A REALLY Good Excuse

I know it's been quite a while since I've posted, but I have a really good excuse this time. Actually, I have 15 good excuses.

You see, the girls from my church class have an ornament exchange each year in December. This is not your ordinary, buy one ornament, gift exchange. Instead, each girl buys or makes an ornament for each person attending. This year we had fifteen girls attend which meant 15 ornaments. Yes, I said FIFTEEN. Being the thrifty girl that I am, I found some paper mache ornaments half off at Hobby Lobby (I think each ornament cost me about 50 cents) and decided to hand paint them. I asked my sweet artistically talented mother-in-law to help me come up with a design and we decided on painting Santa's. My mother-in-law could whip one of these guys up in about 45 minutes, but being slightly artistically challenged and a perfectionist on top of that, each ornament took me about an hour and a half to complete. I must say that it was very time consuming, but I had a whole of fun and the girls really enjoyed them.
I also ended up getting some pretty cute ornaments from the girls. Several of the ornaments are ones that I probably would never have picked out on my own, but they are very fun and make a nice addition to my tree. I tend to pick the same kinds of ornaments so these new ones really spice up my tree by giving it more variety.

Here are some picks of my labor of love along with some holiday picks from around our house.

These pics really don't do them justice.

They were textured, shaded, and glittered.

The ornaments from the exchange. Aren't they cute? Our tree all decked out. After I put all of the white

lights on Landon decided we needed colored ones as well.

The stockings all hung by the chimney with care. Adam spent his one day a week off to

put up these lights and they lasted for two days.

They sure were pretty while they lasted.

My amazingly life like nativity set.

My favorite calendar that goes through the Christmas story.

My sis in law got this for us and it has become Landon's favorite part of

our morning routine.

Landon's gingerbread creation.

Cousin Video

I was just looking through some old videos we had lying around and found this Christmas themed one of the cousins. Hope you enjoy. They are quite the dancers aren't they:)

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1230527143

Left to right: Landon, Major, Jonah, Mary Alice

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, How Sad are Your Branches

Today we decided to get down the Christmas decor and start decorating for the holidays. I got an amazing kids Christmas cd from Target (don't you just love the dollar spot!), and the boys and I have sipping on cider (actually it's just apple juice) and eating holiday mint M&M's while we decorate the tree.
I really love decorating for the holidays, but our Christmas tree always gives me grief. You see, our first Christmas tree was a four ft tree that we purchased at the dollar store. It was a very sad little tree, but we made due and it always ended up looking nice. Last year we updated to a 6 ft tree that Adam's sweet grandmother passed down to us. We have definitely stepped up from the Dollar Tree tree (ha!), but the only problem is that our trees have never been pre lit. So every year I spend 2 or 3 hours fluffing the branches and putting on the lights. This is not an easy task being the perfectionist that I am. And to make matters worse, Adam is an excellent tree decorator (thanks to years of practice at home) so he usually spends an hour fixing what I have done to make it look better.
So I ask myself: Is it really worth it to waste all of this time with an unlit tree, or should we just spend a little extra money and buy a pre lit tree from Sams?
Here is where I am asking for advice from my 5 readers. Do any of you have a pre lit tree? My fear is that we will buy one and then in a year or two the bulbs will be out and we will once again have an unlit tree. Please let me know your experience.

Spiritual Gifts

I got an e-mail today from a friend with a link to this questionnaire that helps you determine your spiritual gifts. It's a completely free questionnaire that gives you a detailed summary of your gifts and suggestions of ways to use them to glorify God. It also includes a chart on how you compare with the rest of the Body of Christ, and a section on ways that Satan could attack your gift. Be prepared to spend a few minutes on this one because the questionnaire is 4 pages long (108 questions). I think it took me about 20 minutes to complete it. Trust me when I say that it is well worth your time.
I tried it, and I must say I was surprised by my results. My number one gift, according to this survey, is Exhortation. Encouraging others is always something I have striven to be better at, but I never really felt I was gifted in this area. I'm not sure if the survey was correct, but either way, it encouraged me because I would love to think of myself as having this gift. Unsurprisingly, the area I scored the lowest in was Administration. It would make me sick to my stomach to be in charge of a bunch of people and projects, and have to tell people what to do. I am so concerned about making everyone happy, and it would break my heart to have people upset with me because of my position.
I hope that you get a chance to try out the Spiritual Gifts Analyzer. What are your gifts?

Christmas, Christmas, Time is Near...

As the weather begins to cool, and Halloween has come and gone, we are beginning to prepare ourselves for the Christmas season. In preparation for Christmas, I have been asked to compile a Christmas list for our family. I am finding that it is very easy for me to come up with things that I would like to find under the Christmas tree, but I am having a hard time with my list for the kids.
Lately I have been feeling like the kids have been receiving so many gifts. January thru August are great because the kids have eight months free from gift giving occasions. As soon as the end of August hits, it's all downhill, with Jonah's b-day followed by Landon's b-day followed by Christmas.
One of the hardest things, though, is that I am extremely picky when it comes to the gifts that my children receive. For the past few years I have been compiling a running list in my mind of the qualifications a toy must meet in order to be appropriate for my children. I have never put this list to paper, mainly out of fear that I might seem like a toy Nazi who has a bad case of OCD.
During the kids nap this afternoon, I was surfing the web and found an article by a woman who shares all of my beliefs on toys (plus some that I have added since reading the article). I know it's long, but I'm posting a copy of her words because I think it's important to think on these things, especially with Christmas coming in the next few months.

Toys and the Christian Family
by Rebecca Prewett
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,think on these things.---Philippians 4:8
What could be more innocent, more harmless than toys? If we were the toy makers, our products would no doubt reflect our love for children, our love for God, and our desire for holiness and purity. Unfortunately, the shelves of most toy stores are filled with toys made by those who are definitely of another mindset entirely.
Do children need toys? I would answer yes. Less affluent children have, for centuries, created their own: a piece of wood wrapped in a scrap of cloth became a doll; other bits of wood became animals, houses, tools, or weapons. Children seem to need to play almost as much as they need food, shelter, and love. Toys are the necessary props.
Children learn through play. Just as we guide and direct our children's formal education, we should do the same for their play. While we may give our children lots of freedom and leeway in their play, out of a desire to encourage creativity, we will probably want to offer guidelines and restrictions. All playacting is not harmless fun. Just as we discourage potentially dangerous rough-housing, we will probably restrict playacting anything that is sinful, offensive, or even obnoxious. Allowing our children to pretend sinful behavior "makes a mockery of sin" and is warned against in Proverbs.
Since I believe that play is so important, I need to be discerning in the selection of toys for our children. In my own selection, I try to use the following criteria, which I have been developing over the years that toys have played a role in our family. I recognize that some of these are preferences (as opposed to convictions) and thus do not impose all of these criteria on those who buy gifts for our children.
There should not be too many toys. A vast amount not only fosters materialism and ingratitude, but actually diminishes the quality of play. This is a constant struggle for those of us with many doting and generous relatives.
Toys should encourage creativity, be interactive, and involve what child development "experts" call "open ended play". That means I avoid battery-operated toys that leave the child passively watching. That also means that if I'm buying a puppet, I'll tend to pick one that could play different characters, rather than one that is limited to being just Little Red Riding Hood, for example.
Toys should not be violent, occult, suggestive, pointless, disgusting, vulgar, obnoxious...there goes 75% of the toys in many toystores. I try to ask myself, "Could I imagine Jesus as a child, if he lived today, playing with this? Does this exemplify the type of life I want for my children?" In our home, we have chosen not to have toys such as these that we feel might be a potential stumbling block by appealing to the child's sinful nature or encouraging violence, strife, materialism, vanity, etc.
Will this toy annoy me to no end? Since I have to live with the toys, literally, I never buy noisemakers. (Our children have been given some toys that I joke were given with the sole purpose of disturbing the peace.) Toys that become too great a source of frustration (due to noise, being scattered everywhere, or whatever) will go on "hiatus" until the children agree to be more responsible or my tolerance level for that toy increases.
Toys should, ideally, teach our children something good. That doesn't mean they all have to come from the "educational supply store". Dolls can fit into this category if they encourage our children to roleplay family roles, practice being motherly or fatherly, of mimic us. (Plus, it's entertaining--and sometimes convicting--to watch them!) Some toys teach physical skills or hand-eye coordination. Others teach problem solving skills. Blocks teach our children to design and build things--and that bouncing one off baby's head is a no-no.
Toys should be of enduring quality. Junk that breaks easily only frustrates our children and does not teach them to take good care of what God has given us. Better one good quality toy than a toybox full of cheap trinkets.
Why give toys when you can give the real thing? Our children have a toolbox, filled with real tape measures, little saw, hammers, screwdrivers, etc. Even our 2 year olds have had their own hammers. These are used only under my husband's supervision.
Having standards about acceptable and unacceptable toys poses a dilemma. What do we do about presents that violate those standards?
First, we must determine if the present violates a conviction or a preference. We might prefer toys that aren't battery operated, but is this a conviction? We may prefer toys made of wood rather than plastic, but is this a conviction? Just because we would never select the toy ourselves, are we unwilling to allow our child to play with the toy? Is there something inherently harmful with playing with a silly plastic noisemaker?
What if the toy violates one of our convictions? Perhaps the best way to avoid this dilemma is by communicating our standards to family and friends. That sounds good, but the prospect is often daunting if we know that prospective gift-givers, especially in- laws, will find our convictions either silly, wrong, offensive, or outlandish.
What if the gift has already been given? I was once put in the awful position of having to take a particularly offensive present away from one of my children. There was no way that he could play with it without "making a mockery of sin" and we had just finished studying that very verse! Thank God that the gift giver was not there personally. I explained to my child, who saw the same problem with the gift that I did, that she didn't know our family's standards and that she probably had never read that particular verse.
I was still, however, reluctant to circulate a "gift-giving guide" to anyone who might give one of our children a present. My husband and I discussed our convictions in this area and he undertook to make a few hints to his family. I was much more direct with mine. But, rather than communicate a list of don'ts--"Don't give this gift...don't give toys that are like this...don't...don't..." we tried to word things positively. We suggested the idea that our children didn't need lots of toys and that they appreciated, contrary to what many adults think, gifts of clothing, especially those that are hand-sewn by loving relatives.
To keep the volume of toys to a decent level, we put some out of reach in a toy library, available by permission only. Other toys are packed away except during the Christmas season. The children look forward with great anticipation to the reappearance of these special "family heirlooms". We remind gift-givers that our younger children are happily playing with toys from their older siblings and don't need to be inundated with replicas and replacements.
Toys are an important part of our family life. Let us be diligent in making sure that the time our children spend playing is edifying to them and glorifying to God...rather than a potential stumbling block for them and displeasing to God.

Yummy

As you may recall, Adam and I went on a cruise this past May to celebrate our 5 year anniversary as well as the culmination of 4 loooooong years of Med school. We had such an amazing time and ate some incredibly amazing food. One of the highlights for me was the mouth watering dessert that they offered each night. If you have ever been on a cruise, you know that you are allowed to choose as many of each course as you like, and I was always inclined to pick a couple desserts. The staple dessert for me each night(well, starting night 3 when I discovered it) was Molten Chocolate Cake. Those of you who have traveled on Carnival Cruise lines know exactly what I'm talking about. This dessert is pretty much the best thing I have ever put into my mouth.
So, after our cruise was over I made it my mission to find this incredible recipe. I searched the web for several days and couldn't find it anywhere. I actually contemplated writing Carnival Cruise lines and asking them for the recipe. After way too much wasted time, and still no recipe, I gave up my search....until last week. I randomly had the TV on TLC and saw a snippet of an episode of Take Home Chef. They happened to be making dessert when I turned the TV on, and it looked surprisingly similar to my Carnival favorite. Needless to say, I rushed out and bought the ingredients in hopes that this would be the one, the recipe I had been waiting for. And guess what, not only was it incredibly easy to make, but it tasted just as good as I remembered. I'm so excited about this recipe for Molten Chocolate and Espresso Fondants that I have to share it with all of you. I do hope that you try it, and invite me over if you have leftovers:) Happy Baking!
P.S.
This recipe is best when it is served warm, so the guy on the show made it in advance and put it in the fridge until right before dessert to bake it.

We're off to See the Wizard

Last night we went to our class Halloween party at the church. For several days people had been talking about what costumes they were going to wear so I was pretty pumped up about getting all dressed up. We decided to reuse Landon and Jonah's costumes from Mary Alice's birthday party and dress our family like the Wizard of Oz. My sweet neighbor happened to have a Dorothy dress that was just my size and I made Adam a tin man costume. I must say that Adam was the biggest sport to wear this ridiculous costume and paint his entire face silver. I don't know many husbands who would do that just to play along with their wife's silly idea of dressing up like a family. What a sweetie!

As we were on our way to the party Adam was joking about how funny it would be if nobody else dressed up and this was a big practical joke on our family. So we get to the party and open the door to find that only one other couple dressed up. All of the kids were in costume and some of the adults "pretended" they were dressed up, but really it was just us and the youth minister and his wife. I have to say that I was pretty embarrassed at first and didn't even want to walk in the room. I'm so glad that Dusty and Heather went out all (he was an atomic wedgie and she was a school girl nerd). They were so embarrassed when they walked in the room that Heather ran and hid and made her husband walk in alone. Ha!! Despite the costume dilemma, we had a great time hanging out with friends and letting the kids run around and play on the bounce house. What a bunch of fuddie duddies we have in our class:)

The only cool people who actually dressed up (or at least said they were dressed up!)

Left to right: Dusty and Heather (atomic wedgie/schoolgirl nerd), Adam and Alisha (tin man/Dorothy), Amanda (Ladybug), Elizabeth and Chris (E-mail/attachment)

Our Pumpkins

(It's hard to see in this picture, but Daddy carved a Tiger and the boys and I painted ours)

Landon helping Daddy dig a hole for our tree

Fall Pics

Here are some pics of what we've been doing at our house the past few months:

Jonah has become somewhat attached to his blue blanket. (Remind you of anyone?) He reached a new milestone this week when he finally figured out that he can walk. It's a little wobbly but I think by next week he'll be off and running.








The kids at the Weenie Dog Races in Cleburne. My precious niece and nephew memorized the Bologna ditty and sang it in front of the weenie mobile. It was soooooo sweet.









Landon really loves to build things. This masterpiece was a donkey that he made:)











Corney Dogs at the Waco Fair












The fire department put on a fire safety day at the park last weekend. Landon was a little fearful of Sparky at first, but they made best buds after awhile.







Landon was showing me just how strong he really is. (The funny thing was that the mallet was so heavy he could hardly lift it. When he hit the target the meter barely moved. A+ for effort though.

Family Tradition

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog. I haven't felt much like blogging lately. As a matter of fact, I've been in a downright slump lately. I started taking Yasmin, birth control, a few weeks ago and I've been feeling down all the time. I've never considered myself a depressed person, but lately I've had trouble seeing the bright side of anything. I know that I have so many things to be thankful for, but things have just seemed dark. I thought it had to do with the fact that we are in a new place and still finding our niche. Or maybe the fact that I rarely see my husband these days, but today I googled side effects of Yasmin and came across tons of people who had previously been optimists, but after taking the pill became depressed, even suicidal. I'm not that bad, but now I know why I've been so down. Most of the articles said that the depression usually goes away in a few months, but I'm not sure I want to wait it out that long. I'm going to give it a month and if it doesn't get better, I'm definitely switching pills.
Anyway, we went to Abilene this weekend to visit my mom since Adam was on call. We had great big plans to go to the zoo and swim a lot, but Saturday morning we found ourselves in the ER. Jonah was a little bit sick on Friday, but progressively got worse through the night and in the morning he was wheezing terribly and having extreme difficulty breathing. I was very panicked as we rushed to the ER. The doctors took him straight back to a room and gave him a breathing treatment and steroids and he started to get better. It turns out that he has croup. The doctors put him on more steroids for five days and we've been using a humidifier and vaporizer at night. Thankfully he's doing much better now. The weird thing is that Landon ended up in the ER right after his first birthday as well. He had RSV and was hospitalized for two days. So, I've decided that it must be a family tradition we are starting- and an expensive one at that:)

Happy Birthday Jonah

August 2006

August 2007

I can't believe our little man is already a year old. It seems like just yesterday he was a fragile little baby who would sleep the day away. Now he's such a big guy with a big personality. Our family is so blessed to have this special boy as a part of it. Here are some pics from his first birthday party.

Jonah's personal cupcake-Yum!

Jonah's whale cake
This was my first attempt using fondant on a cake and I must say it turned out pretty yummy. Everything on the cake was edible. It sure wasn't easy watching everyone gobble it up after all that hard work.








Snuggling after the pool party. Jonah may be one, but he's still my baby boy!







The cousins should really brush their teeth more often. Good thing uncle Josh is a dentist:)

Alabaster Box

Get ready to praise Jesus. Here is a clip of a song sung by Cece Winans. Have a blessed day!

VERSE 1
The room grew still as she made her way to Jesus
She stumbles through the tears that made her blind
She felt such pain, some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper, there's no place here for her kind.
Still on she came, through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last she knelt before His feet. And though she spoke no words
Everything she said was heard, As she poured her love for the Master
From her box of Alabaster.

CHORUS
And I've come to pour my praise on Him like oil from Mary's Alabaster Box
Don't be angry if I wash His feet with my tears and I dry them with my hair.
You weren't there the night He found me.
You did not feel what I felt when He wrapped His love all around me.
And you don't know the cost of the oil in my Alabaster Box.

VERSE 2
I can't forget the way life used to be. I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound
I spent my days pouring my life without measure.
Into a little treasure box I thought I found. Until the day when Jesus came to me
And healed my soul with the wonder of His touch.
So now I'm giving back to Him all the praise He's worthy of .
I've been forgiven and that's why I love Him so much.

CHORUS
And I've come to pour my praise on Him like oil from Mary's Alabaster Box
Don't be angry if I wash His feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair, my hair.
You weren't there the night Jesus found me. You did not feel what I felt
When He wrapped His love all around me. And you don't know the cost of the oil
Oh, you don't know the cost of my praise. You don't know the cost of the oil
In my Alabaster Box.

Appreciation

Thanks for all of your input on my last post. I think the general consensus is to name your child whatever name you like, disregarding it's popularity or "takenness" (is that a word?). Good thing we don't have to decide any time soon:)
I have always been proud of my sweet hubby and thankful for all of the things he does for our family. Yesterday I thought of another reason I appreciate my husband. If you are in need of some more reasons to appreciate your husband feel free to steal my idea. It goes something like this:
Listen to your husband tell you for 2 weeks how much he wishes he had time to mow the yard because it's getting embarrassingly long. Then wait another week to make sure that the grass is good and tall (about a foot high). Wake up in the morning and decide that you will surprise your husband by mowing the lawn for him today, despite the fact that you have never mowed a yard in your 26 years of life. Make sure to choose a day when the weather is around 95 degrees or so, and wait until the baby is taking his noon nap so it will be nice and hot. Then go outside and fiddle with the mower for 30 minutes until you get the thing figured out. Proceed to take an hour to mow the yard, deciding after the front is done that your muscles are so sore that your body CAN NOT physically handle mowing the back.
TRUST ME, this is a surefire way to TRULY appreciate your husband. An added bonus is that he will be so surprised when he gets home that you will get some extra hugs and kisses. He won't even ask you if you hired someone to do it. Somehow he will just know:)

Small Town Life

Warning: Depressing Post Ahead!

We've officially been here for a couple of months now and I feel like I'm adjusting to small town life. I'll be honest, though, and say that I am not exactly enjoying small town life. It is a completely different world here. I am trying to make the most of it but some days, like today, I really wish I were back in Lubbock.
I think it's hard on me because Adam is not around very much so I get a little depressed. We don't have a whole weekend together to look forward to like most people, instead we have an average of one day per week, and the day is never the same. The days that Adam does get off, he is usually pretty tired. He will spend most of the day with us, some of the day sleeping, and the last few hours before bed he usually has work to do.
Sometimes I think I would feel better and have more energy if I was able to work out but the gyms here are not so great. Their are only two gyms that have childcare available for kids as young as mine. One of those gyms is more like a house with some exercise equipment from the 80's, and the other is a little better but costs $50 per month. Who could afford that?
So, I've resorted to running around my neighborhood. I wait until the boys are in bed so I usually can't run until 9 in the evening. Even at 9 it is extremely hot and humid and I always end up physically ill after running. Needless to say I only do this every 4 days or so because I can't bear the thought of making myself sick just so that I can exercise.
The heat here is pretty unbearable. The boys and I stay in the house all day because it is so humid and sticky. We have a friend who has access to a pool, but even the pools are warm. Not quite as refreshing as it should be.
The shopping here is also pretty sad. I rarely went shopping in Lubbock, but it was nice to know that if I needed something I could always find it. Our mall here has two big stores (Dillard's and Macy's) and that's about it. That seems exciting but they are low end stores, not the nice ones. On a positive note, though, Target is opening this weekend.
Well, I could go on but I'm really starting to feel like "Debbie Downer". We all have our bad days and I just needed to write about mine so that I could get it off of my chest.

Tagged

I just wanted to say thanks to my dear friend Jennifer who "tagged" me on her blog. I absolutely love filling out surveys about myself. Can you hear my sarcasm? I'm actually glad to do it as it gives me something to blog about today:

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
10 years ago I was a Junior in high school. That was the year that I decided to drop out of tennis (which was the sport I had played since the 6th grade), and try out for the high school soccer team. Those of you that know me and my lack of athletic ability are probably laughing right now at the thought of me trying out for the team. You might be surprised to know, however, that I actually did make the Junior Varsity team. Of course the only reason I made the team was that they didn't have enough players for a C team, but that can be our little secret. In hindsight I can see that God allowed me to be a part of the team because that is where I made some dear friends who started inviting me to church. Late fall of my Junior year is when my life changed forever because that is when I was baptized and became a Christian.

2. What were you doing one year ago?
One year ago I was pregnant with our second son. I was soaking up all of the alone time I could with Landon before his little brother arrived.

3. 5 snacks you enjoy.
My absolute favorite snack is Orville Redenbacher's Pour Over Cheddar popcorn. If you haven't tried it you should go to the store right now and buy a box- it's the best thing I've ever tasted. I also like munching on blueberries, candy(any kind), chips and homemade guacamole, and Blue Diamond smokehouse almonds.

4. 5 songs you know all the words to.
Songs we sing on a daily basis around the Stewart household: Jesus Loves the Little Children, Put your Finger On...(your nose, eyes, mouth...), I Shall Not Be Moved, B-I-N-G-O, Bye Oh Baby

5. 5 things you would do if you were a millionaire.
Thankfully I will never be in this position but just for humor's sake: The very first thing I would do is pay off all of our student loans. I absolutely can not stand being a slave to our debt. Then, I would put some money aside for my children's education. A big chunk of the money would go to: supporting Mission work, my "I need a bigger car if we are going to have 5 kids fund", and investments.

6. 5 bad habits
Biting my nails when I get nervous, starting projects and not finishing them, buying things and returning them because I have found it cheaper someplace else or have changed my mind (I'm actually getting much better about this one), saying inappropriate things or sticking my foot in my mouth, and the worst one of all: forgetting to flush the toilet (this drives Adam crazy, but in my defense it is a rare occasion when I can go to the restroom uninterrupted and sometimes I just get distracted.)

7. 5 things you like doing
I absolutely love baking, trying out new recipes on friends, singing, playing games, and watching commercial free episodes of Lost on the computer.

8. 5 things you would never wear again
After 2 children you would never again catch me in a bikini. You couldn't pay me enough money to wear big white glasses again, layered neon t-shirts, tube socks, or penny loafers. And to think those things were actually cool at one time- except for the big white glasses that were NEVER cool. I was such a nerd.

9. 5 favorite toys
my ipod, our new digital camera, sewing machine, fondant (it's just like playing with play dough except the bonus is that you get to eat it), computer with cable Internet

I tag Amber.

Summer Fun

The last few weeks have been rather eventful around our house. Who knew that moving into a brand new home could be such hard work? My two favorite stores have become Lowes and Home Depot. We put in three flower beds, a fence, and painted the kitchen this past week. Adam's dad and brother came down and were extremely helpful installing our new additions. After all of the work was done we headed to Sea World in San Antonio for some R& R. Here are some pics for your enjoyment:

How many guys does it take to dig a post hole?

The dirt here is less like dirt and more like solid limestone so the guys had to rent a jack hammer to do it. In hindsight 95 degree weather probably wasn't the best time to take on this endeavour but the guys were troopers and now we are able to enjoy having a fenced in backyard.

This was Jonah's first encounter with cotton candy. It's funny because he will put any and everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) from the floor into his mouth, but when given a ball of delicious puffed sugar he was very apprehensive. After a forced taste he changed his tune rather quickly.

Grandpa has quite an impressive collection of used motorcycles that he fixes up. I have a feeling Landon will be wanting to ride one soon enough.

What a coincidence! We ran into one of my dearest friends from Lubbock while we were at Sea World. Caden and Landon were playmates and they got to see each other again for a bit.
Landon getting ready for his first roller coaster ride on the Shamu Express. They almost didn't let him ride because the guy operating it said he was 1mm too short. We had Landon stand up extra tall and they him on.














What a long day!

Jonah just learned to eat Cheerios and we have learned that they buy us a few moments of peace while I am trying to make supper. When he runs out though, he lets you know about it.

I was cutting some vegetables the other day so I asked Landon to go and give his brother some more Cheerios. When I walked into the room this is what I saw. Not exactly what I had in mind.

Funny Face

My Hannah posted this picture of the buddy on her facebook this week. This is a face we see quite often these days. I hope it brightens your day as much as it does ours.

Happiness is...

Well, it's official. I will have to change the name of my blog because we no longer live in West Texas. We traded in our air purifiers and lotion for air conditioners and raincoats when we moved to good 'ol Central Texas.

Four years ago when Adam started medical school in Lubbock, I really had a hard time adjusting to being in a new town for the first time in my life. Not knowing where to go and what their was to do was difficult considering I was alone most of the time while Adam was studying. In fact, I went around singing "Happiness is Lubbock, TX in the rearview mirror." Then, we joined Greenlawn and established some incredibile friendships. We found a place where we didn't just fit in, but where we could be used by God. It's amazing how He always provides for us when we are in need.

As I think about the last four years and all of the changes our family has gone through I am so happy that we are starting a new chapter in our lives. We've gone from two to four, loans to an actual paycheck, and renting a junky duplex to owning our own home. We made it through Med School and our marriage is stronger than ever. I sure am going to miss our life in Lubbock but I know that God has a plan for us here and that He will provide for us.

I am going to try very hard to keep my blog updated (at least with pics) for all of our far away friends who are wondering what we've been up to. We miss you!

Our trip to the Waco zoo was surprisingly eventful. Who knew such a small town could host such a beautiful attraction?

Taylor's Wedding

My two handsome little men. Landon

and his cousin were bell ringers (or, as

they put it,"We walked down the pile in our tuxpheedos.")

Will it ever stop raining here?

Adam and Landon playing on the water equipment at a local park.