Just ‘Cause…

Happy Thursday!

Be blessed.

Big Time Nostalgic!

I rarely open those envelopes filled with coupons that find their way to our mail box each week…mostly because I have flipped through the coupons in the past and have never found a coupon really worth using, most are for carpet cleaning, new gutters, swimming pools etc.

For whatever reason, I opened last week’s envelope and discovered a coupon for a free smoothie at Smoothie King near TCU. I am rarely one to turn down anything that is free so I saved the coupon in hope that B and I might be able to cool off one afternoon.

Yesterday, as  I cleaned the kitchen in anticipation for another week, I discovered the smoothie coupon which was about to expire.  In effort to take advantage of the deal, I made it my plan to take B on a morning walk around TCU (with the free smoothie in tow).

B enjoyed the smoothie, as I did as well.

But what we both found even more enjoyable than the free treat was the hustle and bustle that was taking place around the campus. We got to see the soccer team, track team, football team and percussion line practice. We got to see students moving into the myriad of dorm rooms on campus and we got to hear the shouts and cheers of the sorority houses gearing up for recruitment which starts this week. Hearing the cheers brought me back, I remembered the words and found myself singing to myself (I know I am a little dorky).

I found myself being hit by this huge wave of nostalgia. As we walked and watched the happenings I began to do some simple math and realized that it is 10 years ago this week that I made my trek south to TCU, moved into my dorm room and nervously got ready for the craziness of the sorority recruitment to begin…wow! has time flown by!

Walking around the campus reminded me of how grateful I am to have had the college experience that I did and grateful for my parents who helped to make that experience possible.

It really is fun to live in a college town, especially if the college is one where you attended and have fond memories. Our hopes and dreams are that  B might someday have his own special college experience…whether he becomes a Horned Frog or not (no pressure)…We hope it will mean as much to him as it did to us.

Here’s to the Frogs and to coupon clipping!

(This is a new Horned Frog statue that we discovered as we walked).

Happy Monday!

Be blessed.

p.s. the chicken thawing experiment was a success!

Inventive or Ridiculous?

I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer to thaw this afternoon. So, I thought I would try using the August heat to my benefit, I put the frozen chicken on a plate, covered it and placed it on our patio table.  Done and done. It’s hot enough, that this process may be quicker the the defrost function in our microwave. Logically, it seems like a good plan…I’ll just have to keep a careful watch to make sure Ella doesn’t get a tasty snack.

I guess I am really trying to get these 100 + degree temperature to work towards my benefit…how pathetic am I?

Thanks for your prayers…keep’em coming.

Be blessed.

Yay for Visitors!

My college roommate, M, made it up to Fort Worth for a quick visit this week. Our visits are pretty few are far between now that we don’t live in the same place…but we will take whatever time we can get…

We met for breakfast at a place that has sentimental meaning for both of us which is a little bagel shop is across from TCU. We would both make stops (almost daily) at this shop, M would stop for diet Coke and I would typically stop for coffee.  Many study sessions took place in this shop before walking across the street to take an exam.  Needless to say, we meet at this bagel shop almost everything she comes to town…the food really isn’t anything to write home about, but the memories really are!

 

After breakfast, we walked  to the car, piled the boys in and headed to the museum…which is one of my new favorite spots in Cowtown.

The museum has a fantastic place for little ones to play. Upon walking through the door, one must get over any fear of germs, because there are kids and toys everywhere…but really it is worth it (plus as a teacher and now momma I believe it is good to develop the habit of hand washing at an early age)! 

B’s little eyes lit up as he saw everything there was to play with and touch, he didn’t have to listen to his momma say “No, sir. Please don’t touch”.

B watched M’s son, C, play in the train area…B didn’t have a clue as to how the track fit together or how to push the trains along the track…but really was enamored by just watching C, his big kid friend play.

The museum has a fantastic outdoor water play area.  There are larger water tables to splash in and water squirt guns that spray water around wheels and funnels.

After the boys had had enough water play, we walked through the big kid portion of the museum. B was quite fascinated by the large kaleidoscope that is big enough to stand inside of inside of.

It wasn’t long before tummy’s started to rumble. We said good bye to the museum and head out to get lunch. I asked M where she and C wanted to eat lunch. Without any hesitation, she suggested a famous Cowtown eatery that is known for having good hamburgers and fries. 

Eating lunch with two tired boys ways hysterical, but all in all fun and quite delicious. As we sat and watched the boys interact, I had one of those moments when I caught myself thinking “Is this really happening? Are we really grown ups?” 

After lunch, we enjoyed slushies and ice cream from another favorite spot and then played some ball with Ella dog before M and C had to hit the road.

It really was a fun (and quite exhausting) day. I don’t know why the exhausting part,is it because I am getting old? Or because I am the momma of a very busy little boy? Or because it is hot outside?  Whatever the reason, I am grateful to have had this fun day together, what a memory.

We love you M & C.

Please keep on praying!

Be blessed.

THANK YOU MS. P!!!!!!

As a non-native Texan, I am always looking for ways to stay cool. Some of my most recent ideas (which I totally and humbly admit are not always real classy) have included purchasing a misting system to hang around our porch, have outdoor fans, push B in the stroller through water fountains, retire my hair blowdryer till fall, wear sun dresses, let B hang out in a diaper, going to the pet store to look at fish and hamsters because it is cooler than the zoo, use the kiddy pool daily, play in the sprinkler before 9:00am, take between 2 & 3 showers a day (I call them my vacations), visit McDonalds to use their indoor play equipment  and purchase a small soda (I can’t take full claim for this idea), visit the museum to play, go to Target or any other store that is air conditioned, or be a “pool mooch”!  Though this list is not exhaustive, I am starting to run out of ideas and always looking and wanting  other people’s suggestions and ideas.

I often feel awkward taking people up on offers because I am afraid that I might infringe on their family time etc. or make them feel like I am taking advantage of them (something I never want to do)…which makes being a pool mooch (my favorite of all the ideas) rather tricky.  But this week, as the temperatures have consistently hovered around 100 plus degrees I decided to put my pride aside and ask my friend if I could take her up on her standing offer to come over for a pool date.

I am so glad that I did, because we had a blast! C was able to excuse himself from work a touch early so that the three of us could spend some family time together playing and staying cool before it was time to get B ready for bed.

 

B tried putting his face in the water several times…so we tried to teach him how to blow bubbles…he thought the entire process was pretty comical.

B  

“Jumping” (really leaning) into the water is still a novelty and seems to be one of B’s favorite tricks.

More bubble blowing…

At one point, while I was holding B, C swam underneath us and tickled B’s toes…when C surfaced B had quite a puzzled look on his face…after a bit, B got the hang of following C as he submerged under the water, which meant the element of surprise has disappeared.

C found a higher ledge for B to “Jump” off of…B loved it!

I have learned that the evening is a fantastic time to swim, it is still hot so your time is very refreshing, but the sun is low enough in the sky that you don’t have to worry about sunscreen…and it totally wipes any kid (and parent) out so you sleep really well.

What a treat!

Thank you Ms. P for allowing us to take you up on your offer, we now have a sweet family memory on account of your invitation!

Please keep on praying for our friend.

Happy Friday.

Be blessed.

Congratulations Aunt B!

We packed the car, hit the road and headed west  last weekend to celebrated C’s sister’s graduation.

This may have been one of the most efficient graduation ceremonies that we have ever and will ever attend…there were only about 60 people who graduated, which meant the ceremony was sort and sweet (something that doesn’t really go hand in hand with commencement gatherings).

B did laps around the outside of the auditorium as the commencement speaker spoke, but was sure to watch and cheer for his Aunt B as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma!

This is our group after the ceremony…

 

The ceremony was on Friday night, and we had plans to attend church on Sunday morning with C’s grandfather (“Grandpa J”) so we hung out on Saturday.  This photo is of B & C hanging out on a demo futon at Target while we ran an errand for Grandpa J…I have to admit  that my initial thought after seeing the two sitting together was not  pride…but really, they did look pretty cute and it is tough to walk around Target, it is a pretty big store.

We really spent the day hanging out, which was fun because we have been out of town.

Grandpa J just had some renovations completed on his house…this was our attempt at hanging some blinds using his drill that may have been older than C and I…we tried really, really hard but the drill and the wall put up an incredible fight!

Aunt B read as we tried to hand the blinds…I am sure that she giggled to herself many times as she heard us talking about the drill and our different ideas of methods for getting it to work.

We were able to have dinner together to celebrate Aunt B’s weekend on Saturday night and then enjoyed experiencing Grandpa J’s church. After church we headed back to Cowtown, but made sure to get one last photo with Grandpa J before we left.

Congratulations Aunt B! We are proud of you and know that you will use what you learned to be an even better teacher than you already are! Those kids are so lucky to have you as a part of your life.

Also, please continue to pray for our friend at the bakery…her daughter and son-in-law are making their decision this weekend…we are still praying for a miracle and that the Lord would draw them to Himself.

Be blessed.

Please Join Me

We were able to make a special middle of the week trip to the bakery with C this morning.  As always the donuts and coffee were fantastic, however my heart is heavy as a result of our trip.

There are two woman who work at the bakery whom we have come to know quite well. They both greet B when we walk in the door and have each of our breakfast orders memorized. 

One of the women has a grandson close to B’s age and another grandbaby on the way.  I always make it my mission to get an update on the little boy and ask how the pregnancy is going…and this morning was no different.

When I asked, big tears swelled in the woman’s eyes as she told me that this past week her daughter and son in law learned that their precious little baby has fluid on its brain and lungs and that it is not developing properly. The doctor’s don’t think that the baby will live much more than a week after he or she is born. The woman told me that she is taking care of her grandson this weekend so that her daughter and son in law can decide if they are going to continue the pregnancy or take other measures.

I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes, my heart just breaks for them. I don’t know if they know Jesus or not, which makes my heart even heavier. But I do wholeheartedly believe that God had a plan for that little baby that is continuing to grow inside of it’s mother and a plan for the entire situation.

My prayer is for a miracle, that they would decide to carry the baby to term and that God would miraculously heal that precious baby’s body…my prayer is also that the Lord would draw Himself to this family as they walk through this trial, that if they already know Him that their faith might be strengthened and if they don’t that they would come to know Him as a result of this trial.

We have several friends who are expecting little ones right now, and I hesitated to even share this request because I don’t want to instill any fear or concern for their own babies as a result of sharing this story. I pray that the Lord might protect their hearts from any fear and only motivate anyone who reads this to remember how big our God is and how little we are in comparison to His grand plans for our lives. It is such a reminder that we should be constantly lifting our cares and concerns up to Him because He cares for us so greatly (1 Peter 5:6) and remember that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28).

Would you please join me in praying and rallying for this family?

Thank you.

Be blessed.