nervous excitement in the mail!

our racing packets came in!!!

we were super excited and nervous all at the same time!

we didn't realize how many spots on the course have live music.

we only have 4 more weeks to get ready!

i am about to go run right now even though my ankles and feet don't want me to.

i asked my co-worker, who has done the race for several years now, 

what she thought my biggest surprise doing the run would be. 

her answer was..."the hills." 

wrong answer!!! i didn't want to hear that at all!!!

but i am assuming she is right.

well, off to training!

weekend to-do list

our weekend was a full one...

i'm a planner...and i make lists.

these are seeds that need to be planted soon...

no comment.

sir, i still see you.

forget-me-nots!

DIY designer glasses

sleepover

teeth that were too stubborn to come out.

(she has been called cari mcphee and mater so far)

cross stitch

mario cart

creative writing practice for PSIA

we didn't come close to getting our to-do-list completed,

but we did manage to get a lot of other things done and enjoyed our weekend :)



she gets it!

i heard my girls talking in the backseat the other day.

*

cari: remember when "so-and-so" was mean to you in 2nd grade.

cami: well, actually that was me not her. i was dealing with my own insecurities.

*

i couldn't believe my ears!!!

it has finally sunk in!

everything that i had been teaching cami and her friends came alive to her.

yeah! she gets it :)

so proud!



deserving daughter

my oldest daughter, cami, is a sweetheart.

she is fun and very smart.

she loves to read just as much as she loves to hang out with her friends.

she is a huge help in the nursery & children departments at our church

and a huge help in several classrooms at her school.

she manages to excell at many things.

her class buys things during their quarterly merit sale and

one thing she hadn't cashed in yet was her lunch off campus coupon.

i took off work early on monday and picked her up and we ate at cracker barrel.

(we share the love for eating breakfast for any meal :)

she opened up to me about this poster up in the cafeteria.

she had the most 100's school wide on her tests this past 6 weeks! 14 in all!

i had to take a picture of it :)

she is cashing in on her last coupon today.

it is for a half-a-day off.

we plan on curling up and watching a movie together.

daughters are so deserving of their mother's love, attention, and adoration.

hug your daughter today and let her know how special she is :)

the sweetest deer you will ever lay your eyes on

i have mentioned my youngest daughter, cari, many times.

she is funny and very creative. 

she takes art lessons from a very special art teacher every other friday.

they have created some very cool projects together.

this is her latest creation...her very first painting.

her teacher assured me several times that cari did this all on her own.

this is the photo that she drew and painted from.

it is very neat to see cari take direction from her teacher.

she usually likes to only create things from her imagination. 

drawing and painting this picture is a big step for her.

 

i can't wait to see what other things she will paint in the future.

i sure hope there is a decent art school right here in texas 

because i can't (selfishly) bear to have her live too far from me for too long :)

a weekend indoors

our weekend was a good one. we were rained in!

we organized and cleaned out several rooms.

i can actually see the floor in my closet and art room again!

the rain ruined our plans for yard work, but we were still productive.

*it took a while to clean up all the valentine cards and candy that the girls received.

*we ate A LOT of chocolate.

*i enjoyed my flowers.

*had fun watching the kids build stuff out of legos...cari''s dino :)

my girls also watched soul surfer 2-3 times and watched all the special features.

hope you had a wonderful weekend too!



it smells like roses...NOT!!!

for valentines, my husband surprised me with a new kitchen island.

my only complaint...oddly enough, is it smells like mothballs.

which means my house does too.

i absolutely HATE mothballs!!!

i checked the reviews on this island and everyone LOVES it!

no one mentions a strange mothball smell.

i have every drawer filled with a bowl of baking soda and a candle melting on top!

well, the gift that keeps on giving ;)

any suggestions are welcomed.

by the way, i do really love it too!!!

why did feb 15th have to arrive

valentines was sweet.

we had a special dinner and movie with the family...

spaghetti and lady and the tramp.

but the early morning hours of feb 15th were anything but sweet.

our youngest daughter woke us up around 2am to let us know she wet her bed.

after sheets were changed, her asthma was acting up so we stayed up and performed several "circus acts" in efforts stop her coughing fits and it goes something like this:

raise pillows, use inhaler, sit with her in the bathroom while the hot shower runs, rock and sing with her, sips of water, many prayers while stroking her hair...

finally, she seemed to be settled a bit around 3ish.

then...at 4 she came in to announce that she threw-up.

after that there was no more laying our heads down.

next year i might serve clear broth for valentines ;)

valentine breakfast

i decided to get up early and make the family a fun valentine breakfast.

heart cinnamon rolls

yummy

the girls got a kick out of their super large cards.

she loves her monkey balloon

chad always gets them balloons...this one sings when you hit it.

this was a fun valentine breakfast :)

valentines!!!

cari's robot valentines

hope her class loves them as much as we do

cami's sweet valentines

these were super fun to make

cari made these for her high school class helpers

our valentines are so much better since pinterest came along :)

kids are funny

my youngest daughter, carigan,  is very funny.

i never know what she will say or do.
*

she wanted to use a gummy worm to trick a real worm.

(i'm not sure what that would look like, but i picture my daughter laughing at it)

*
she creates pictures like this in the backseat with my phone.
*

she tried to sleep in her school clothes to save time in the morning.

*

last week she took a whoopee cushion to show-and-tell :-)
*
she aspires to be a trash man/woman.
(she says they don't do anything bad)
*

she did this during her reading homework.

*

she is afraid to eat mini-wheats because they have a face.
*
she prays for people who have jobs that she doesn't want.
(apparently not the trash man :)
*

she did this to make herself look like a "princess" and then had an argument with her older sister explaining that not all princesses look normal and they don't all wear tiaras.

*

she comes home with something she made out of construction paper everyday!!!
*
she created a "pup club" at school and had people sign up and made a shirt out of paper with a large "P" on the front and wore it to her first orthodontic appointment.
*

she frequently falls asleep listening to justin bieber.

*

but one of my favorite things that she does is climb in bed with me in the morning to snuggle while i hit snooze on my alarm :)

love you cari!

weekend in review

this past weekend was a busy one!!!

saturday was our school's annual daddy daughter dance.

the girls look forward to it each year!

chad has mastered the 3 person dance :)

we were looking at the past pictures and realized that cari had been going since she was 2

...crazy how time flies!

*

cami and i scored a cake ball maker at target and made some while watching groundhog day.

(while watching the movie, cari was upset that she didn't get to see the old man after he died. she wanted to know if his tongue was hanging out - she is so curious)

*

the girls made some shrinky dinks with their father.

*

we had a fun superbowl party with friends.

(eli got his second ring!!!)

*

cami and dad worked on a science project together.

*

we also got to see some family from out of town and chad and i went for a run!

hope your weekend was a fun as ours :)



i heart lisa leonard

lisa leonard has the cutest jewelry.

i have ordered a few things from her before and i had to share some of her new pieces that i love!!!



the deer are so darling ;)

this is special because my grandparents would always sing this to me ;)

this is very pretty



this is sweet and it has a message on the back.

i would love any of these!!!!

a father's blessing

i have noticed something very interesting in my daily bible reading.

i have been reading a lot in genesis and it has reminded me of the power of a father's blessing over his children.

it seems whatever he said, good or bad, happened. there was no taking it back. when the father decided to declare his blessing over his children, it was a one time thing and the children knew it. they sometimes even fought over the father's blessing.

fathers have a huge impact on a child's life. their words are important and sometimes even life changing. their involvement alone is much needed. they serve a very important role in our lives.

but i am also reading in matthew. i see how jesus would only prophesy good blessings over people. he spoke life into them. he healed them. he had compassion over them. he multiplied what they had. he taught them important life lessons. he spent time with them. he was the perfect father.

our dads will always fall short in comparison to jesus, but a father who can teach their child about jesus is about as valuable as a father can get.

the hard decisions

some decisions we make as parents are small in nature.

for example:

"are you sure those shoes fit right?"

"yes, i love them. they fit perfect."

"they aren't too small?"

"oh, no! they fit great."

*3 days later*

"mom, they hurt my feet. they feel too small."

"man, i knew it!"

but other decisions are bigger in nature and shape their future more drastically.

we recently were faced with a very important decision regarding our oldest daughter who is currently in 3rd grade. she has the opportunity of finishing 4th grade this year which would move her along to 5th grade next year. there were many pros and cons about keeping her with her class and/or letting her move ahead.

this was not a decision that we made over night. this required many parent-teacher meetings with her father and i, many family meetings between us, and many one-on-one talks with my daughter.

in the end, we decided to keep our smart girl with her class and try to continue to supplement her free time with other studies from home. we felt moving her would create more unwanted challenges for her in the future, especially concerning jr. high.

we feel peace about the decision and are looking at the new possibility of her taking advanced math and science classes in the future.

 being a kid a little bit longer is a very valuable gift i'm glad i can give my daughter.

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 

sometimes being a parent is hard. i put a lot of pressure on myself at times because i always want the best for my children (as do most all parents). a part of me knows that they will be okay no matter what, but i am a planner so i am tortured by all the unknown details. putting my trust in God is so much easier!