As I Grow

We saw this when we were out somewhere a few months back and I just ran across the picture that TW took of it for me. I love the message! I thought you might enjoy it as well...

Please...

Understand that I am growing up and changing very fast. It must be difficult to keep pace with me, but please try.

Listen to me and give me brief, clear answers to my questions. Then I will keep sharing my thoughts and feelings.

Reward me for telling the truth then I am not frightened into lying.

Tell me when you make mistakes and what you learned from them. Then I can accept that I am ok even when I blunder.

Pay attention to me and spend time with me. Then I can believe I am important and worthwhile.

Do the things you want me to do. Then I have a good, positive model.

Trust and respect me. Even though I am smaller than you, I have feelings and needs just like you.

Compliment and appreciate me. Then I'll feel good and I'll want to please you.

Help me explore my unique interests, talents, and potential. In order for me to be happy I need to be me, and not you or someone you want me to be.

Be an individual and create your own happiness. Then you can teach me the same, and I can live a happy, successful, and fulfilling life.

Thank you for hearing me, I Love You!

Our Weekend

Family movie night is always a big hit in our home. We started this tradition a few years back. Friday night we had our first family movie night in our new home. We all cuddled up on the couch, we usually make a pallet on the floor, however our new humble abode has less room :). We watched Madagascar 2 and enjoyed some good laughs! Saturday morning was chore time. I helped the girls organize their room and the little guy played while we worked. Listening to music always helps them work better so we jammed out to Taylor Swift. TW met with a friend who happened to be in the area for coffee and some time in the Word. When TW got back we all ate lunch and headed out for errands and a little fun. We ended at a splash park that a friend who lived here growing up had told us about. The kids loved it and it was a great way for them to get out and be around other kids. The heat had let up a bit as well so it was nice for TW and I to sit outside. AAP is the one getting totally dumped on and AKP is looking on with binoculars. :)

We then had dinner and headed to the grocery store. Because I can't drive with my foot in a cast, the whole family has been making trips to the store together. And because it would take forever for me to crutch through the whole store I get to ride on one of these...

It is pretty comical really because I usually run into several things. I can tell you which stores have the fastest "go karts". It was then time to head home and get to bed. This morning we were able to try out yet another new church. We enjoyed the experience, but we still aren't ready to commit to a church as our home church yet. This afternoon was quiet time and this evening we are headed to an event at a big church downtown. It is called FX (for Family Experience). They have been marketing it throughout the whole city so I am hoping it will be a great experience!

We are all unpacked now and only have one spot left to organize...the bookshelf. TW loves to read, so we have tons of books. Ultimately he would like to organize it by subject or alphabetically...we will see if that ever happens. :) While the space here is smaller it is feeling more like home now that we have all of our own things here. We have really started to like city living as well. Time for me to get everyone geared up and headed out the door!

Banana Cake Flop

My grandma has two cakes that she always makes for family gatherings. They are delicious!!! One is like a chocolate Texas sheet cake and the other is a banana cake with a yummy icing. We have had some bananas that were getting pretty ripe and so I thought that I would attempt to make Grandma's cake. I also figured this would be a fun activity for the girls and I. After having to send TW to the store a couple of times, we had missed buying some of the essential items our first few trips to the store...baking powder, powdered sugar, the girls and I took the time to make the cake yesterday afternoon. The batter was tasty! The cake came out great as well. Just before dinner I made the icing. I only had written down part of the recipe, but I figured I could wing it and everything would work out. Boy was I wrong! By the time it was done the icing was pretty much one big clump of sugar. To say I wasn't able to spread it is an under statement! It was too thick and too hard! The cake still tasted good so I figured we would just eat it without the icing. The funniest/saddest part of it all was when TW cut himself a large piece and put a clump of the icing next to it. He would take a bite of the cake and then put a bite of the hard icing in his mouth. After his first bite he said, "awwww is this supposed to be that cake your Grandmother makes?" LOL! You could hear the disappointment in his voice! Needless to say this cake was served after a meal that I pretty much flopped on as well. It was quite comical. I suggested that was why we eat out so much! However, this week I did make some yummy spaghetti, Bema's recipe, and a great brisket, Bema's recipe as well, so I guess one "off" night is allowed. :) Enjoy a good laugh at my expense.

It's About Time...First Update from Down South

We just got our internet up and running and we are back in touch with the world. It is amazing how out of touch I felt not being able to email people easily and I so badly wanted to be able to get on here and get y'all (I have adopted this southern saying) up to date on what is going on with our adventure! We arrived to our new home last Monday. We arrived before all of our belongings so we had a campout on the floor with sleeping bags.

A picture I took during the drive

We all slept together in one room. The kids thought it was a lot of fun!! That night was pretty emotional for me. I had a good cry. I was just feeling the realization of the move and the distance from loved ones. The next morning the moving truck came bright and early and we got to work. Because we have downsized quite a bit we had to store a lot of our things in our garage and actually had to send quite a few things back to put in storage. We were living amidst a sea of boxes. You could barely walk through here! Imagine maneuvering through all of the boxes on crutches. :) While our kitchen was out of function because we couldn't get to it we ate a lot of great food! We have been checking out the local favorites and boy are they good...definitely not healthy by any means. I am pretty sure I have gained weight in these 10 days we have been here. Good thing the kitchen is unpacked and we are back to eating at home more. A lot of our days have been filled with unpacking, organizing, and trying to keep the kids entertained.

We have spent some time at the pool letting the kids expend some of their energy. The complex we are living in is full of college kids and young professionals...definitely not the most family friendly environment, but we are trying to make the most of it. The complex is beautiful and clean so that is a bonus! TW's mom made an unexpected trip down here to help us over the weekend. They did quite a bit of manual labor. She was a huge help! While she was here we got all boxes unloaded except for one. On Monday the girls started Vacation Bible School at the church that there new school is. They are loving it and AKP is already wanting to have playdates with some of the friends she has made there. Unfortunately, the friends that they may have made don't go to the same school as the girls. We may go to the Rodeo this weekend as a family fun activity. I will keep you posted with pics if that comes to fruition. TW and I haven't met anyone yet, but we are hopeful and certain that will happen once his school starts. TW and I have quite a few laughs as we are making this transition into a new way of living. It has been fun, sad, exciting, and hard all at the same time.

What great timing!

As many of you probably already know I broke my foot about three weeks ago tomorrow. I had surgery two weeks ago yesterday. I was setting up for a Wedding Shower I was hosting for my little sister and I rolled off of my flip flop while I was going down the stairs. Instant pain! So, I have been on crutches for the last three weeks and I can tell you that it feels like A LOT longer! Three kids, packing, moving, not being able to drive, and crutches really don't go well together. However, the kids and TW have been AMAZING and I can say they have truly blessed me by stepping up to help out! I thought I would share some of the photos of the progress over the past three weeks. I went back for a check up this week and found out that the bone isn't healing exactly like they would have hoped for. The screw and/or putting weight on the foot has caused my piece of bone that was broken off to split...so it isn't healed exactly right. I am trying to stay off of it as much as possible, which is really hard right now. Please pray for healing! It seems I have heard from others a dozen horror stories of how they broke their foot and are still dealing with issues many years later. I so don't want that to be me!

Moving Time

The time has come. We will be moving to our new home in Texas on Monday, July 6th. This is the day we have been preparing for and I can't believe it is here! I am filled with a lot of mixed emotions...excitement, sadness, anxiety, and happiness just to name a few. For those of you who don't know I broke my foot three weeks ago and had surgery two weeks ago. So, I am hobbling around on crutches with my right foot in a cast, so no driving for me! Couldn't have happened at a more inconvenient time, but we are trying to make the best of it. TW sure has kicked it into high gear and has been helping out a tremendous amount...he has been GREAT! This week has been filled with getting together with lots of different friends for one last hurrah before we head out of town. God has blessed us with amazingly beautiful weather and so we have been enjoying that as much as possible before we head south to the TX heat! I will keep you updated in our progress!