P.S. (Post 2)

Here are some updates:

Chica cheeks is doing great!!! It's so fun to watch her hear things that she never heard before. Like her sippy cup squeaking after she takes a drink. :) She has started saying words. In fact, Jay doesn't even know about this, but tonight she said "yellow"!! I had Josiah and Olivia in the car while Isaac was at t-ball practice. Josiah said "yellow" instead of "lellow". I was so proud of him and he said it over and over again. All of a sudden, Olivia blurted out "Lellow!" Yay!! We clapped first for Josiah, and next for Olivia. What a proud moment. (All of this going on while Isaac hits the ball so far that the coaches had to make all of the kids in the outfield move back. :))

We got the house!!! I can't believe it! It's funny because tonight in Jay's choir practice, a couple went on and on about how two sets of their grown children had tried and tried to get houses listed as short sale. It just makes us feel more like this is a gift from God. The house will be inspected on June 5th. We close on June 30th. We head back to Texas (and New Mexico :)) on July 1st. We come back on July 10th. We paint, fix up and move. We need to be out of our townhome on July 30th. Wish us luck. Wait, no! Pray for us! We are so excited.

Mama Mia

If I knew how to sing an Italian song, I would. Oh wait!! When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore!

The Pioneer Woman has opened a whole new world to me. (Thanks for the introduction, Emily.) I used to be so afraid to try new recipes. But on PW's website, she gives step-by-step pictures and instructions for all of her recipes. Granted, most of her recipes are very unhealthy, but it still helps me. So tonight I tried out some homemade pasta. Simple. Easy. Good.

Of course, I know that I didn't cut the pasta thin enough, but I'm still proud. :)

At Home

This is how we roll. :) And sorry, most of the photos are a bit blurry.

For some reason she lets him carry her.

They are buds.

Josiah ruined their moment.

Whatever!

"Mom is letting me do this. I'm getting away with standing on the couch!"

Juggling...

Dad, this is for you!

Josiah found a frog outside.

He named him Froggie, and kept him all day long.

Josiah's light saber art.

Random door art. :)

??House Hunting Over??

I hesitate to blog about this because who knows, right? We made an offer on this house and our realtor called yesterday to tell us that the bank accepted the offer. The house is a "short sale" which I think means it's on the verge of foreclosure? I'm not totally sure. All I know is that the owners AND the bank have agreed on the sale price. It's crazy because when we first moved here, this house would have been around $70,000 dollars more than what we offered for it. The market is nuts here. We are glad that we've waited and we'll still wait until next week for papers to be signed and then we will have it inspected. So it's still up in the air, but it seems like it will work out.

A little info: The house is in a wonderful neighborhood. The trees are huge and the community is great. Most important to our kids...the community pool.

It's 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, living room, great room, lanai or Florida room (big covered patio), pretty backyard, and it's on a cul-de-sac. All of these things were exactly what I wanted. So fun!

By the way, the front of the house is stucco...most of the houses here seem to be made of it. I don't really care for it, but that wasn't on my list. :)

My Little Helper

Isaac came RUNNING out of Children's Church tonight grinning from ear to ear with a gift in his hands. He couldn't wait to get home and show what he had made for me. When we got home, he made me sit down and very seriously presented me with his gift.

In his package were little cards, each one describing ways he would help me this week.

Monday: "If we go on a walk and I see a blind person, I will take them by the hand and lead them home."

Tuesday: "If I meet a little girl, I will tell her about Jesus."

Friday: "Oh yeah, I'll help you sweep."

Saturday: "I'll help you clean the potties."

Sunday: "If we find an arrow, I'll clean it."

I asked him what happened to Wednesday and Thursday, but he didn't seem too concerned.

Just A Little Conversation

Isaac--"Mom, do you want me to catch a millipede for you?"

Me--"No thanks, Isaac. I don't like millipedes."

Isaac--"They just tickle. You can put it on your arm and they crawl up and tickle you."

Me--"No."

Isaac--"They won't poop on you."

Me--"I really don't like to hold bugs. But thank you."

Isaac--"I smelled a millipede one time (with his nose scrunched up)."

Me--"Really? What did it smell like?"

Isaac--"Gas. Like the gas that you put in your car."

Me--"Yuck."

Neigh, Moo, Caw, and Cockadoodledoo

Our church is having a missions conference this week with lots of missionary guests and lots of fun. A family from Dallas came to visit some missionaries from England. The wife and kids of the family from Dallas were up for some great entertainment, and somehow we lucked out and got included. :) So today we went to visit a farm. But this isn't just any farm, it is a farm in the middle of the Country Club...long story.

The kids were amazed that the goats could climb up on things.

He refused to look me in the eye.

The peacock didn't want to look me in the eye either.

We caught him in the middle of his crow.

I have never seen a white peacock before. And he sure was gorgeous! I wish that Olivia would have let me put her down, because I would have loved to really get a closer shot of him.

Josiah has gone from never wanting to look at the camera, to begging me to take his picture. Isaac is in the background sharing with Josiah...the family from Dallas also had a 4 year old Josiah!!

Ha! I just zoomed in on this picture and noticed Josiah's Croc flying through the air.

The owner of the peacocks let the kids feed them and pet them. He said that he has raised them from day one and that they are very tame. They'll lay in his arms, put their heads on his shoulder, and go to sleep!

Isaac was a little afraid of the pigs. They were begging for more food. The little pig was so cute!

Olivia was also afraid of the pigs. They were bigger than her and approached her for a carrot. :)

The main attraction? The swings and the kitty cat. Ha! No, they really liked it all and couldn't get words out fast enough to tell Jay all about it.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I am so thankful for the mother that God has blessed me with. I couldn't have chosen a mother better than my mom.

Mom, I love you because you have been such a great example to me. You've been a spiritual leader in my life. You've taught me so much about God and what it means to live a life to the glory of God. You've taught me that obedience to him is the top priority and that sharing his love with the world is the main part of that obedience. You've taught me how to hear God and how to find my place in his plan. You've shown me that God's love is unconditional and patient. You've told me that I can be anything that I want to be, but that most importantly, I should be what God has called me to be. And since God has called me to be a mom, I'm so blessed to have had a wonderful mom as an example.

I love you and wish you a beautiful Mother's Day. I miss you!

1-2-3 Strikes Your Out At The Ol' Ball Game

It's that time of year again! We have been enjoying t-ball practices and games. We are playing (well, Isaac is playing) through the YMCA and we really like it. The coaches are great and so encouraging with the kids. And the kids all get to have several chances with the coach pitching the ball to them before they have to hit it off of the tee. And they make sure that each kid hits the ball and gets to run...no outs! I love it. The pictures below are of Isaac's first game. He is #15.

prayer before the game

waiting on the bench

Go Isaac!

I love this...he was running from 1st to 2nd base and was not going to go any further until the kid on 2nd moved over. He's pointing and telling them to run to 3rd.

This is what Josiah does during the practices and games. He and this little girl catch bugs. And there are plenty to catch.

He also talks her into playing chase. I laugh at how Josiah can get older kids to play with him. Today I told him that there was a little girl that might like to play with him. He said, "No, she is too little. I want to play with a bigger kid."

Olivia also likes to look for bugs. There are some really slow flying bugs here called Love bugs. Even Olivia can catch them.

Hunting a Love bug.

I don't have pictures of today's game, but Isaac made a home run and was awarded with the game ball. He was absolutely thrilled! He was given the ball and didn't even know why. We had to tell him that he made a home run. Ha!