Changes

Summer happened. That's my excuse reason for lack of blogging. I missed it. I tried to keep up with reading other people's blogs and commenting but even that took a hike. Then school started and our schedules, which I thought might lessen, did not, they just changed. Speaking of change, here are some of the changes took place this summer.

1. Katie moved in with us June 25th...and she brought all of her stuff! She has more clothes than I ever thought possible, but as fast as she is growing it makes sense.

 

Going from one kid to two is always interesting. The two being 12 and 2...all the more so. The moments they snuggle and read or chase each other wildly through the house are so precious and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Katie is a 7th grader and attends a middle school near our house. It was a rough go at first but things have gotten better. She is in student council and dance and excited about all the upcoming events with those groups. October 16 is the schools big Texas History Fair so the crafting of a covered wagon is taking place at our house. Will be posting pictures of the finished product.

2. We finally got family pictures done by the fabulous Chriselda. Click here for a look- 

http://chriseldaphotography.com/blog/?p=3485

3. I lost my camera card. Between taking it back and forth to work and home it got lost. So other than the pics above I have no other pictures of the kids from this summer. I recently commandeered a card from my mom's camera. So until she takes it back I'll be taking pictures!

4. My sweet dog Romeo, who I had since the spring of 1997 had to be put to sleep. It was the first of the summer when this occurred and was a sad day at our house. He had gotten worse health-wise and I didn't want him to suffer through another hot summer. He was obsessed with fetching a ball so I thought this last picture of him was rather appropriate.

 Makes me wonder how different # 6 and #7 would have been if he was still around

5. July 13th we headed to the mountains with some of Brancent's family. (This was before the lost camera card so I have lots of pictures to post later.) It was fun and the kids had a blast 4 wheeling and playing in the stream. For me and my stiff neck it reaffirmed though I love the outdoors I am a hotel type person and am getting old.

6. July 17th after getting home late the night before from the mountains we got up and discovered someone had broken into our shed and stole Brancent's mower, edger, weedeater, table saw, air compressor and hoses, and Gene's Mitar saw. Yeah. (This was after we had already dealt with 2 break-ins at the church) I think the worst part was they took the things Brancent had been using to earn money this summer. So that was an unpleasant change.

7. Along those same lines....my purse (Hub of my life) was stolen out of my car a few weeks ago. I had several important papers in my purse along with church charge cards, all my ID's...wasn't fun. Included a long trip to the DMV where I was the only female in line and the middle age computer nerd in front of me dropped the "you look familiar, have we meet before?" line. No. No we haven't. After a swift page to my hubby that if my wedding ring didn't get re-sized soon...the awkwardness dragged on. Needless to say I have a bit of anger towards those who thieve. But it was a good reminder on what my actual treasures are and the 3 of them are safe and sound.

8. Our friends Jesse and Krystal are getting married in January! YAAAAAY! Brancent and Katie will both be in the wedding and we are all so excited. Jesse and Krystal were in the mountains with us for a few days so this is the most recent picture I have of them and it's not even of them together!

9. Jacob is now 29 months and his verbal side has taken off. He talks all the time. He has become fascinated with firetrucks, backhoes, police cars, ambulances, rollers, excavators, trains...typical boy stuff. One of the things that has not changed is his love for vacuums. In fact we are going to work that into his Fall Festival costume this year. He now is just as obsessed with kitchen mixers and coffee pots. He loves to help make tea or anything that involves a mixer or stirring and actually has become quite a little helper. He is getting closer to potty training and does well if he's commando. We haven't pushed it because I already know he will be one to push back. He still finds the washer a great source of entertainment.

10. Brancent has been staying busy mowing with a friend's co and chasing the kids. I hate to admit this but Jacob and Brancent are more of domestic divas than I am. I love that he gets to spend extra time with the kids that most father's don't. He will be tagging along with Jesse to Colorado this month while Jesse does some hunting. He will attend a Deaf Men's conference in November and hopefully get to see his Ark family for Thanksgiving. So much for things slowing down in the Fall!

11. As for me....I am unsure with how much I can share via the blogger world and how honest I can be here. Let me say this, I struggle. This summer/intro to fall was incredibly hard. I have felt like I fail in so many areas of my life. As I think about this I know any success that I experience is from God and all glory goes to Him. I have begin to re-evaluate where my standards of a woman/wife/mother have come from. My life is not perfect. I struggle to be the wife and mother my husband and children deserve, but find myself getting caught up in things and busyness that is really not important. Through it all I have been humbled, and I imagine I can use more of it. My hope is that God continues to show me how small, and blessed I am, and continue to use me....in spite of me. All in all...it's all good.

Thanks for reading the mammoth size post.

PS Pray for my parents who will both undergo surgery in the coming weeks. Dad-gallstones, Mom-torn meniscus

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Summer Love

Things we love about summer so far:

Mowing with daddy,

mud,

and grilled corn on the cob.

Time 2 Celebrate

Hard to believe Jacob is already 2. It doesn't seem fair that it has gone so fast. His actual birthday is May 7 and we had his birthday party May 8 at my parent's house. After presents and a green cupcake we broke out the bubbles. I think he got bubbles from almost everyone there. Aunt Patty, Uncle Jared, Simon and Mark gave him a bubble blowing machine. That sucker puts out the bubbles! Whoever came up with that is a GENIUS. My lungs thank you. The rest of the party was spent chasing bubbles. He slept very good that night. Thanks to everyone that came, you are so special to us! As you can see Jacob enjoyed himself. 

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wild, never stops, adventurous boy. We love you so much. I can't wait to slay dragons, ride dinosaurs and make more mud pies with you. I love that you are sitting on the cat one minute (which the cat does not love) and in the next concerned I have an "owie" and patting me on the back. The way you grow amazes me. I have learned so much about the Father's love in the past 2 years than my entire life.  As the book we read says "I love you through and through. Yesterday, today and tomorrow too"

Hit and Run

A couple of days before Jacob's birthday we decided to fuel yet another love he has. The love of cars. Every since he could crawl he has pushed them around, but that is no longer enough. Now he wants to drive, or as he says "drife". His favorite thing to do is get in the seat of our cars and "drive". He also wants the keys which he no longer can have since he also knows how to put the key in and which key to use. Yeah. Scary. So the perfect gift from mommy and daddy? A car of course. He test drove them at Toy's R Us and had his first toy store meltdown when we put the testers back on the self. It took a while to assure him it was a car in the box that was in our basket and he could "drife" it when we got home. We had to stop at the grocery store on our way home and when we got back to the car he wanted to see the box to make sure it was still there. We finally got home and once it was assembled the fun began.

Which result in his first accident...

and fleeing the scene.

Which got him some community service,

but he looked awfully cute doing it.

The office

Change #1
I have been in my little office for 10 years. The only thing I have ever done is put a border up so I decided it was past time for a change.

The inspirations,

my cool CPU 

  which inspired my cool mouse pad,

which inspired this!

Sorry this picture is so bright. I had to force my flash due to the sun or the red wall wouldn't show up.

The walls have a wire brush texture which had been painted almond. Yeah, you read that right. Not only almond, but it was done with flat paint. Now the walls are a crisp white semi gloss. I have had about 5 people comment on the texture (which has been there for more than 10 years, but unnoticeable. Why? Flat. Almond.)
Big thanks to my mom who was kind enough to paint the dreaded red wall. I painted some, but mostly sat and worked while she painted around me. She's the best (for a lot of reasons)! So now I have a grown up office....to bad there is not a "grown up" to work in it :D Now I just need a fabulous black or black and white chair for the corner and it's done!....for now. (Did I mention the carpet is blue? lol ;)

Meet Destiny and Karla

Meet Destiny and Karla who are both graduating from High School this year.
I first meet Destiny the summer of 1999 when I worked as summer missionary at the Deaf Church. This is what she looked like back in 1999.

I know! Just want to squeeze those cheeks! Destiny was one of the first kids that we would pick up on the vans for our summer program. She was incredibly smart. She would watch what I signed in ASL and then explain it to the other kids in MSS. I called her my little interpreter. She has the best giggle and it is very infectious. She has a rough looking exterior, but a soft and kind heart. Destiny has always been a tomboy, but recently at the girls retreat got a manicure in hot pink! It was a proud moment! I love how during Bible Study she will always have a question which usually begins with "what if....." You can always tell she has a question either by her confused look or her smirk when she thinks she is clever and going to stump you. When instead of stumping the teacher she is given an answer she has an enlightened look on her face and says "true", it's hard to explain if you don't know her!

This is Karla her 6th grade year when she moved from Puerto Rico with her parents.

On the back of the picture she wrote me a note in Spanish. I still don't know what it says, but that's ok! Karla has had some trials in her life, moving to Texas from Puerto Rico (new schools, new friends, new culture and language) and then shortly after losing her mom suddenly at the tender age of 12. Karla was not quite a woman then, but not totally a little girl. After her mom passed away she grew up fast. She handled everything with an amazing amount of grace that I don't think I could show even at my age now. She is an amazing girl. Karla and her dad and step-mom, Kristy,  live 4 houses down from us and I love that they are so close, even if we don't see each other that often! Jacob adores Miss Karla! She is a total girly girl, but a wrestler and a good one at that (Check out her arms in the last picture!) Karla is always ready with a smile and a hug.

Destiny and Karla: Oh the stories I could tell about you both! LOL I feel so honored to be able to watch you grow into the women you are today. I'm excited about the new adventures you will be starting soon and a little sad that you are "growing up".  Always remember to keep your relationship with God the most important thing in your life and find your security, Love and satisfaction in Him. Love you!