Vacation Bible School

Yes, I know Vacation Bible School was almost a month ago but our computer, I think, is slowly dying and is having issues uploading photos. The good thing about that is, due to massive effort it takes to get them on here, you probably won't be deluged by a slew of pictures any time soon.

You're welcome.

See, the Lord is looking out for you :-)

The other disclaimer I need to throw out is that the lighting inside my parents' sanctuary and my camera did not agree. I've adjusted them a bit but what I was working with wasn't exactly great quality. And, yes, they are all taken by yours truly so I have no one and nothing to blame except my lack of photography skills.

I did try to distract from that fact, though, by adding cute borders. Do I at least get style points?

Singin' with Aunt Anna

Miss Thang got to hold the American flag. This completed her quest to hold each of the items (Christian flag, American flag, Bible, offering plate) during the week.

My man and Boppy watching the festivities.

Singing her little heart out. Until she would see me taking a picture....

Brother Sam

Nana, Super VBS Director

Tay had a great time at this annual Nana event. And we had a really quiet week to prepare us for back-to-school madness.

Hope you're all surviving and, dare I say, even enjoying it?

More to come - lots of baptism pics to be uploaded...

School Days, School Daze

I'm really glad Ms. Davis is my teacher because the others were actually teaching today. I certainly don't want that on the first day of school.

~Taylor, on beginning 4th grade

Ah yes, I remember this insanity. It's what happens when the school year begins anew. When my precious 'tween-aged child is not yet used to getting up early again. And has, apparently, forgotten how to put on her tennis shoes since that's what sent her into a foot-stomping meltdown this morning.

And, guess what? Gymnastics hasn't even started yet. That bit of fun will begin again next week on Mondays and Thursdays. Dave's church league softball on Tuesdays. Church on Wednesday nights. And I'm supposed to get in 4-5 workouts a week when?

In the mornings. Before work. Tried it earlier this week and it was actually ok. You know, since I was half asleep and didn't feel much of the pain or exhaustion until about 9pm when I was rendered officially useless.

So Miss Taylor did actually enjoy the first day of school. She was dressed cute as a bug after no small amount of discussion about what to actually don for this milestone of a day. She really likes her teacher but I'm not sure if her reasoning is going to hold up for long. I'm thinking they'll begin studying sooner than later for the dreaded TAKS tests.

Please, Jesus, don't let my child be stricken with such extreme test anxiety again this year. I'm not sure I can handle that and preteen hormones at the same time. Or maybe I'll just have to step up my prayer life...

Once I'm fairly coherent and am at home where I'm able to upload photos, I'll be sure to share the ones from the first day of school. They were taken in our driveway since I wasn't allowed to walk Miss Thang to her class. They're still cute, though!

Happy Thursday!

Summer in Review

Now that Summer '09 has officially come and almost gone (still a few hours left, right?), I thought a nice little wrap-up was in order. So, what did we do this summer?

• Tay took golf lessons again.
• We visited the da Vinci exhibit at the Mayborn Museum.
• She went off to church camp for the first time. And I did, indeed, survive.
• We went to Disney World and had the time of our lives!
• Pop went to live with Jesus and was reunited with Nan.
• Tay spent a whole week with Maw Maw in Lousiana.
• We celebrated Fourth of July at Aunt Anna's house.
• Little Dude was found in our backyard and found a new home with the rehabilitator.
• I turned 31.
• Dave turned 42.
• Boppy was baptized.
• Tay was baptized a week later.
• All three of us joined a church. As a family. Wow - God is good!
• Dave began playing church league softball.
• I continued to Zumba.
• Miss Thang continued gymnastics throughout the summer.
• The puppy posse tried to stay as cool as possible. :-)
• Dave went with me to an enrollment management conference in San Antonio.
• Miss Thang enjoyed countless movies, trip to the pool and skating fun at Play & Learn.

We had an incredibly busy and fun summer - probably the best ever! It is such a blessing to work at a place where your work/life balance is a priority. I cannot begin to tell you how much stress the move to Baylor has lifted in my life. Dave appreciates it as well because I'm not nearly as cranky as I used to be :-)

As we begin the fourth grade and embark on new adventures, what is most striking to me is how much closer we've become over the summer. There is only One who could have made this difference in our lives and I will spend the rest of my days praising Him.

Where For Art Thou, Summer?

On July 30 we celebrated Davey's birthday. It was on a Sunday and it was his weekend to work so Tay and I picked him up a cake for a little celebratory surprise. He'd had a rough day and immediately changed into what we'll call 'less than photographic quality lounging attire' so he refused to let me take a picture of him.

But I did get a picture of the cake which, of course, is the most important part. 

In other news, we had big plans to make our last summer weekend an awesome one. As I outlined last week, we planned to hit the zoo and movies and all kinds of other fun stuff. Well, most of it happened but we were thrown a few curveballs Saturday morning that almost made this Type A mama freak out!

We were up and at 'em early (after enjoying a divine dinner at 1424 the evening before - I highly recommend this one, y'all) and hit Wal-Mart before the tax free craziness (which I absolutely don't understand) hit the stores. All was good and well until Dave's phone rang between the bottled water and soda aisles.

He ended up having to go to up to the hospital because the blood gas machine wasn't working correctly and he was, apparently, the one on call. He planned to go from there to his son's softball tournament game (something else we didn't learn of until that morning) while I went to Zumba and then picked Tay up from my mom's house.

While I was harvesting my crops on FB (what else do you do with a few minutes of 'me' time?), Tay called and begged me to pick her up early so off I went to Troy. Obviously I missed Zumba, right?

Dave, unfortunately, was still at the hospital when I got home so I popped in a DVD and did a quick five miles. By the time he got home, though, it was way too hot to go to the zoo. So we went to see Aliens in the Attic (very cute film) and then hopped on over to the dollar theater for Ice Age (also awesome) and $1 hot dogs for dinner.

Who says we don't know how to have a good time?

Yesterday Tay and I went to church while Dave slept the morning away. He claims he didn't hear me try to wake him up but we all know better. The final private gym lesson took place shortly after church and then we cleaned house for the better part of the afternoon. After a yummy steak dinner, we were all spent and hit the hay a little earlier than usual.

Thrilling, I know, but someone has to live on the edge, right?

And there you have it, folks. Summer is officially on its way out of the building. If only it's 128-degree days would go as well...school starts on Wednesday and I've already been told my services will not be needed that morning as Miss Thang says she will be walking into school by herself.

Guess I'll have to enjoy Meet the Teacher this evening since I'm just a set of wheels at this point. I was hoping that would wait until we moved up to intermediate school but apparently not...

Six Years and Counting

August 21, 2003

That's the day my man and I were married. In Port Aransas, Texas. At the courthouse. After a proposal over laundry. Honeymoon in the pop-up camper - on the beach - followed.

And you know what?

It was the best decision I ever made. Not because things have been easy. They certainly have not. And there were a few years where we did our darndest to absolutely destroy each other. We had nothing nice to say to each other and didn't hold back a lick on the negative stuff. 

We, at one point or the other, probably detested each other and even made it to the attorney's office once or twice.

But you know what?

The fact of the matter is that we love each other deeply. And we both needed to grow up. And we both needed to let go. And let God.

Once we did, our lives changed. For the better. Forever.

The past 18 months have been grand. Our family is the strongest it's ever been. And we have some pretty exciting projects on the horizon that I'd love you to remember in prayer although I have to be a bit vague at this point (sorry :-).

The truth of the matter is that Dave is my best friend. My protector. Our provider. Snake killer. Pick-on-you-until-you-want-to-smack-him. Makes me laugh on an every day (if not hourly) basis. 

And I wouldn't change any of it. Not for the world.

Because my God is big. Not only did He show up in our marriage - He showed OUT, girlfriends!

And I will be eternally grateful. Because I would have missed out on big fun if we hadn't let Him do His thing.

To celebrate, the little one is spending the night with Nana and Boppy while we check out 1424, a restaurant downtown we've never tried. We're excited about doing that and then picking Tay up tomorrow to hit the new Asian exhibit at the zoo. And then going to the movies. 

Then going to church on Sunday - the one we joined as a family a couple of weeks ago.

Together. As a family. The way I thought for many years that it never would be.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful!

Hebrews 10:23 

Boppy's Baptism Pics

So I finally got Boppy's baptism pictures and, after I uploaded all of them, I noticed they're in reverse chronological order. While I love my internet friends dearly, this allergy-induced sinus headache will simply not allow me to delete all of them and start over.

Sorry.

Hope you'll still love me.

So here we go...

My parents with their good friend, Jerry

Tay hanging out with Aunt Anna who is, apparently, the official photographer for Anchor of Hope Fellowship

Does this tell you anything about her mood?

She did enjoy being there but did not want her picture taken

She like the water too

Such a cutie

We took pictures of each other taking pictures

After the dunking

Yes, it took three people to help him back up

Before the dunking

We spent many days here when we lived in Belton

I LOVE this picture!

Lots of people were baptized this day

Check out those fingernails!

Heading out

The water was crazy low but I knew if I didn't take a picture, my man would believe me.

Again - see what a great mood she was in?

So here's a funny thing that happened on this day. When Tay and I were walking out to the lake, I asked her if she remembered all of the days we used to spend in that exact same spot. At one point, when we first moved there, we'd even pack up and head off to the lake on afternoons after work.

She said 'no,' which astonished me. Upon further questioning, she finally admitted that she did indeed remember all of those times; however, "if I said 'yes,' you'd just start telling stories."

Guess I was put in my place...