Sam Moon and Kirkland's

I think I could knock out 85% of my Christmas shopping at these 2 stores. Seriously. I love getting 'personalized' items, specifically with the person's first initial and these 2 stores have quite a collection. Never to disappoint. OK, at Sam Moon's, I was disappointed that I could not find an 'S' on three different items. After looking at 97 clipboards, 72 notebooks, and 88 wallets, there was not one 'S'. Either they did not order any OR every one else in the metroplex needed an 'S'.

From now on, I am going to Kirkland's first. I found the nicest 'stuff' there. Very classy objects with a wide variety. AND they had the letter(s) I was looking for. Granted, most of the stuff that I paid full or sale price for will be on clearance in 2-3 weeks, I wanted to make sure I got what I needed. Don't get me wrong, I'll be going back, waiting on stuff to get clearanced out and then either use those things as gifts for the end of the school year or next Christmas. I love buying ahead of time! (I just have to remember to find it in all the Christmas boxes!)

PIE Party (and 20.5 reunion)

We had so much fun at our 20th high school reunion that we decided to have a 20.5 reunion. Today. In the form of a party. What kind of party? A PIE PARTY!!

I took Natalie and Claire, as I knew that there would be lots of girls and Melissa had some crafts set up for the little ones. Claire got plenty of attention and did not need me to hold her but a few times. It is so fun to 'share' her with those who want to hold a sweet baby girl. We stayed a little over 3 hours, in which Claire was ready for snoozeville. I did not want anyone to think she was anything but a happy, sweet girl, so I decided to depart before the 'big meltdown' occurred. Good timing, because she cried for all of 3 minutes before she crashed.

Great friends and great fun! (Oh yeah, and the pie was awesome too!)

Hibbs 24th Annual Christmas Party

Every year our neighbors across the street kick off the Christmas season with a party on the first Friday of December. Guaranteed. I could go ahead and write it on my calendar for next year. They invite a lot of our neighborhood, plus a few others. It also benefits the Tarrant County Food Bank, because everyone brings a donation to put in the box by the front door. How awesome is that?

It is such a great time AND we do not have to drive anywhere afterwards. We just walk ourselves across the street!

What I am Thankful For

Finding Christ 12 years ago
John
My 4 beautiful, healthy children
Parents who love me
Being healthy
My neighborhood
Pantego Bible Church
The doctors who take care of me
Being able to stay home and raise my children
Driving an SUV that I feel safe in
Being forgiven
John having a good job
The plethora of friends who surround me, encourage me and comfort me
Ditto Elementary & Julie Harcrow
Junior League of Arlington
A fantastic mother-in-law
Having a chef for a husband
Ditto Elementary PTA
My children being so intelligent
My love of books and reading

My 8 month old!!

Claire is 8 months old today! Wow! I can honestly say that I am soaking up every hug, kiss, cuddle, snuggle and milestone with her. I am enjoying her to the fullest.

Her newest accomplishments:

• She has pretty much mastered the sitting up business. However, she does still tump over. She will lie there on her back, her head held up in a crunch position and just kind of look at me with this expression that says, "don't just leave me here! Roll me back!"


• She has also perfected the transition from sitting to the crawling position. Like fast. Once she starts doing that and we a trying to get pictures, might as well give up. She will not longer just 'sit' for fun. She has places to go and things to SEE!


• She is still working on getting the hand-hand-foot-foot rhythm down for crawling. She can do it right for like 3 movements, then she kind of forgets and goes back to the flatten-out-back-up-to crawl-position-flatten-out. It is amazing how quickly she can get across the room like that!


• Thought she mastered sleeping through the night a month ago, she all of a sudden forgot and now wakes up at 3 or 4 am, just wailing her lungs out. Inevitably, one of us will make her a bottle and she'll sleep another 4 or 5 hours.


• Curious as a cat. She wants to inspect anything and everything on the floor. Most of the time, she finds random tags, paper, hangers, etc. I could put out 5 toys that she loves, but if there is a sales tag from a sweater on the floor, she'll pass over all the toys to check out the trash on the floor!


• She is learning how to do straight-body when it is time for me to put her in her car seat. Oh yeah, and this is accompanied by a loud, very loud crying fit.


• She loves playing peek-a-boo!


• She loves the Galactic Blast VBS CD. If she is crying, turning that on works like a charm every time.


• She smiles when I turn on Wordworld. Wordworld to her is what Baby Einstein was to Cooper, Natalie and Luke.

Our Alternative Thanksgiving Meal

A few years back, we decided to 'mix' my parents and have everyone eat one meal together for Thanksgiving. Before then, John was cooking 2 turkey lunch/dinners each year for Thanksgiving. There is something so warm and cozy having everyone together, in the same house, eating a meal together. John did not disappoint with the meal itself. He made sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes mixed together. That was all sorts of goodness! We also had broccoli, green bean casserole (that Mother made), stuffing, gravy, artisan bread made from scratch and pecan pie that Louise made for desert. I could not ask for a better Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day ER Visit

It is well known in our household that I am the healthy one. I have low blood pressure, an impressive blood profile: perfect cholesterol, super amount of HDLs, perfect glucose, and so on. Yet, on Thanksgiving Day I am getting whisked away to the MCA Emergency Room to be treated for severe abdominal pain. Did I mention that it was severe? Like on a scale of 1 to 10, I was at 9.9, if death was the 10.

John was driving home from Kansas with the boys and I was at my mom's house. After delivering 26 turkey dinners to some less fortunate families that morning, we were going to have our own Thanksgiving around noon: spaghetti. My recurring pain hit me ~9:30 a.m. and kept on intensifying. I have been having these abdominal pains for a 2 weeks now, but never this severe or this long of a duration. John called around 11:30 and I was in tears, it hurt so bad. I wanted to wait for him to get home and then let him take me to the ER. However, it just kept getting worse and I could not keep from crying, it hurt so bad. Finally, John talked me into letting Mother take me to the ER. John called Dr. Urso, who lives in our neighborhood and works at the MCA ER. Turns out that he was not working, but he called ahead to let them know I was coming in.

Within 5 minutes of exiting the car, I was in a room, with an IV in my arm. They gave me some morphine, but it did not even touch the pain. After 30 minutes, they gave me something else that was 6 times stronger than morphine. (Did not know such a thing existed!) That took the edge off about 20 minutes later. Once I was out of extreme pain, they sent me down for a CT scan. Turns out I was having esophageal contractions, because I had not pooped in over a week. It was 'backed up' all the way through my large intestines and to my small intestines. Nice. The only explanation was all the hydrocodone I had been taking for my pathetic knee had caused the back up. Now I am eating lots of prunes, mixing Miralax and taking the prescription Lactalose to get things mobilized. Good grief.

And I am the healthy one!!

Me and my MOM!!!

How I Have Been Shown Love This Week

I had to come to a hard reality this week and it was not fun. I had to give up something I really, truly loved doing: running. I am one of those weird people who love to run. When I go outside and it is that perfect temperature (between 70 and 85 degrees), I think ,"I cannot wait to run!". Or when I am particularly stressed about something, I know that if I could go run 5 or 6 miles, I would feel a lot better and maybe even work through it. Also, my running time is my best time to pray. Having a whole hour to pray would not happen any other way, but while I am running, I can pray about many, many things.

All the above to say that even though I was throwing myself a pity party and crying for 2 days, I had so many friend show me love. Show me that they care about me. A friend sent me a text telling me how much she cared for me, another friend keeping Claire so I could have the day to myself, and so many others that expressed their concern for my well-being. I felt that I was surrounded by friends that love me. And that is such a good feeling.

Here is what I posted on Facebook:

April Nohinek has come to the sad realization that I will have to follow some medical advice that completely saddens me. To be told that I cannot and should not run for the sake of preserving what pathetic parts of my knee that I have left is devastating.

I received over 30 comments with such sweet words of empathy, sympathy and encouragement, they almost made me cry (again). I am so blessed to have so many friends that would take a moment or two out of their day to express their kindness to me.

24 mile RUN!

I ran 24 miles in 3 hours and 29 minutes. Not bad. Not bad at all.

My route:
From home, out to Pleasant Ridge, up Green Oaks, Through Woodland Blvd, to Park Springs, to Pioneer Parkway, down to Spanish Trail, to Arkansas Lane, to Bowen, down Bowen to Bardin, to Matlock, south to green Oaks, to Craves Park, back to Matlock, south to Sublett, all the way across Sublett to Kelly Elliot, north on Kelly Elliot to Pleasant Ridge, west on Pleasant Ridge to Poly Webb, Bowman Springs, lake Mead then sprint from Falcon Lake to home.

I was quite proud of myself. Until my knee started screaming. Almost as soon as I got in the house, it went from a functional knee to not. I could not stretch it or straighten it. I iced it--no good. I realized something was wrong with it, but had no idea how serious it was.

Happy birthday JOHN!

What did John want for his birthday? A motorcycle. For the longest time, Vanda had said that he could get a motorcycle as soon as they buried her body. That took the pressure off of me, because what Vanda says, goes. Well, ~2 years ago she suddenly decided that she did not care if he got a motorcycle. WHAT?!?! Now I have to be the bad guy and say 'ABSOLUTELY NOT'!

Needless to say, he wore me down and I relented. My only stipulation? He had to get more life insurance. Fast forward to yesterday. John asks me if I know what would make him so happy to get for his birthday?
Me: A motorcycle?
John: HA! How did you know?!?

You know 10 years of marriage, I feel like we are sometimes on the same wave-length. I, however, had to put a kibosh on it by asking:

Me: Have you got your life insurance yet?
Pause. Long pause.
John: I do not have a quote yet. I haven't priced them.
Me: You have been pricing motorcycles for the last 2 months. You could get a few quotes.
John: Pffft.

And he pseudo stomps to another part of the house.

(Fast forward 2 hours)

John: Andrea is coming over tomorrow to have me sign all the papers for the life insurance.
Me: Great!

*Goes to show that when John puts his mind to something, he can get stuff done licketedy split!*

My Ditto Dashers

Cooper ran his very first 5K today. Let me just say I am one proud momma!! He ran it in 28:52. His 1st 5k!! I ran the 5K (fast) and then started back on the course, following it in reverse, to try to find Cooper. I did not have to go to far. He was only about a quarter of a mile from the 3 mile marker. He ran hard at the end to finish strong. I was so full of pride on his behalf. He actually finished 3rd in his age group, but they only gave out medals to first and second place.

Oh, by the way, I was the first female finisher at 22:42.

Holiday Magic 2010

Since I am an active in Junior League, I have to work 8 hours at Holiday Magic. I chose to get all 8 hours today, in one fail swoop. I arrived at the Arlington Convention Center at 8:40, ready for a whole day of fun. (little sarcasm here)

I started off taking tickets. With someone that has one of the most annoying voices I have ever heard. I quickly found myself another position, so I would not pull all my hair out in the first 1/2 hour of being there. For the next few hours, I gave out shopping bags to the women entering the market to shop. People are funny in that they think that if they take a bag, they are obligated to fill it. Nope, just trying to make their shopping experience a little more pleasant.

My next position was to hold the Master map of the Ladies' Style Show and direct women to their table, if they needed assistance finding it. (I honestly do not know how any person found their table on their own because the way the tables were numbered was random and haphazard.) After most of the women were at their tables and eating, Jennifer (Carroll) and I stood in the back and observed everything that was funny. One of the funniest things:

JC: "I think that was one of the best ideas ever."

Me: "Wedding rings? That's random, but yes, whoever started that had a good idea."

(laughter here)

JC: "No, having firemen as the Celebrity Waiters."

Me: Oh, yea, that's a good idea too..."

(LOTS of laughter here!)

OK, maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was hilarious! From that 'job', I went with Jennifer to 'count money'. I did not really count money, I just went to the Celebrity Waiter lunch area and pretended to be working. Really, I was waiting for them to clear out so I could have some queso from Fuzzy Taco's. (Fuzzy's provided the food for the men.) Oh yea, and there was tea in there as well, so I drank as much as I could without having to go to the bathroom.

After that 'job', Jennifer had to leave, so I went out to my car. Since no one knew where I was assigned, including me, I went over to the Progressive Claims office and retrieved our hard drive/tower. It was so nice to have a break, out of the convention center. I came back, ready for 3 more hours of fun, fun, fun. I assigned myself to Ticket Sales, since that was where Mary was. It was a little crowded in the ticket booth, since I was the 6th person in there. After a while the others started leaving until there was only 3 of us. I LOVED this 'job' because I got to sit down. AND chat with Mary. At 3:30, the person in charge of ticket sales told me I could go home. WHAT?!? Are you serious? And I would still get credit for 8 hours?!? She became my new best friend for the next 5 minutes. I practically ran out of there!

This was, by far, the funnest Holiday Magic that I have worked!

Grandparent's Day at Ditto + Book Fair

I had Natalie and Cooper, separately, call Gram and Grandad to invite them to Grandparent's Day at their school. It was so sweet of Mother to ask them each if they wanted for her to bring them lunch. That was a big YES from both! She got McDonald's for Natalie and Whataburger for Cooper.

I came up so I could take pictures (shocker, I know!). I love taking pictures for other people, then giving the pictures to them, especially when they are not expecting it. Grandparent's Day is one of those days that everyone would want a picture!

Mother and Calvin sat with Cooper first, then headed down to the book fair, so they could buy him a book. I am quite sure it was a Star Wars chapter book. Natalie had lunch shortly after that and she was SO excited about getting to eat McDonald's at school. (I have never brought them McDonald's or Whataburger.) After she quietly ate her lunch, she wanted to rush down to the book fair. Unfortunately, the ONE book that she really, really, really wanted was sold out. This lead to sadness and tears. She ended up getting a pink diary that she acted ~somewhat excited about, but I felt really bad for not getting her the book earlier when it was in stock. I called John to ask him if he would stop at Barnes and Noble to get it for her. He did and she was so, so, so happy when he gave it to her. She was so excited that she read 3 chapters before bedtime.

What a great time for the kids, to have their grandparents come to their school, bring them lunch, sit at their lunch table with them and then go to a book fair. I hope this is something that they remember and treasure in their heart as they grow up. These are not experiences that I had growing up, so I am so happy that they are.

Family Pics

I love pictures. That is the understatement of the year. I especially love our 'family' pictures, where we are all dressed nice, in a nice place with a beautiful background. We usually have one done once a year, but we have not had a 'nice' picture since Claire was born.

I started trying to schedule a family shoot with Brandy in September. I was in no rush, I just wanted to have them in time to make our Christmas cards. Well, September flew by and October was almost over when we finally found a date that worked for her schedule and our crazy sports schedule. We initially were going to meet at the Gaylord hotel, but at the last minute, decided to meet at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, which was much, much better for all of us.

The kids were acting a little hyper and silly, but for the most part were able to smile when it was needed. Natalie had a not-so-good fake smile that showed up periodically, but for the most part we had pretty good cooperation from all of them, especially Claire. She really knows how to bust out a big smile for the camera.

The end result? WOW. I mean, WOW!! Brandy posted the pictures the very next day and they were phenomenal. Then, she made a video with one of my most favorite songs of all time,"Blessed", by Mariah Carey. If I was a cryer, I would have cried my eyes out. Instead, it made me realize how blessed I truly am. Blessed beyond measure. My children are healthy and intelligent and I have a husband who loves me dearly. I could not ask for more. God is so good to me.

Status Updates

April:

... has officially run out of energy.

... ran 10 miles. I must have run faster than usual because I was wearing Luke's Spiderman sunglasses.

...does not mind one bit when Claire falls asleep on my chest.

...was a bit startled when I walked into the guest room, in the dark, and heard deep breathing. Either one of my children is asleep in there or Darth Vader came to visit.

...loves it when Natalie reads to Luke.

...is heading up to the school to read to a great bunch of 1st graders.

...is wondering how long Natalie's Defcon level 4 fit is going to last.

...is going to have lunch with my favorite 8 year old.

...ran 14 miles, in the rain. Two words: pruned feet.

...is loved.

...loves hearing "yes, ma'am".

...was asked by Luke if I wanted to see him smile in Spanish.

... is surrounded by some really awesome friends.

... is looking forward to a strawberry margarita and some queso at Gloria's.

...is so proud of Cooper and Natalie running a whole mile without stopping. Cooper ran it in 9:09 and Natalie in 9:19. I am one proud momma!!!

...is headed to the gym to burn of some major stress. Get ready Stairmonster!!

...loves her nook!

...loves watching Luke play soccer. 4 goals in 2 quarters! That is our little athlete in action!

...ran 21 miles today. I feel like I need to apologize to my feet.

...is blessed beyond measure.

...is wondering how Cooper could think that a striped shirt and camo pants match?

Claire~ 7 months old now!

My sweet Claire. I would love to call her that all the time. She is quite a happy and content baby. Except when she is hungry. Oh. My. Goodness. She can be all happy and smiles, then suddenly she decides that it is time to eat and she seems to go ballistic. She is screams with such an intensity that you hope feeding her will calm her down (it does). She will start flailing her legs and then, as soon as she gets the bottle in her mouth, her legs will completely stop, she gives a little sigh a relief and everything is perfect in her world again. Then, after she finishes her bottle, she is all smiles and grins, giggling, and joyful. A full belly for this girl makes for a happy baby!

She is now sitting up all on her own. She does occasionally incur a gravity storm and tumps over, but she is usually unfazed by it. She just kind of lies there with her head held up like a crunch, looks around to determine which way to roll, then rolls herself over to her stomach. From here, she is ready to go. She can now get up on her hands and knees, but does not know what to do from there. She will rock a little bit, then flatten out so she can start the scooting. It is amazing how far she can move around the room when you are not looking.

I have started giving her the little snacky-snacks. They are little fruit flavored bite size pieces that are about the size of Cheerios. The good thing about them is that they melt in her mouth. After about 2 seconds in her slobbery mouth, they shrink to about 1/4 of the size and turn to mush. This is a good thing since she does not have any teeth to chew them with. The older kids love to feed them to her. She cannot pick them up just yet, so they have to put the snacky-snack right into her mouth. She is overjoyed by this, as are they. She just sits in her Bumbo, on the table and they all take turns putting them in her mouth. So, so cute.

She is finally cutting teeth. I just noticed one tooth peeking out right before the 30th, and now there is another one cutting through. She actually is slobbering less than before, even though the actual teeth are now there. She is having a harder time making it through the night without fussing, but I guess that is to be expected.

I LOVE MY SWEET CLAIRE!

Costume Parade at Ditto

Every year the elementary where Cooper and Natalie go has a costume parade. It is so cute to see every kid in the school walk across the stage in some of the most creative costumes. Each grade has a specific place to sit and watch the parade as it winds through the school. The first graders were in the library, while the second graders were in the cafeteria. I have pretty much given up on trying to 'catch' a picture of Cooper or Natalie crossing the stage because not only are they walking ridiculously fast, but my camera just does not want to cooperate. I have learned to get my picture when they first get to school and consider it a bonus if I catch them any other time!

I was assigned to take pictures of the 1st grade classes. I totally took this job seriously. I went into every classroom and took random small group pictures, then took the class pictures after the parade. Some of the most creative and/or fun costumes:

*albino peacock

*Junie B. Jones

*Elvis (he even included the dancing on the stage)

*old man, complete with a walker and small stutter steps

*an iPhone

*Holy ghost (a sheet with holes in it)

*Pink Supergirl

*Wonderwoman

*Mario Brothers

*tourist

*nerd

*bride

*a gangsta

*a beauty queen

*the Tin Man

*a candy corn

*an elf

*a Texas Ranger catcher (with a big ol belly)

It is always so fun to see how creative these kids (or moms) get with costumes. I would love to say that I have 'made' a costume before. Nope. I do not have that talent. I do have a talent for getting them off of Ebay months beforehand though. Cooper, Natalie and Luke seem OK with that. Thank goodness.

Playing at the Park

I kept Grayson and Michaela today as a double playdate for Luke. We met Paige at the Kennedale Town Park to let the kiddos play and burn off some energy. Such fun to see how they all interact. Luke is such a gentleman and so sweet with Michaeala. He tries to help her get up on one of the rocking toys, spins her on the merry go round and slides down the slide with her. He would even include her when he was playing a game with the boys. I love seeing him treat her so kind.

After 2 hours of active play, we decided it was time for lunch. We headed home for some mac and cheese and a nap for the younger ones. Claire caught a quick nap in the sling at the park, but was quite happy to get to lie down and stretch out for her afternoon nap.

Drool Central

Claire has the most amazing ability to drool. I'm not talking minor league drool, I am talking MAJOR league. So much drool, that she will completely soak a bib before noon. We go through 2-3, sometimes 4 bibs a day. I really do not like covering up her cute clothes with bibs, but I also do not like the whole front of her outfit to be wet. I know that I would not want to be wearing a wet shirt, so I assume she does not either.
She started this 'super-drool' at about 2 months, so I have been on the look out for some little teeth to be growing in. Everyday, I think 'maybe I will get to see some white buds today'. Nope. Just tons of drool. Oh well, I'll keep my tooth vigil up!

Mary's Halloween Party

My friend, Mary, has a Halloween Party every year. It isn't necessarily on Halloween per se, but somewhere in the month of October, within a week or two. It is always a lot of fun, because she goes ALL OUT. She doesn't just invite people over and throw some chips on the table. Oh no, she not only has 'themed' food and decorations galore, but she gets 1-2 bounce houses, has crafts for the kids, games for the kids, trick-or-treating throughout the house and much, much more. The other fun part is that MOST people dress up. Like serious dress up. I don't know why I think it is so funny to see adults dressed up, but it is. Things Mary has been: little Bo sheep (Scout was the sheep), a Travelocity gnome, a Wal-Mart greeter, Juno (from the movie). Our family has so much fun there. The kids start asking abut it at the beginning of October. :>)

First Grader Walking to School?

This week there was a first grade girl who was killed while she was walking to school. A first grader?!? I have a first grade girl and I can NOT imagine letting her walk over a mile to school, along 2 very busy streets. (Park Springs and Arkansas). I know that there are probably circumstances that I am not privy to, but still, couldn't the mom have at least walked her across the street. After that, the girl would not have to cross any street until she got to the school.

2 days after the accident, on a school day, I ran by where the accident occurred. I wanted to see how busy the traffic was. All I can say is that, as a runner, I would not run across where she had her daughter cross. It was about 50 yards past the crest of a hill. Even if the gentleman who hit her had been going 30 mph, he still would have had a hard time stopping in time. (The mom is advocating changing the speed limit from 40mph to 30 mph.)

I think it is a tragic accident, not only for the little girl and her parents, but also the gentleman who hit her. His life will be ruined as well. Hopefully, there will be something good that comes out of this most unfortunate event.

Reserve Judgment

It is not always what it seems. There are always 3 sides to a story: what one side says, what the other side says and somewhere in the middle is what really happened. It is SO easy to judge. To look at a situation from afar and draw your own conclusion. Then you find out a little of the back story and realize how wrong you really were.

Example that always comes to my mind:

A man is in the airport with his 3 children. It is late at night, and they are waiting for a connecting flight. The man looks tired, while his children are running around and rough-housing. It appears as if he does not even notice what a spectacle his children are. Everyone around them seemed to be getting bothered and annoyed with the children's antics. Finally, a lady approaches the man and asks if there is anything he can do to control his children. He looks at her with sad eyes and says, "I buried their mother yesterday. I am trying to get them home to start over." The woman took a deep breath before she apologized with all her heart and asked how she could help him.

How easy it is to pass judgement. Rarely, does a person who is not involved in a situation, know the whole story. The person may know some or even most of the story and think that they have it all figured out. Yet they are missing a key piece of information. A piece of information that would lead them to a completely different conclusion. I really try to refrain from passing judgement. And if I do, I really try not to verbalize my feelings. "Judge lest not you be judged" rings in my head all too often.

Throwing stones from my glass house is never a good idea.

Reading to 2nd Graders

I read to Cooper's home room class, Mrs. Boggs class every Thursday at 3pm. Usually there is a Geronimo Stilton book sitting there for me to tackle. I try to make it interesting and fun, using different voices and really exclaiming when there is an exclamation point. I'm sure in years to come this will not be acceptable in the eyes of Cooper, but for now he thinks it is great. There is just something about doing something so small and minute, yet has such an impact on not only Cooper, but his 21 other classmates.

14 miles in the RAIN

Yes, this is one of my long runs in getting ready for the marathon. Tony texted me asking if we were still on for running even though it had rained all night. I replied back that as long as it was barely coming down, we might as well head out and get it over with.

Well, we were running along, with this barely sprinkling shower. It did not let up, it was just steady coming down...no big deal. Once we got 6.5 miles out, all the way to Park Row, it was like the sky opened up. Down came the rain in diagonal sheets of rain. Wow. Since we were almost to the halfway point, we decided to finish the run (vs. calling John or Julie to come pick us up). It continued to rain with quite an intensity for the duration of our run. By the last 2 miles, we were literally running in 1-2 inches of water. There was no avoiding puddles. My shoes were completely under water a few times.

The saving grace? The temperature. If there was a perfect temperature for running in the rain, it would have been this temperature. It was not hot and I was not freezing. That was the only pleasant part of the run.

Two words to describe the run: PRUNED FEET.

Happy 8th birthday COOPER!!

Cooper is 8 years old now. WOW! Now, this is something I have a hard time grasping. It sounds so weird to say that I have an 8 year old!

He is getting so tall. I am quite sure that I will be looking him in the eye in the next few years. After that, I will need to stand in a chair to talk to him!

Cooper is so smart. I had always hoped that my children would be intelligent, but Cooper exceeds that. He is in a high math class and a high language arts class. He reading chapter books regularly and enjoying them. He routinely gets 100's on his spelling tests, without even studying. I think he is so SMART. The only think that holds him back from his full potential is that he rushes through his work and leaves some of the questions blank. I am trying to teach him to double-check his work, but that is a hard skill to master, I guess.

The best thing about being 8? NO CAR SEAT! Cooper has officially graduated OUT of a car seat. Now he can sit anywhere in the car, but the front passenger seat. This is such a huge thing, after having to have 4 car seats in my car all the time.

One of the sweetest things about Cooper? How he treats Claire. He just loves her. He lets her pull his hair and slobber on him (though is does gross him out). He will feed her and talk this sweet, quiet voice to her. She responds to him with a wide open smile. I think she admires him as much as he adores her. I hope they grow up with a special relationship like this.

Claire is ALREADY 6 Months Old!!

It seems that time is going by fast, but then it isn't. Pretty ambiguous statement, but it is true. In a way I cannot believe that she is already 6 months, but on the other hand, I feel like I have soaked up and enjoyed every day of this 6 months.

A few things about Claire:

• She is a slobberbox! I mean that is the most affectionate way possible. She can completely soak a bib in 2-3 hours. I have to change her clothes 3-4 times a day, because the front of her outfit will be so wet that it is sticking to her skin. Also, all that slobber has lead to a little rash/redness below her chin. I got some Nystatin from the pediatrician to treat it.
• She is such a happy baby. She loves life. She smiles and giggles so much. She is so loved by us (me and John) and all 3 of her siblings. Cooper is so incredibly sweet to her, it warms my heart. Natalie loves and adores Claire and will frequently sing to her or entertain her in her crib until I can get there. Luke will feed her her 8 o'clock bottle every morning while they watch Wordworld together. It is so cute to see her in her pink Boppy bouncer and Luke right beside her in his little chair, holding the bottle and feeding her. I wish there was a way that she could remember these sweet experiences.
• She is working on sitting up, but not quite there. I try to sit her up with a boppy behind her, but inevitably, she will fall back and just be sitting there waiting for a little assistance.
• She can SCOOT! It is the cutest thing, seeing her on her tummy, looking at something she wants that is just out of reach. She reaches for it, stretches out her arms, then pulls them in under her with her elbows digging in the carpet and all of a sudden, using her deltoids, moves forward and pushes with her toes. It is SO CUTE! Hopefully, she will learn to crawl on her hands and knees, but for now the scooting is getting her where she needs to be.
• I try to nap Claire in her crib at least once or twice a day. It is so hard to be home when she needs to nap, everyday. Most of the time, she will catch a nap in her car seat when she is exhausted. Between driving to 2 different schools and volunteering, there is not a lot of time for us to be at home.
• We have tried eating (cereal), but she is not quite ready for that. She still spits it right back out, so I am going to wait another month. I know now that there really is not a rush to get her eating baby food. She will get there in due time. Maybe we will try snacky-snacks next...

Well, that is what Claire is up to at 6 months. She is 14.6 lbs (10th percentile) and in the 17th percentile in height. I think she is perfect!

Really, Over a Month??

Really, has it REALLY been over a month since I have written? That is ridiculous and sad all at the same time. To say I am busy would be truthful, but truth be known, I am always busy. The only excuse is just me not making time. It kills me because I think about writing, what to write and more, then I get home and completely forget to log in to actually put the words into text.

Well, I am going to play catch-up a bit. I need to cover Claire's 6 month ~birthday and Cooper's birthday. Plus other stuff too, but those are the important ones that I must tackle first.

Happy 5th birthday LUKE!

Luke is now 5 years old. It hardly seems possible. In my mind, it seems like he is this 3 year old, running around, doing whatever he can to give me a heart attack. Though he still does that, it is not as often, thank goodness.

It is hard to imagine that Luke will be going to kindergarten round-up in the spring and starting kindergarten next fall. Time really does fly....sometimes. I think he is really going to mature a lot in this school year. Cooper grew a lot emotionally between when he turned 5 and when he started kindergarten. I am looking forward to seeing some maturity in Luke. He can be such a sweet little boy, but other times, when he is in the midst of a Defcon4 fit, he throws things, tries to hit and other destructive actions. I know with a little time, he will be able to get a handle on his emotions and not have to hurt others when he is frustrated.

He is still not fond of loud noises, but he is doing much better. I try to prepare him, when I know that something is going to be loud (like a fire drill). Other times, I will cover his ears and hold him close so he will feel secure and not afraid. Unfortunately, he still will not go to the circus because it is so loud. I feel like he is missing out, but maybe he will conquer this in the near future.

He is still wetting the bed at night, which is getting really old. Sometimes, he can go a whole week without doing it, then the next week he will wet the bed every night. We have tried every trick: no liquid after 6pm, go potty before bed, bribing him, etc. The only thing that ~might work, is when I take him around 10pm, and then when I am up with Claire at 2-3am. No fun for either of us, but it sure beats changing and washing the sheets!

**I look forward to this coming year and seeing Luke change emotionally, physically and spiritually. **

John's iPad

John got an iPad, for some reason. Let me just say, that thing is REALLY cool! The different things that you can do on it are amazing: shrink stuff, enlarge things, copy and move things, get on the Internet with the touch of a finger, etc. The kids think it is their person game-toy. They play Plants vs. Zombies on it, and it is just hilarious! I have not played, do not intend to ever play that game, but it sure is funny to hear the kids' in-depth discussions about a golden egg, buying plants and zombies eating your brains. All 3 of them contribute to this discussion and I am left to just sit back and chuckle with the sincere concern that they have over it.

Another thing? Luke learned how to watch videos on it. Yes, he went to google.com and put in 'Luke', and ended up getting all these hit for Luke Skywalker on YouTube. So here is Luke, under the covers of our bed (he said he could see better, I think he was hiding), watching these Lego Star Wars fights on YouTube. Funny and scary at the same time! We finally had to make a NO VIDEO rule, just for the sheer fact that really, anything could pop up and he would watch it. That could end up really bad, so we just had to go with the new rule. He does not seem to upset about it...

Only 9 out of 11 Miles

I headed out to run 11 miles this morning. I was ready! I had new shoes on, new socks, new sports bra, new running shorts and felt confident that I could do it. I had mapped my run out on mapmyrun.com and knew exactly where I was going. I had my oatmeal, with 1/2 a banana. I had 2 jolly ranchers and $2 in my pocket to stop and buy some water around 5-6 miles. I was good to go!

I set out ~7:15 a.m. and it was already 83 degrees. Usually I would not think that was hot, but it sure was not cool. Also, it was so ridiculously humid that my shirt was literally dripping sweat just 1/2 way into the run. I ran my route opposite of what I usually would have, thinking I would avoid some monster hills. No such luck. Instead, I hit ALL the hills, alright, just a LOT later in the run.

At mile 8, my legs started to feel really heavy. After 2 more hills, I felt like I was just barely moving faster than a sloth. As I was heading up a slow incline that seemed to last for a mile, I just totally hit the wall. I literally felt the energy completely drain out of me. I have NEVER hit the wall before. Yuck. I was so mad at myself, but there was nothing I could do. Besides take the walk of shame to get home. How embarrassing. I have NEVER walked home. It probably took me 30-40 minutes just to walk those last 2 miles. I thought I would run the last mile home. Nope, that lasted 2 minutes and I was back to the shameful walk. In that 30-40 minutes, I had completely talked myself out of doing the marathon, ready to take 1 pair of my shoes back and tried to make up an injury that would prevent me from running 26 miles.

After a little pep talk from John, a 2 hour nap and some positive self-talk, I was ready to face the prospect of training for and running the marathon. I am going to run that 11 mile loop next Saturday, just in the opposite direction than I tried to today. Maybe that'll make it tolerable, we'll see.

Claire - 5 Months Today!

Today Claire is 5 months old. Wow, how she has changed in her first 5 months of life! She is slowly putting on weight and growing long like a champ.
What can she do now?
*She can roll over. And over. And over. She absolutely LOVES laying on her tummy and propping her head up with her elbows on the ground and looking all around.
*She is very chatty. At least once or twice a day, she just starts making these...noises. Nothing consistent, just random gurgling, growling and a few screams thrown in to really keep up laughing.
*She loves to smile and laugh. The kids LOVE to see her smile and will do anything to get one out of her. Luke will dance and do jumping jacks to see her little grin. Cooper will sing too her and coo to her to calm her down. And Natalie? She will either sit right next to her, or in front of her and sing, talk, dance or clap. Sometimes, I think if Claire could talk, she would be asking me, "where did you get these characters?"
*Did I mention she could roll over like a champ?
*She is the only child who does not like sleeping on her tummy. She will wake up on her tummy and be pretty ticked off about it. And she is not afraid to let us know about it.
*No, she is not sleeping through the night. And yes, I am still waking up at 2 or 4am to feed her. When I do feed her, it is very apparent that she is STARVING and would not just 'go back to sleep' if I did not feed her.
*She is a slobber-monster. If she is not wearing a bib, after just 10 minutes, she can completely soak the front of her outfit. No teeth popping through yet, but sure looks like she is prepared for it!
*Did I mention she has a great smile? She melts my heart when she looks me in the eye and smiles her beautiful smile.
*Claire can do no wrong. The older kids are so understanding when she is crying or fussing. They will do anything to help her not be sad, mad or fussy. They all love her, but Cooper is vocal about it. He has told me numerous times, "I'm glad you had Claire, Mommy."
*Natalie adores her the same, if not more as the day we found out that I was having a girl. She will drop whatever she is doing to give Claire a kiss. I am quite sure that not many moments pass by without Natalie thinking about Claire. (I LOVE it!)
*Luke is just Luke. He will be running, running, running, carefully dodging Claire in her bouncy seat, then stop abruptly to give her a kiss, sing a little nursery rhyme, then resume his run, run, running!
*Claire loves to stand up. She can make her legs so straight and just hold herself up. She is incredibly strong.
*Claire has one of the strongest baby grips I have ever felt. When she grabs your finger to pull it into her mouth, she is SERIOUS. I am quite sure that if she held on to my finger for too long, she could stop the blood flow!

First Day of School

8/23/2010

Today was the first day back to school for the 'big kids'. Natalie was so excited, she could hardly contain herself. Cooper? Notsomuch. He has said all summer long that he did not want school to start. I think he secretly did, but he always seemed to get a better response from people when he said he did not want to go back to school yet.

Cooper is a 2nd grader this year. Wow. When Cooper started kindergarten, those 2nd graders seemed so big? Mature! Now he is one of them. I try not to put too much pressure on him, but I know his abilities and I want him to excel. To show his teachers all his intellect.

Natalie is a first grader and still one of the tiniest ones in her class. She is such a good little student. She tells me most everything about her day, what she says to the teacher and how many tickets she got that day. (tickets are given out for saying or doing something good) I hope that she always shares her day with me. Even 10 years from now.

Back to School Picnic

The kids' school had the 3rd annual 'Back to School' picnic tonight. Very fun! The teachers all wore matching shirts and we got to find out who Cooper and Natalie's home room teacher would be. I must say that I really thought that Natalie would get Mrs. Stone, like Cooper had last year. I mean, I REALLY thought she would, as a for sure. Nope, when I checked the list, Natalie had Mrs. Coffman. I have heard nothing but positive things about Mrs. Coffman, I was just a little shocked that she did not get Mrs. Stone. Oh well, God knows what is perfect for Natalie and He wants only the best for her.

Cooper got Mrs. Boggs as his homeroom teacher. Since I know next to nothing about the 2nd grade teachers, this was just fine with me. He seems to have a charm that works on most teachers. (Thank goodness!)

I cannot wait to see how this year plays out!

Fossil Rim Wildlife Center

At the beginning of the summer Mary had suggested taking the kids out to Fossil Rim. I agreed that would be a great idea. Well, 2 weeks ago, we both remember and quickly check our calenders and decide that this Thursday would be a great day for all of us, considering the kids start school Monday.

I drive out there with Mary and the 3 older kids (leaving Claire with Gram). We nixed the 'safari guided tour', since it was $38 per person, no discounts whatsoever. We got the self-guided tour for $13 for the adults and $7 for the children. After $6.95 for food, we were ready to see the animals!

Mary said that she would drive, so I could take pictures. Seeing as how I had 2 cameras, I quickly took her up on this offer. We let the kids ride without their seatbelts, so they could move from window to window to get the best views of the animals. And, we hardly went over 10 miles an hour at any point. Mary even let Luke and Natalie in her lap, so they could see and feed the animals.

What a fun time! We saw ostriches, different varieties of deer, mountain goats, cheetahs, hippos, giraffes and LOTS of zebras! In fact, the zebras were so friendly that they stuck their whole head in my SUV. Their whole head! I was terrified and excited all at the same time. I was afraid that they would bite me. Nope, they just wanted food. Lots of food. Then, one of them pushed the other one's head to try and get a better angle. The kids thought that was hilarious!

Even though it was an hour and half drive both ways, it was well worth it. The kids had such a great time, and so DID I!

The Duggar Family

There is a family in Arkansas that has 19 kids...and counting. They have their own reality show and I just love to watch it. In December (2009), their latest baby girl, Josie, had to be delivered at 26 weeks because the mom had preclampsia. The baby had multiple issue/problems along the way, but she is now home with her mom and dad and siblings and doing great.

What bothers me is the media. I read an article in People magazine where they took up a whole page discussing the 'controversy' in this family wanting another child. 2) That this family was overpopulating. 3) That this mom was not a good mom because she had so many kids. 4) That a woman's body is not able to handle having so many children. (Apparently her body is!)

First of all, there is no controversy over having another child. Just because they announced that they were ready for another child, does not mean that it is open for discussion for the public to address. No, it is their decision. They will be taking care of the child, so why does anyone feel empowered to comment on it?

Secondly, overpopulating? No one makes comments to married people who chose not to have any children, that they are not contributing to the population. That the population will be diminishing because of their lack of reproductivity. To say that this one family impacts the whole United States birth rate is just a little ridiculous.

Yes, she has a lot of children, but in no way does this make her a bad mom. Granted she does not have a lot of one-on-one time, but these children ALL know that they are loved. They are surrounded by love. They each get individual attention at times from their mom, but they are always getting attention elsewhere. Just because they do not live like most families, does NOT make them wrong in any way, shape or form.

I think that they are a great family with great values. They do not push their beliefs into other's faces, they are just living their lives the way God wants them to. I think the Duggar family is just AWESOME!

Back to School Fairs

I worked the Junior League back to school fair on Saturday. This is where we have 3 low-income schools come and get community assistance in one gym, then come into the 2nd gym and get a backpack full of school supplies for their particular school. They even get to pick their favorite color! It is so rewarding to know that we are making a difference in these kids lives, especially when they show up to school for the first day and they have a backpack. This is why i joined Junior League.

On Sunday, I worked the Back to School Fair for the Burundi community at my church. There is a whole community of Burundi refugees from Africa that were relocated here in Fort Worth. Some of them have never been to any American school and many of the parents do not speak any English. This Fair was not only for the kids, but the parents as well. The parents were shown how to fill out the free/reduced lunch forms for FWISD, and other necessary documentation. The kids were given vaccinations that they needed, haircuts if they wanted them, shoes, socks, coats, jeans, shirts and sweatshirts, along with a backpack full of supplies and 5-10 age appropriate books. We even had 2 police officers teaching a class about safety (one for the 10+ and one for the 9 and under kids). Overall, I think it was a huge success.

This is ministry in action. And I love it.

How I Met John

I was his personal trainer. ~1996, I trained him on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 - 6:50p.m. He chose me to be his trainer (it didn't happen by chance). I called him my 'triple A' because he seemed so high strung. He would be ready and waiting for me 10 minutes early, nearly every time. My response to that? "Go warm up", John: "I already did", Me: "Go do it again". I find out years later that his 'warm-up' was sitting in the wet sauna downstairs for 5 -10 minutes until he broke a good sweat. Then he would come upstairs 'warmed up'. Nice.

Once, he asked me if I wanted to come over and watch ER. (That was the hot show that year.) He said he would make me dinner. (I would come to find out years later that he is quite a chef.) I politely declined because: 1) I didn't date my clients; and 2) I had just gotten out of a rotten relationship and just wanted to not date at all.

Flash forward a few years, and we meet up at a different gym. I am no longer a trainer, I am now a pharmaceutical rep for Ortho-McNeil, a Johnson and Johnson company. We start chatting and he tells me about a swim clinic that he is going to. I ask him why and he says that he is training for a triathlon. I was training for a triathlon as well! I asked him which triathlon, and he said the Tom Landry. Me TOO! We decided that we would train together. However, I made it blatantly clear that we were NOT going to be dating while we trained. Period. He agreed and we started some training. In February, one of my good friends, Albert, came over to my apartment to propose. Seriously, with a ring and everything. I was so stunned. We were friends and that was all. I (of course) said no and he left. I called John to tell him about it and we ended up meeting at Khaki's to eat. (not a date)

About 3 weeks before the triathlon, John is over at my apartment. We had been out a few times, but I would not let him hold my hand, kiss me, nothing. Anyways, he is sitting on my leather chaise lounge with one of my cats on his stomach and the other one sitting on his head. John hates cats. I can still picture him sitting there with the cats all over him and him tolerating it on my behalf. He asked, "What are we doing?" And I responded, "We are hanging out and training. If you don't like it, you can leave." Thank goodness he did not leave. He stayed around.

On May 1st, we both completed the Tom Landry Sprint Triathlon. This was the only race that John ever beat me. For my defense, I am not as fast of a swimmer, but more importantly I had a mountain bike for the bike part and he had a road bike. Let me tell you, that makes a HUGE difference. After the triathlon, his friend Robert Garcia, took our picture. Years later, Vanda painted that picture, not knowing that that was our official 'first day of dating'.

After the triathlon, we headed out to Cedar Creek Lake, where Mother and Calvin lived. John had wanted to go fishing, so I suggested we go out there. On the way to their house, he wanted to stop and get a hanging basket for my mom. Once my mom met John, it took her less than 5 minutes to ask me when I was going to marry him. I explained that we were not officially dating just yet, and she told me that, yes, I would end up marrying him.

Well, John proposed on August 19, 1999 at ~8pm. We were rollerblading on the Joe Pool levee. He faked an injury and ended up on one knee. I skated over to see if he was Ok and he proposed, with the ring and all. I could not have been any happier at that moment in my life. We celebrated by going over to Mother and Calvin's 'place' and having some champagne out of jelly jars.

We wanted to get married right away, but since John is the youngest of 7 children, we needed to have a decent wedding, not an elopement. We wanted to wait until the new year, but we were worried about what ~could happen with all the hoopla of Y2K. We chose the 1st weekend in February, which just happens to be his brother, Buddy's, birthday.

It has been over 10 years now, and I can say that I love him more, way more than the day I married him. There are so many things that have happened that make me love him more each day. God truly blessed me by giving me John.

Claire - 4 Months Old

Wow! I cannot believe Claire is already 4 months old. She is now 12 lbs and 24.25 inches long. That puts her in the:
10th %ile for weight
50th %ile for length
25th %ile for head circumference
Attagirl!

I think she is absolutely perfect! She has the most beautiful blue eyes that she will just focus right on me. She can also follow things (or siblings) as they move around the room. The easiest way to distract her or get her to quit crying is for the kids to do jumping jacks in front of her or sing a VBS song with arm motions and that totally captivates her attention.

Claire's newest skill? Putting her toes in her mouth. I must admit that I have been working on trying to get her to do this. I 'help' her put her big toe in her mouth, then she realizes that is fun to do. It is quite cute. She also can get nearly her whole fist in her mouth. I can barely get a knuckle into my mouth! Her most prominent skill? Slobbering. I bet we go through 3-5 dresses or onesies a day because this girl slobbers so much. I keep checking for teeth, but none are showing yet!

It is so sweet that Claire is adored by every person in this household. Claire can do no wrong. Even when she puked up on Cooper, he just kind of sighed and whined, "Claiii-rrrre!" And then had to change immediately as though he was now wearing hydrochloric acid. So many times, I hear him say how much he loves baby Claire.

Another nice thing? Everyone gets a chance to feed Claire. Right now she is only drinking out of bottles, but All the kids take turns feeding her. Cooper gets to feed her in the car, because he can sit right next to her. (Special treat for him) They also think it is fun to 'burp' her, but I usually have to do the follow-up 'real' burp. I will let them help as MUCH as they want!

Core Competency

I believe God is involved in and cares about my daily life. I believe this whole-heartedly. Whether it is a 'big' prayer or a prayer for me to find my keys, God cares. There are so many times throughout the day that I see God helping me, answering a prayer or orchestrating things/events to where they turn out just right. If I was not looking for it, I would totally miss seeing God in my everyday life.
I have to write this down, because this was HUGE and I am still thanking God for it. There was a person, that I do not exactly like so much, that was going to be on a TV show. I was afraid that this person was going to say something negative about me on this show, on National TV. i worried and fretted about it a whole day. A WHOLE day. That night I prayed to God asking him to take my worry away, because it would not change any events. I also prayed for this show not to be played. I did not know how that would happen, but that is what I prayed.
The next day, I woke up and was half way through the day before I realized that I had not worried about it at all to that point in the day.I still kept praying for this TV show to not to be played.
Well, the day it was supposed to be on, it was rescheduled until the next week. The next week, they rescheduled it again. The next week, I was on the stairmaster when I realized that it must be on right then and that there was nothing I could do about it. I had a sick feeling, but I was not worried. That night, I went to the website to see it, and the network had quite carrying the show! The network had dropped the show completely!!! Can you believe that? I am still in awe of how God orchestrated that. Complete awe. If that is not proof-positive that God is involved in and cares about our daily lives, I don't know what is.

Things that Make Me Smile

• The word 'tilapia'
• The smell of wet grass in the morning
• Skipping with Natalie.
• Putting on a pair of jeans that fit just right.
• Feeling like I just got a good deal.
• Having my wedding ring cleaned.
• Having time to read.
• Finding my keys before I lose them.
• Flipping on a trampoline.
• Seeing my kids play together.
• Getting a pedicure.
• Having my car washed and vacuumed.
• Feeling a sense of accomplishment.
• Running with Cooper biking beside me.
• Doing crafts with Luke.
• Getting the laundry done (temporarily).
• Peter Pan peanut butter.
• Getting dressed up for a date with John.
• Finishing a good book.
• Seeing my office all clean.
• Queso.
• Getting a good picture of all the kiddos together.

Claire's Skills

Claire's best skill so far? Smiling. I love to see her smile and she does it A LOT now. Her smile can turn my whole day around.

Claire's other skills:

• Stretching her arms completely straight, directly over her ears while she pulls her knees up to her tummy.
• Alternating straightening her legs and pulling her knees up while I am trying to change her diaper. Makes for a fun diaper change.
• Sleeping in the car seat. Claire can sleep 2-3 hours in her nice and cozy car seat. That is good for all of us.
• Wearing a bow or large flower without complaining or ripping it off. (For me, this is a very good skill to have!)
• Chit-chatting - usually once a day Claire will get really chatty. She will just start making little cooing and gooing noises. They are so cute! It sounds like she is really trying hard to talk.
• Taking a bath - Claire loves to take a bath in her little pink tub. She just sits there and grins. No crying in the bathtub for her! She just loves the water.
• Puking - though I do not view this as a 'good' skill, Claire definitely can do some serious puking after she eats.
• Burping- in the middle of a bottle, Claire usually lets our a very not-so-lady-like burp that is quite loud in relation to her tiny little body.

Luke's Sayings

That dog looks exactly like Tar except he's different.


I can hear you Mommy except when I am sleeping.


Mommy, Natalie won't play War with me because she is shuffling the cards.


Mommy, Cooper did not let me win at all, except once!

Mommy, if I read 20 books tonight can I go to Target tomorrow?


That Bakugan is Cooper's when it is not mine.

Mommy did you know that you can cut off a droid's head and he can still live? But not a human.

I am not a little Padawan! I am better than that!

Mommy, Natalie won't read to me because she is reading inside her head.

I do not have to go potty. Ok, maybe just a little, but that's all.

Mommy, can I play in the workroom if I promise to just take my shoes off for a minute?

Can I have a drink of your shake Mommy? Mmmm, that's good, but I don't want any more of that yucky stuff.

God's Trump Cards

Back in biblical days, leprosy was the great leveling ground. No matter who you were, if you got leprosy, you were banished from society and maybe even sent to a leper colony. I see cancer as today's version of leprosy, without the physical stigma attached to it. Anyone can get cancer. Anyone from the healthiest health nut to the smoker who works with asbestos. And the trump card is, you canNOT heal yourself. That is up to God. You can go through an infinite number of chemo treatments, try every experimental drug, and still not be healed. That is completely up to God when you will be delivered from the fire or through the fire.

Fertility is the other trump card. Anyone who has studied how reproduction occurs and all the processes that must be in place and occur at exactly the right time for a baby to be formed HAS to know that it is not happenstance. A woman cannot MAKE herself pregnant. There are a lot of actions a woman can take to 'increase her chances', but the creating life thing comes directly from God. He gets all the credit. He let the technology be developed for IVF, IUI, Clomid, etc., but ultimately it does not happen unless He allows it.

Thank you Heavenly Father for my 4 wonderful, beautiful, healthy children!

Play Dates

I love play dates. Sometimes they may be a drop 'n go and sometimes it may be a stay 'n play. I guess it depends on how good of a friend the parent is and/or if I have 14 chores to run while I am 1 or 2 kids less.

Today I took Cooper to Mansfield to play with his friend from preschool, Cooper. The only time they get to see each other is at birthday parties and scheduled play dates. Today, I dropped Luke off with Cooper. I would have loved to stay and hang out with Kathy, Cooper's mom, but I really needed to get a few things done while I just had Natalie and Claire. Plus, this was some 'girl' time, which Natalie craves and cannot seem to get enough of.

It is funny how play dates have evolved since Cooper's very first play group. I joined a group when Cooper was just 6 months old. Back then, play dates were really for us moms to get a chance to have adult conversation and to troubleshoot different problems each of us were having with our children. I cannot wait for Claire to have playdates, since there are so many of my friends that have had babies this year.

Swim Thursdays

My girlfriend, Mary, dedicates Thursday afternoons during the summer to swimming. In fact, she opens her house and invites anyone and everyone in our community group and beyond, to come over and swim, eat and fellowship. There may be as few as 2 families or as many as 8-10 families. Sometimes everyone may show up at once, other times there will be 2 completely different waves of people. We usually eat around 6, and it is a piecemeal effort. Everyone brings one component of the meal. What a great time we all have together: swimming, talking, laughing, eating and enjoying the time that God has given to us.

Sentences

My favorite form of discipline for Cooper and Natalie? Writing sentences. You would think that I am making them write with fiery coals on a volcanically hot tablet. They cannot stand to write sentences! The usual amount that they have to write? 10. If they actually sat down and wrote all 10 without talking, arguing, crying or screaming, they could do it in less than 5 minutes. This is not common though. They both feel the need to argue with me and/or declare that they are NOT going to write the sentences. Nope, sorry. Once I issue the punishment of sentences, it sticks. I will not recant. When Natalie knows she is wrong and is remorseful, she will write them quickly and efficiently. However, there have been times that she has had to sit at the table for over an hour because she refused to write them. Cooper is the same way. Rarely will he write the sentences without putting up a 15-20 minute argument. (He only relents when I threaten 10 more sentences.)

My rationale for sentences: it is a great alternative to spanking or timeout. Cooper is too big to spank. Timeout is only effective some of the time. Writing the sentences (ten times!) may make them think about their behavior the next time. If not, then they will have another chance at writing the same sentence 10 more times to see if it will sink in. Also, at the very least, it will keep their penmanship skills sharp!

Our Reading Goal

My goal for the kids this summer is for them to grow in their literacy. I do not want them to be stagnant and stale as soon as school starts. I am trying to get them to read every day. This is sometimes a challenge. Why? Why do they fight me on this? OK, only one of the kids fights me on this (Cooper). Natalie is insatiable when it comes to books. She just can not get enough. She wants to check out the most books, start reading them immediately in the car and plow through the books as soon as she can. Cooper does not mind reading when it is his idea. He will sit down and knock out a whole chapter book in one sitting, if he is in the mood. Unfortunately, I am not inclined to 'wait' for his mood to strike. I want him to read every day. Preferably 3 books or more. His incentive, not only am I paying him 25 cents a book (or 25 cents/2 chapters in a chapter book), but he also can earn TV time. He earns 10 minutes of TV watching time for every book he reads. And the book reading has to be done first.

My goal for Natalie and Cooper, is for them to read at least 100 books this summer. So far, Natalie is at ~55 and Cooper is ~51. I am quite sure we are going to make it. I will gladly pay $25 for them to read all summer long!

Family Zoo Trip

$56 to get into the Fort Worth Zoo for $5 parking, 2 adults, 3 children and a free infant.

We got there right when it opened. John was concerned about how hot it was, but I assured him it would not be too bad because most of the zoo was shaded. Boy was I wrong. It was so hot and muggy that I had sweat dripping down my back, halfway through the zoo! That is ridiculous! After an hour, John was trying to figure out how close we were to the exit. After the 3 'fits' from the children, we decided to cut our losses and exit pronto. After taking a quick picture of me and Claire, to document her first officially trip to the zoo, we were at the car licketedy split!

We then took the kids to Chik*Fil*A to eat and burn a little energy in the play area while we fed Claire. All in all, it was a good family day...

98 degrees and 80% humidity=one sweaty zoo trip and some cranky kids.

(Even the giraffes were sitting down!)

Our Oklahoma Trip

We went up to Oklahoma on Saturday, July 3 and stayed until Monday, July 5th. We stayed with a friend of John's from law school and her family. She has an 8 year old son and 5 year old daughter.

It is so fun to see how all 5 of them interacted. At first, it was the boys playing with the boys and the girls playing together. As the weekend rolled on, the dynamics were constantly changing. Natalie hung out with Noah for a few hours just chit chatting, Luke and Olivia were playing in the same room (I did not get to see them interact much). They had 2 video games and Luke and Cooper thoroughly enjoyed those. A few times we had to encourage them away from the games, so they would do something else.

Though it seemed to rain 75% of the time that we were there, the kids still had a good time swimming, playing outside in the driveway and playing at the park. I love it that my kids love to play outside so much! They even asked if they could go outside when it was sprinkling. (Sure!) I even went on a run in the rain. They had closed the workout facility early, so running was my only choice. Since it was raining, I chose to run on the golf course path. There was a lot of jumping large puddles and remembering which way to go on the turns. on the way back I almost took a wrong turn. Not only would that have led to a much longer run, I might have even gotten so lost that I would not find my way back. That would have been bad, bad, bad.

We had a good time, but were definitely ready to get back. Even the kids said they were happy to be home. Ahh, home, sweet, home.

Claire - 3 months

My sweet Claire is a little over 3 months now. Her greatest skill? Smiling. Yep, she is a champion at the smiles. She is not afraid to pass them out like candy. It is my favorite thing to try and get her to do. It is amazing how a smile from this little baby can just melt the heart of anyone who may happen to look at her.

One of her favorite activities? Hanging out on her daddy's arm (like a football) or reclining on his chest. It is just so cute to see her sitting there so content. (And he really likes it too!) My favorite thing for Claire to do with me is to take a nap. Of course, I don't mind at all taking a nap with her, but I also do not mind when she falls asleep in my arms. I just love listening to her breath, watching her facial expressions and just holding her. I am really trying to soak it in and enjoy every minute of her.

Claire is also starting to put on some much needed weight. The first 2 months she did not really add any weight, though she grew in length and her head circumference grew. I think now she is adding pounds, and I could not be much more excited!

I had to stop breast feeding around 2 months, because she was not getting enough milk from me. It also was too challenging to feed her from a bottle, then breastfeed AND try and keep up with the other 3 kiddos. Dr. Katzen said that getting to the 2 month mark with breastfeeding was a good milestone as far as nutrition for Claire.

Is she sleeping through the night? Umm, no. Not yet. I feel like that is very soon, but we are not there yet. A few times she has lasted until 4 or 5am, but not on a consistent basis. When she wakes up to eat, she is SERIOUS! Sometimes she is crying and carrying on, she'll even growl if I am not fast enough making the bottle. It's a little funny that she is so worked up; thank goodness all it takes is 4-6 ounces of formula to make her calm down.

Cooper adores Claire and thinks she is the best baby in the world. Natalie is enamored with Claire and LOVES the big sister role. Luke is very sweet with her and always has a kiss for her. I love it that they all three love her and do not seem to mind when she cries too loud. They only thing they seem to mind is when she has 'air' or a stinky diaper. THEN, they feel compelled to act all dramatic about it, like she is the only baby in the world who poops in her diaper! Oh yea, and they are insistent that I change her ASAP.

My Nemesis: Laundry

It never ends. Never. Just when I get all the boys' clothes washed, dried and put up, Natalie and Claire's basket is full. Then when I get that done, ours is full. I remember the days when I could do all the laundry on Sunday. Not any more. Now it is perpetual laundry. I feel like I will never catch up. I will always be able to find a basket of dirty clothes SOMEWHERE in this house. And most likely it will have 2 or 3 friends...

Stolen Vehicle

John parked his Suburban at work today, under a tree that would provide shade during the hottest part of the day. However, when he went out to get in his truck at 4:15, it was not there. Stolen. Right out of the parking lot. Nice. He said that he walked completely around the building twice to make sure he didn't accidentally park somewhere else and just not remember.

After calling the cops and filing the report, one of the claims adjusters was nice enough to drive him to Duncanville. From there, Jim (his brother) drove him home. He got home ~7:30 and the kids were full of 1001 questions for him. After we put them to bed, we sat on the couch and just shook our heads. We just could not believe that his Suburban was really gone. The part that made us the maddest? Claire's car seat base + 3 other car seats were in the Suburban. Also, 2 pairs of John's Maui Jim sunglasses.

Fast forward 72 hours:

A Dallas detective called and said the Suburban was found and was in the Dallas Impound lot. John went over to look at it and retrieve anything that was left in it. Here is what they took:

• all 4 tires (they replaced them with 'trash' tires, secured with only 3 lug nuts each)
• the entire 3rd row bench
• 2 car seat bases
• John's well-stocked diaper bag
• 2 CDs and 1 DVD + John's Maui Jim sunglasses
• both side-view mirrors
• all the electrical in the doors for the side view mirrors
• stripped the steering column
• punched a hole in the door to open it to steal it

What they did not steal? The DVD player, the CD player, Claire's car seat base, one of the car seat bases and John's rosary.

After waiting 5 days to find out, it was declared a total loss. This was not surprising. I guess it was surprising that it took that long for them to figure that out. We are extremely pleased with how wonderfully USAA handled the whole situation and how much they paid out for the car and the objects that were not recovered. We have a great insurance company!

The Color Tan

I know I will pay for it when I get older, but I like to be tan. I like to see myself in pictures with a tan. I am naturally quite white (hardly even peach), but in the summer I can get pretty tan. I love looking at our summer pictures because all the kids look so vibrant with a tan. Their eyes all look bluer and they just look beautiful. (More beautiful than usual!) I am supposed to wear suscreen at any and every outing into the sun, but I only remember 1/2 the time. My concern is on the kiddos and I am secondary.

Here are examples of with tan and without tan.