how about Sharon Allen's: Medallions with loaded sweet potato & caesar salad.

Olive Garden: Pasta e Fagoli Soup & Salad

Rosa's: Nacho Salad or sometimes the Taco Plate

Chick-Fil-A: Chicken Sandwich, Fries (sometimes fruit), DP, Polynesian Sauce & Honey Mustard

Anyway, you get the point. But, after watching that movie, it made me wish I was more of a "foodie". I really don't enjoy eating. I don't savor every bite. I either like it or I don't. And sometimes, I decide whether I like it or not based on how it looks.

Here's a list of foods that I don't like . . . just for fun:

* Mushrooms -- they make me sick

* Cottage Cheese -- can't do the texture

* Fish -- just don't like it

* Any type of seafood -- although I did try calamari & octopus while I was in Cambodia

* Sushi

* Weird mixtures of things like in soups or casseroles

* Fried Chicken -- don't like pulling the meat off the bone

* Peppers

* I'm sure there's more . . . I'll try to keep thinking.

Anyway, I wish I enjoyed food more. Or was a little more adventurous with food. I wish I could go to Bonterra and let Joel feed me. Just can't do it. Or maybe I could let Joel because he might push me to try something new, but he might take it easy on me. . . probably wouldn't just walk in and say "Let the chef feed me." Nope, probably not.

On another trip to Bonterra, I ordered the salmon. I know, I'm not a fish person, but it was the only thing on there that I thought MIGHT be ok. I was pleasantly surprised. It had pesto drizzled over the top and it was really good! But, as I got to the end of it, I had had enough and started to get grossed out. But, I would probably order Joel's salmon again.

We were with a party and someone said, "This isn't really your kind of food, is it, Rachel?" My reply, "Nope." They asked what "my type of food" would be. I'm not sure. I like Chinese food (well, certain things) and I like Mexican food (again, certain things), but I don't have anything that is my absolute favorite. Then, we started talking about how we grew up. I grew up mainly on microwave food. My mom didn't like vegetables, so we didn't have them in the house. I was in high school before I ever tried broccoli, which I really liked!

Back to the movie -- I loved how Julie was determined to cook every recipe in that cookbook! She didn't look at the ingredients and decide she didn't like it before she cooked it. . . unlike me.

I'm realizing that my kids are a lot like me . . . or maybe I've become like them. Yeah, that's it!! They take one look at something and decide if they like it or not. Evan's more adventurous with his food. He will most of the time at least try a new food. He does like broccoli and cottage cheese, which are 2 things that Payton and Jaxon won't touch. I think Payton & Jaxon are the pickiest eaters on the planet. Jaxon just wants to eat waffles and chicken nuggets. Payton is just picky and he has been since he was a tiny baby. He never moved past stage 1 baby foods because he didn't like the texture. And, he would only eat sweet potatoes and apple sauce -- stage 1 foods only. Jaxon was kind of the same way, although he did move to stage 2 and stage 3 baby foods.

I want my kids to eat healthier. I want to cook healthier foods. So, I guess that all depends on me. . . oh great. Think Julie could come cook at our house for a little while? If that were the case, I would have to get much better with my facial expressions when something is put in front of me. Guess I'll have to change my eating habits and get over some of my little quirks.

Thank you Juile & Julia for proving that my husband is right -- I am a picky eater. (Sure hoping he doesn't read my blog anymore!)

Slug Bug!

I haven't forgotten to finish the top 100 things I love about Brandi list, but I just had to blog about this before I forget about it.

SLUG BUG!!

This phrase is heard in our car ALL THE TIME!! I guess a few weeks ago, Aaron started playing it with the kids on the way to school and it's become a pretty fierce game! The kids have memorized where they will see one on the way to school.

There's a yellow one at the RV park in Clyde. There's a green one sometimes parked at the intermediate school by the cafeteria. There's a blue one at Judge Ely & North 1st. There's a bright yellow one at the car lot on North 1st & Sayles (or nearby & sometimes there's 2 of them!). There's a yellow one next door to the school. Those are the only ones I can remember.

Of course, there are random ones that we sometimes see driving to school. But, as we get close to one of these spots, the kids start getting really competitive! They start leaning forward in the car so they are sure to see it first. They might use their arm to hold the person sitting next to them back in the seat so they can't see. Or sometimes they try to cover their eyes so they can't see at all!

There are also these little games they play. For instance, if you say, "Slug Bug" and there isn't one, you lose a point. So, sometimes you'll hear one of them say, "Slud Bud" or "SSSSSSLLLLL" or "Slug Bu". They do this to try to get someone else to just blurt out "Slug Bug" without there being an actual car there.

Then, there's Jaxon. Jaxon doesn't quite understand what a Slug Bug looks like. He thinks this is a slug bug:

Or this:

Or this:

He would even think this is one!!

But, Jaxon is funny about it. He'll say, "Slug Bug! Ha ha! I got it! I called it! Ha ha!" When we point out that it isn't a slug bug, he'll say, "I know but I called it. I got it! Ha ha!" Sometimes the boys will "give" Jaxon a slug bug that they see. He gets so excited and says, "Yay! I'm going to beat my record, Mom!"

I think Payton's record is almost 20. I think Evan's record is about 9. Jaxon's record is always 1, so if he sees 2, he can beat his record. For some reason, his record never goes up -- it's always 1. My record is 8, but I was by myself when I saw all of them, so the boys say that doesn't count. :(

You've Got A Friend In Me

This is one of Jaxon's favorite songs from the Toy Story movies.

You've got a friend in me.

You've got a friend in me.

When the road looks rough ahead

and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed

Just remember what your old pal said

Oh you've got a friend in me.

This past weekend (and last few weeks, honestly) I've been reflecting on my good friend, Brandi Wilson. I was wondering if I should blog about it or just send her a letter, but I decided that someday when my kids are older (or maybe when I have grandkids), they'll ask me about my friends and I'll have my blog book (the one I hope to print) to show them and to remember all of these little things.

Even yesterday, I was sitting in my office crying like a baby to Kelly telling her how amazing my friend is. Talking about how blessed that I am that I have found a friend like her in my lifetime. You know, the ones who just know you . . . and I mean KNOW YOU. There are so many things that I love about Brandi. I'm going to try to go old-school and come up with a list of 100 things I love about Brandi (or stories about us). So, here it goes:

1. I love how I feel like I can just sit in a room with Brandi and she knows what I'm thinking.

2. I love how we've joked about being married to each other's husband. We have laughed about how if Randy & I were married, we would always be remodeling or changing something. If her and Aaron were married, they would never do any of that stuff!

3. I love that her family came to church this past Sunday because they thought it was my last Sunday as the children's pastor. And, they came to cheer us (KLF) on. I almost started crying when I saw them walking up the sidewalk.

4. I love that as I'm crying to Kelly telling her what an amazing friend that Brandi is, I get a text -- from Brandi -- telling me that she knows I'll have an emotional week and she'll be here for me. :)

5. I love it that Brandi tells me that even when she's facing the hardest time of her life. Selfish is never a word used to describe her.

6. I love that sometimes I know the inside scoop to things that nobody else knows. Sometimes that's good things and sometimes that's bad things.

7. I love that I met her 9 years ago and when she asked me if I scrapbooked, I knew I had a found a friend in this new place!

8. I love Wednesdays with Brandi!! We started a few years ago having coffee at Brandi's house and we've moved it to Wednesday afternoons at Chick-Fil-A. It seems like every time we meet, one of us has something we need to talk about. But sometimes we have just random things to talk about.

9. One of my favorite coffee times was the day of (or after) picture day. Oh the stories!! Fighting over hair. Fighting over clothes. Oh the funny stories!! :)

10. My birthday buddy!! We were born 3 days apart and I LOVE IT! I love having someone that loves birthdays and presents as much as me (and we aren't ashamed of it)!! :)

11. She is the prefect gift giver!! Like my Cake Pops book or my Wonder Woman cups. Or . . . gosh! There's been so many and so many perfect ones!! Oh! Like my container of Chick-Fil-A mints to take to Cambodia because they are my favorite "candy".

12. Or like my 30th birthday. I wanted to go to NYC for my birthday, but I was 30 weeks pregnant with Jaxon and I was strongly advised against going. But, she threw me the bestest birthday party ever!! She painted a giant mural and we each had our own stores. We had special dancers (still makes me turn red) and it was so much fun!!!

13. I remember sitting at her kitchen table and pulling a pregnancy test out of my purse after I found out I was pregnant with Jaxon. :)

14. I loved all of our scrapbooking nights at various scrapbook stores.

15. I love that we've been able to stay friends over the last 9 years through changes.

16. I remember her little house on Burger Street and how amazed I was that she had 5 kids in that little house!

17. And how excited I was when she got her house on Poplar Street. It was perfect!!

18. I remember how she didn't want to have Miles at home, but they wanted Randy to deliver him. And how it really happened that way.

19. I remember our first BFW. Enough said about that one. :)

20. I remember sharing November 15th with Brandi -- the birthday of the boy I put of for adoption. She's probably didn't remember the date, but when I needed to talk about it, she always listened.

21. Oh how I remember mommy group! Brandi was always there!! In the beginning, she was my safe place. I would go just knowing that she would be there and if nothing else, I could talk with her.

22. As I'm trying to go down memory lane, I remember times where she's just listened to me complain. . . about lots of things. Never once has she said, "Just shut up and stop complaining!" even when she probably should have! :)

23. Cornerstone. We probably wouldn't have gone without her!

24. Watching her be the most amazing mom that I know. Her relationship with her kids is something that every parent longs for! I am almost jealous of this one.

25. I almost forgot! Our WOW Christmas Party table decorating contests! We are the reigning champions and I believe we have been the ONLY winners! The first year, we made everything out of paper. Even the plates had paper underneath! The second year, we decided to try to win back to back and came up with the Feliz Navidad idea in the parking lot of the school! We won up against tables that were really decked out and fancy!! But, we were original! :)

OK, so I only have 25 at the current moment in time, but I know more will come to me. I have 3 kids sitting here telling me that they're hungry, so I guess I better go feed them. :) Don't worry! I'll be adding more!

I love you, Brandi!!!

How Could I Forget?

How in the world could I forget this? Painting the classroom hallways!! I have more pictures, but can't find them on my computer for some reason. I am sad that I won't see this completed before I step out. But, I'm continuing to believe that someday soon, it will be finished!

Launching into Destiny

In February, I will be launched into something I love. It's not that I'm leaving something that I don't love, but it's just time and it's good.

In February, I will no longer be the children's pastor at KLF. I've been in children's ministry for almost the last 12 years! So, my emotions are all over the place about this deal. However, I am very excited about Encompass Kids and what it means for me.

There are already rumors floating around, so let me clear those up. Brandon and I talked it out and decided that my passion is Encompass Kids. That's what is exploding for me right now and I love it! My passion for kids has evolved into something outside the church walls and that's ok. I didn't get mad at Brandon and quit. I wasn't laid off. I didn't decide that I've had enough of KLF. The truth is that I don't have any plans to leave KLF at all! I love where I'm at!

So, here are a few pictures from over the years:

The LOGO:

A few years ago

Oh, the ketchup day! And, I'm pretty sure that's Jocie Wilson!

And one of my own son squirting me with ketchup. I remember that that

day he didn't like everyone doing that to his mommy.

I learned a hard lesson that day. I had planned on hosing off right outside the gym with a spicket that was easy access. After I was completely covered in ketchup, we realized that it didn't work. It was hooked up to the classrooms (which we did not own) and the water was not turned on. I had to ride home in the back of our Aztek dripping ketchup. We drove by the Baptist Church right as church was letting out. I just smiled and waved. :) And, if I remember correctly, it was very cold that day!

Minute to Win It

Last year on Super Bowl Sunday

Ice Cream Sundae Day!

And Tar & Feather day . . .

I had learned my lesson with the ketchup and decided that now we owned the building, I could shower at church that day in the dressing rooms! Little did I know, we didn't have any hot water!! So, I rode home in the back of Aaron's truck in the FREEZING RAIN and had to hose off outside in my backyard with the FREEZING water hose!! It was awful!!!

Then, there's the Easter Egg Hunts:

And the Hallelujah Nights:

And the it-sounded-great-at-the-time-but-it-made-a-giant-mess craft projects! Yep, that's birdseed ALL OVER THE FLOOR! And, we didn't have a vacuum!! And, it wasn't the only one I ever did! :)

Gosh! There are so many more! I'll just have to look through my external hard drive and see what I can dig up.

My Tattoo

I've wanted a tattoo forever! Aaron has always been against them, though. Plus, I've never had any idea on what I would want. I had this idea a few months ago and found a picture online. I love it!

We'll see . . . . .

P.S. Aaron says it's ugly. . . again, we'll see. . . . .

Jaxon's Funny Sayings

Jaxon talks . . . and talks. . . and talks. . . and talks. I mean, he talks probably 80-90% of the day. He talks about all kinds of random things!

Yesterday he was playing his "DS" and the batteries went dead and the machine started acting funny. I told him that I would take it and charge the batteries. He said, "Oh good. It was really freaking me out."

Today we went to Abilene and ran some errands. Everywhere we went, he would tell people:

"When my dad was a kid, he got runned over by a car cause he wasn't paying tension." The cashier at Wal-Mart, the guy on the bench at Wal-Mart, the lady in line behind us at Academy, a random lady in Ross. . . everyone heard the story!! Then, when we would leave the store, he would stop as we're crossing the parking lot and say, "We can go mommy. But we want to pay tension so we don't get smashed by a car."

He's also stuck on this game that Payton & Evan play at school. Jaxon says your name and if you say "What?" that means you're it. You have to get someone else to say "What?". The game has been going on at our house since before Christmas. The older boys have gone on to other things, but not Jaxon. He loves it when people say "What?"

So, I'm constantly hearing,

Jaxon: Hey mom

Me: Yes?

Jaxon: Oh mom, you're supposed to say W-H-T.

(a few minutes later . . . or maybe even seconds later)

Jaxon: Hey mom.

Me: What?

Jaxon: You're it!

Most of the time I say What? just to see if he'll stop doing it!! Then, I get him:

Me: Hey Jaxon:

Jaxon: Wha. . .

Me: Oh . . .

Jaxon: Hey mom. I didn't say W-H-T.

Me: I know.

(a few seconds later)

Me: Hey Jaxon

Jaxon: What?

Me: You're it!

Jaxon: UGH!!! I said W-H-T!!

Last week, Evan was looking at the school calendar and he noticed that Pre-K is getting to go to the Grace Museum this month. Evan said, "Oh man! They're lucky!" and pointed to the calendar. Now, Jaxon walks up to the calendar and points and says, "Oh man, they're going to lucky!"

Backpack Roof

I mainly want to blog about this so that I don't forget about how it all happened. Someday when Encompass Kids is really big and things are going all around me, I want to remember how God put the roof on the building.

In August 2010, I started a remodel on the CCRC building (306 North 1st). It started out as remodeling 1/2 of the building.

The front room

The Backpack Room & Clothes Closet. This area will have a washer & dryer so that we can wash the clothes that come into the clothes closet before they are hung up on the racks.

The wooden wall in the backpack part. I love this wall!!

Standing in the clothes closet and looking into the backpack part.

Standing in the backpack part and looking back into the clothes closet.

The process was going well until September 24th -- the big rain! We got so much rain in such a little time!! I knew the roof had leaked before, but Cole had worked on it. I needed to go make sure it was holding. This is what I drove up on:

And a lot of water inside the building. The parapet wall (roofing term) leaked all the way down the side of my building! The back doors were leaking! Water was everywhere!! (I also want to say that Cole did a great job repairing the roof. We knew it was a patch job and it just rained so much so soon that the rain got in. Just wanted to clarify that I thought he did a great job!)

I was trying to figure out where I was going to get enough money to re-do the entire roof?!? I was thinking that it could cost up to $20,000! I had this idea of asking about our insurance on the building. We researched it out and found that we had an insurance policy with State Farm with a $5000 deductible, plus once we filed a claim that big, our premium would go up. I also didn't have $5000 for the deductible!

To make a long story short . . . wait! I don't want to do that. . . on to the details. . .

One afternoon, a man called and asked if he could come by because he had something for me. I of course, said yes and he brought me a check for $1000! I thought it was a great start to my $5000.

I had a meeting with a bank in town about partnering with me. It was a pretty awesome meeting and so I stopped by the church to let everyone know how awesome it went! Kelly came in and said, "Want to know some more good news? We have 2 insurance policies on that building. One we didn't know about, but have been paying on and it only has $1000 deductible!"

I was so excited, but with $1000 deductible, it couldn't be very good insurance. But, I gave them a call and scheduled an adjuster to come out.

When he came out and looked at the building, he said he could replace my ceiling tiles that had been ruined and he would pay to have the light cleaned, but the rest of the problem was due to the building next to me, so he couldn't cover that. And, I didn't have $1000 worth of ceiling tiles to be replaced!

While he was there, I had him look at the CCRC side of the building where the water had come through the roof. Pretty much, it is 2 pieces of sheetrock and probably a little insulation.

It didn't look like he was going to do much. He said he would go back to the office and see how long we've had the policy, etc. Then, he asked me what I did. I told him that we are feeding kids in our community that are not guaranteed a meal on the weekends. I didn't know that statement would change the whole thing.

The next week, I gave Mike a call to see what the verdict was. He said, "Well, I looked at your policy and everything looks good, so I'll be sending you a check today for $13,000 blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.. . . . "

That's all I heard! $13,000?!?! When I got the papers, I saw that in total, I will receive almost $19,000 to fix the roof and fix those 2 pieces of sheetrock. And, I'm talking this adjuster went above and beyond! He gave me $150 to clean the floor where the water had stained the floor. Where the ceiling sheetrock is located, there is some shelving underneath. He gave me $650 to have the shelving removed and put back on the walls!!

Crazy?!? I think YES!

The roofing company got started and found that about 15 feet of my bricks had places where the mortar had blown away just because of time. They had to have that fixed in order to repair the roof. I asked the roofing company who to call. Bryce took care of all of it for me! He called the insurance company to make sure they would pay for it. He called someone to come and fix it. He even paid the masonry and put it into my bill with him so I didn't have to pay it until all the insurance money had come in. Barr Roofing is amazing!

So, now the roof is fixed and we are ready to move forward with the remodel. Here are some pictures of some stuff that we got done before the roof leaked.

The walls are going up for dressing rooms in the clothes closet.

Ira is painting in the clothes closet area.

The front room getting a new coat of some awesome purple paint (& Jaxon making sure that we had all the right tools.

The front room after it got it's first coat of paint. We will replace those plywood doors with french doors that will lead to the other side. And, we have to paint the trim.

Because of the Christmas Project, I hadn't had time to go over and look inside the building since they finished the roof. I went over on Thursday and took a look around. Little dusty, but not bad. . . that is, until I opened the door to the clothes closet! This is what I found:

Good news is that at least it can be swept up. There are a few puddles of tar . . . and I mean puddles with a string of tar going from floor to ceiling. But today I went down there and I think it can be cleaned up pretty easily.

New Year

My new year's resolution? Blog more.

Sometimes I hate Facebook. I type little one or two line sentences about what I'm doing and go on. I don't get to always tell the story behind it and most of the time, I forget the whole story after a while.

So, I was thinking about that awesome book that Pam got Brandi for her birthday a few years ago (great idea, by the way)! I thought it was a great way to keep up with all the stories of our life.

So, here's to a new year and more blog posts! :)

Update on My Bucket List . . . and another list

So, I didn't accomplish everything on my summer bucket list. I think I got overwhelmed buying school supplies and clothes for what felt like was half of Clyde.

But, now I have another list. The new backpack building. I am in love with the building and it will be amazing -- when it's finished. Sometimes I walk in and see that there isn't much left to do. Then, on days like today when the roof leaks and I have puddles in all 3 rooms, I think the building will never be finished. So, I'm making the list public. If you would like to help, I would gladly let you!

OUTSIDE:

* Paint the exterior

* Paint the front door

* Repair the roof

FRONT ROOM:

* Move shelving out

* Paint the floor (or tile the floor)

* Enclose double door

* Install double doors

* Paint trim

* Fix ceiling tiles

* Install curtains

* Switch out A/C

* Assemble furniture

* Install light covers & outlet covers

* Move conference table -- Aaron

CLOTHES CLOSET:

* Move shelving out

* Move table

* Tape & mud dressing rooms

* Paint dressing rooms

* Install lighting

* Paint floor

* Install baseboards

* Touch up painting

* Assemble furniture

* Install door to backpack part

* Fix Curtains & hang

* Install mirrors

* Buy & Install 3 curtain rods

BACKPACK ROOM:

* Remove standing water :)

* Move shelving out

* Remove chandelier from ceiling

* Paint floor

* Repair wooden wall

* Paint wooden wall

* Repair back door / order new doors

* Paint poles

* Paint shelving (?) / clean shelving

* Baseboards (?)

BATHROOM:

* Tape & mud wall

* Baseboards

* Paint walls

* Paint vanity

* Buy & hang new mirror

* CLEAN!!

OK. . . so I'm encouraged again. . . it's not a lot, right?

My Summer Bucket List

While we were on vacation, Aaron and I started talking about our bucket lists. So, I decided to make a summer bucket list -- things I want to get done before school starts back. So, I've decided to list it here and mark things off as I get them done. I just love having a list and being able to mark things off!!

Here we go (in no particular order):

CLEAN (& I mean deep clean and organize):

Evan's Room -- DONE

Evan's Closet -- DONE

Payton's Room

Payton's Closet

Boys' Bathroom

Our Bathroom

Our Room

Living Room

ORGANIZE:

Black cabinet

Office area -- DONE

Set up school folders -- DONE

Order checks for ASB -- Found 3 boxes of checks while cleaning office area

PROJECTS:

2 baby shower gifts -- DONE (& they look amazing, even if I do say so myself!)

Boys' bathroom (I want to paint it) -- ordered the shower curtain today. Have to wait on that to come in before I can decide on paint. -- DONE

APPOINTMENTS:

Payton Eye Doctor -- Going to wait until after school starts

Evan Shots -- DONE! Even happened without any crying!

Payton Dentist -- Going to wait until after school starts

OTHER:

School Supplies -- DONE!

School Clothes -- DONE! That was easy!

School Supplies & Clothes for Backpack Kids -- DONE!!! WHEW!!!

Grocery & Menus Made Easy

So, I've been in a cooking rut. . . same ol' things, same ol' recipes, same ol' responses, & on & on & on. So, Aaron found this website: www.emealz.com. I think this is going to be amazing for me!!

Every week, this lady takes the sales circulars and makes a menu based on things that are on sale. She gives you the recipe and the shopping list!! And, there are a lot of different lists that you can get -- vegetarian, Weight Watchers, Low Fat, Low Carb. You can get grocery lists (and prices) from Wal-Mart, Kroger, Any Store, etc.

If your family doesn't like something on the menu, you just replace it. Everything in the shopping list is corresponding, so if your family doesn't like meal 4, you just go down the shopping list and mark everything that has a 4 by it.

So, there's a link on the side over there if you're interested in checking it out. It does cost $15 for a 3 month subscription ($5 per month), but I'm thinking I will save that in the groceries that I WON'T be buying, plus all the time and frustration it is for me to make a menu!

Summer Movies

Just thought I would post this. 10 movies for $5 this summer! Yes, they're all movies our kids have probably already seen, but it is still fun!!

Payton's First Song

My sister emailed this to me the other day. I had completely forgotten about it! But now that I see it, I remember it like it was yesterday!! Payton was 4 years old when he wrote his first song:

(singing) There once was a cowboy who shot a buffalo

(talking) You know who it was? It was me.

(singing) There was a bucking bull chasing the cowboy.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him.

(singing) There was a giraffe who was running along.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him.

(singing) There was an alligator chasing after me.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him because he was trying to bite me.

(singing) One more animal. There was a llama chasing after me.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him because llamas spit.

He sang it kind of like a blues song. He would play his guitar during the first line and then he would stop his guitar and speak the second line. Tonight, we had a good laugh about it. The key phrase of the night was "I shot him" in this deep voice. Even when Payton was little, he had such a low voice!!

He's growing up so fast!!

Jaxon Goes Potty

Tonight, Jaxon went potty for the first time! I just want to write the story down so that I don't forget it!

He got out of the bathtub and he was naked in the living room. He looked at me and said, "I'm sorry mommy. Some of my poopy leaked out." I told him to stand up and there were 2 drops of pee on the rug. I told him that we should go sit on the potty and he said, "NO!" I told him that Payton goes potty & Evan goes potty & mommy goes potty & daddy goes potty. Everyone in our house goes potty except for Jaxon. He just laughed.

Payton walked in the living room and Jaxon said, "Payton, do you go potty?" Payton said yes. Evan walked in and Jaxon said, "Evan, do you go potty?" Evan said yes.

Then, Jaxon said, "Mommy, I go potty!" So, we ran to the bathroom and he wouldn't sit down. He started talking for a few minutes and then started peeing in the floor. He quickly stopped and I told him to sit down on his potty. He sat there, but was really nervous (I think it's because his potty plays music and it scared him the first time it happened.)

Then, I pointed to the little "boy guard" and said, "Hey! Why don't you try to shoot that?" He looked down and said, "Hey! Shoot that!" Then, he started peeing and almost filled up the whole potty!! He was so proud of himself and we threw him a small party! ;)

Katianne came over and he told her to come and see. So, he took her in the bathroom and pointed to the little "boy guard" thing and said, "Katianne! I shot that!" It was hilarious!! Now if he'll just keep on doing that!! ;)

Myla Jade

I am uploading some pictures from our Mexico trip and realized that I never shared pictures of my niece, Myla Jade!! She was born on November 4th. . . yes, I realize she's a couple of months old now. But really -- I am one proud aunt!

Here's her story in a nutshell:
My sister had been trying for almost 3 years to get pregnant. She had just finished fertility testing and they came back that her husband had "issues" and one of her tubes was completely blocked and one of her ovaries was "dead" (I don't remember the correct term). Pretty much, they told her in January of 2009 that it was pretty much impossible for her to get pregnant. They were trying to decide if they were going to do fertility treatments, but that would mean that she would have to drive to Lubbock and possibly stay there for an extended amount of time. She finally decided that she didn't want to do that and that they would just wait and see what happened.

Then, our church did a 30 days of 24 hour prayer. Someone was at the prayer house 24 hours a day for 30 days. There was a journal there where you could write prayer requests down for the people to pray over. I decided to put her name in there and some of her story.

At the beginning of March, she called and told me that she was pregnant!! I was overwhelmed and overjoyed! I let her know that we had prayed for her those 30 days and there was no doubt that this little one was straight from God.

Then, on November 3rd, I get a text that says Sally's water had broke. She wasn't due for 4 more weeks. But, everything went just fine and as I was holding this little girl, I know that I heard God say that she has quite a call on her life. God just wanted to reassure me that she was what doctors would say was impossible, but God said otherwise.

Just a few hours old

What a little miracle I'm holding here

This is such a funny picture. I bought this beautiful dress for her to come home in and they were trying to figure out how to get it over her head. She did not like being naked and she did not like them trying to dress her. My sister was all but saying cuss words to me for buying something that had to go over her head.

But, I think it was worth it. Isn't it such a cute outfit?!?! There were some really cute black shoes to go with it, but they were tired of hearing her cry, so they decided not to put those on her.

She is one serious girl!

This is a rare shot of her smiling! We had to work really hard to get her to laugh!

Neither one of them look very interested in having their picture made

Now, she's had enough of this picture thing!

(Insert picture of Jaxon holding her)

Jaxon didn't want anything to do with her, so it didn't happen

Sally took her to get her pictures professionally done and I have some of those on my phone. I'll see if I can transfer them. But for now, here she is! I think she's pretty special.

I hate seeing kids sad!!

Today started out as an amazing day!! Backpacks got some money that was a large amount and it will allow us to expand to feed more kids -- good thing!!

Then, I got a phone call. They were asking if I could come to the elementary school to do some grief counseling. A second grade teacher passed away this morning and they were going to tell the class at 1:30. My heart just sank. I've been with friends when they find out that their loved one has passed away. I've experienced it myself, getting the notice. But, I don't think I've ever been there when a child receives the news.

I had to cancel a lunch that I was really looking forward to. To be honest, my flesh wanted to say that those kids would be ok without me. . . that the school had enough help. . . that I could still go to my lunch and have fun. . . but, I knew what I needed to do. It really is quite an honor for the school to call me and ask me to be there.

So, I went to the school and walked in the library. You could feel the atmosphere of the school was really sad. I walked into the library and they had already started telling her class. Some kids were crying. Others were just sitting there. Some were just more concerned about getting outside to play.

I watched as some of these kids went outside and it was like it hit them. They came back in crying and decided to color pictures, most of them for their teachers. I felt bad for the teachers because they had to be strong for their students as they were sad themselves.

It was also like some kind of door had been opened up for the kids to talk about their own experiences. One little boy, on his way out the door, started telling the counselor, "My dad (something about buying alcohol, drugs, & cigarettes) and I don't even know if he's still alive." This little boy was almost stone cold to the fact that he didn't even know if his dad was alive or dead. Can you imagine?!?!

The counselor was talking to me afterwards and she just said, "This isn't the job I signed up for." She went on to tell me that on Wednesday, she was ready to quit. She said, "If I have to hear one more story about something like 'my mom tried to poison me when I was a baby' . . . " She then went on to tell me that it really happened -- she had to listen to it and do something about it. I just told her that I don't know how she does it.

Please pray for these teachers and the students. Please pray for Mrs. Verden (the counselor). Tomorrow at backpacks, we're going to spend a little more time with the 2nd graders just to check up on them.

Gettin' Some Ink

So, forever, I've wanted a tatoo. I'm not sure what and I don't know where. I'm not talking something big, but just something small & maybe on my foot. Aaron is absolutely against it. . . no ifs, ands, or buts. He doesn't want me to get one. So, I had this dream the other night:

I was at my parents' house and my brother was there. I was working on solving this murder mystery case of a woman named Mary. I had kind of talked about it with my brother and my mom. I was about to have a huge break in the case.

My brother had a tatoo machine right there in my parents' house, so I decided to go for it. He asked me what I wanted and I told him that I didn't know, but I wanted something small. I told him to be creative. So, I sat down in the chair and in like 5 minutes, he was finished. I didn't feel anything!! When he said he was finished, I looked down at my forearm & there on my arm. . . well, taking up about 3/4 of the inside of my whole arm, was a picture of Mary. Underneath her picture, it said, "In Loving Memory of Mary ____". I kind of FREAKED OUT! I thought I told him "something small"!!

Then, I look down on my left leg and on my shin, he tatooed a GIANT sun. . . like, takes up my whole shin!!

So, my mom is going to cut my hair, so I go and wash my hair and cover my arm with a towel. While she's cutting my hair, I realize that forever, I will have to wear a long sleeved shirt. I will also have to wear long pants! He actually did a really good job -- the picture looked just like Mary and the sun was really neat -- but it wasn't what I asked for. Plus, Aaron would be FURIOUS!!!

I remember my mom seeing my arm and asking what was wrong with my arm. I showed her and I remember being mortified!! I had this dead lady's picture tatooed on my arm when I didn't even know who she was! I was just working on the case to find her killer!! Plus, on the entire bottom part of my leg was this gigantic sun!!

Then, I woke up.

I think I could . . .

The other day, I was outside swinging Jaxon in his swing that is attached to the old, run-down, piece of "tree house" that we got from the front of the Prayer House when they were remodeling. You know, that piece of wood thing that was falling apart before we got it & it held a swing and all of our kids got splinters on? Yep, that thing.

So, I'm swinging Jaxon back and forth, back and forth and the rickety wood is also going back and forth, back and forth. Then, I had this idea. I wish I could build my kids a tree house -- and I don't mean hire someone else to do it. I mean, build it with my sweat and tears. I mean, me with the tape measure & the saw. I mean, hammer in hand swinging away. I'm talking trap doors & stairs & a look-out & a place where you can run around the outside of the whole tree house, kind of like a balcony. It would have swings below and a slider pole for quick escapes. I mean, the coolest tree house that ever was built!

Oh how I wish I had the skills. . . or the time. . . or the tools . . . or the money. . . or whatever I would need to do all of that.

What's Up?

I feel like it's been forever since I posted anything. . . well, it has been since I posted anything significant. So, here's what I have been up to:

Children's Church:
The kids have been working for over a year to fill up this jar for Backpacks. They've been emptying their piggy banks and stealing dad's change stash to see that this jar gets full. Well, this last week, it happened. So, this Sunday, they are getting a GIGANTIC Super Bowl Party. We'll have pizza & ice cream & then they get to tar and feather me. . . with chocolate syrup. I'm actually really looking forward to it. Crazy, I know.

The hallway murals are finished in the classrooms! Emilie did an AMAZING job!! Now, we're waiting on the flooring. I'll have to post pictures on here at some point of the transformation. It's just crazy what a great job she did painting on cinder block.

Backpacks:
I'm now feeding kids in the Elementary school & the Intermediate school. This Friday, we will be feeding 91 kids in Clyde. That makes me happy. I'm sure most people know, but I'll take time on my blog to say it again: OUR BACKPACK PROGRAM IS FEATURED ON RACHAEL RAY'S WEBSITE!!! It's no longer on the front page of her website, but we got to be there for the month of January!! It's still in the archives, though. You can check it out here: http://www.yum-o.org/how_cool.php?id=66

Backpacks is getting donations almost daily from people around the community. It's amazing how people will give to a need, but they will pour out for a vision. I've had opportunities to talk to a few clubs in town and the Baptist Church. Right now, the Baptist Church is coming to pack backpacks on Thursday evenings with me.

I forgot that I didn't update on the Backpack Christmas Project. In 2008, we did Christmas presents for 92 children in Clyde. In 2009, we did Christmas presents for over 200 children in Clyde, Abilene, & Baird. How cool is that? I never could get my slide show to upload anywhere, so if you missed it, you missed it. Or maybe I could burn you a CD so you could watch it. I'm not sure if you would have to have PowerPoint on your computer or not. But, I worked on that slide show for 4 weeks & it still made me cry the Sunday that we showed it at church. I was blown away by how amazing God was to take care of all of those kids. We would think we were finished & we would have leftovers to pass on to someone else. Again, we thought we were finished & we had more leftovers. It was crazy, but I was honored to be a part of it.

Home:
I'm trying again to learn how to balance everything. Yesterday, I realized that I work a lot. I mean, a lot. Yes, I love what I do, but I have times where I just want to relax and do nothing, but there's work to be done & a house that needs cleaned & laundry that needs to be folded & bathtubs that need to be scrubbed & ___________ & ___________ & ___________. So is the life of a working mom, I guess. So, I'm going to work on some scrapbook stuff for a while. I'm going to take some time to just do stuff for me or things that I like to do. I realize that I get in task mode and unless I run into someone, I won't have any kind of relationship. . . not good. So, I'm working on being a better friend. . . how about that? ;)

So, there's my blog post to kind of catch everyone up. . . or at least the few that are left in Blogville. Maybe I can get better about updating here. :)