My Heart's Desire: July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

My Precious Girls

Boy, times sure have changed. I didn't even have a computer until I was in College. I learned how to type in high school on, get this, a typewriter. And though I use my computer daily, I still wouldn't consider myself technologically savvy. Well, these days babies can use computers better than some adults.

With that in mind, Savannah asked me a while back if she could have her own blog. She didn't exactly know what a blog was, but she knew I had one and so she likely thought it would be "cool" (is that word still used?) to have one too. So I gave in, and yesterday I helped her create her own blog.

She is so proud of it, and I have to admit I think it's pretty cute too. I can already tell, though, that I'm going to have to put some limits on her blogging. She is constantly asking me if she can "text" something for her blog. That's her way of asking if she can type up a new post. She hears the word "text" a lot, but she doesn't really know what it means since neither Andy or I text. So cute.

And, of course, since Savannah got a blog, Amaris wanted one too. And, of course, I obliged. Her's looks really good too and my hope is that blogging will be something that they can learn from and be productive with.

I have done pretty much all the work for them both, but I let them pick out their own backgrounds and other things they wanted on their blog. I imagine before long they will have it all figured out on their own and know more about it than I do, which honestly isn't very much.

I set up their blogs under my account and have the security settings in place so that only those who are invited can view their blog. So, If you are interested in seeing their blogs, leave me a comment letting me know, and if you are a friend or family member I'll send you an invitation. And be sure to leave them a comment. It is so exciting to them to get comments.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Life Long Friends Already Included

I sometimes wonder if my kids will have a life long friend. You know, a friend you meet as a child and somehow manage to stay friends with into adulthood and hopefully forever. Well, I am blessed to have two friends that fit that description. One is my friend Donna who I met in seventh grade, my first year of public school. I was going through a lot of changes in my life at that time, and God knew I needed a friend like Donna. The other is my friend Crystal. I met her when, if I remember correctly, she was 3 years old and I was 4 years old. I lived next to her in Leander and we've stayed friends ever since.

Unfortunately with life being as busy as it is, I don't talk to or get together with Donna or Crystal near as often as I would like, but we stay in touch and make efforts to get together when possible

This past Saturday I was able to see Crystal for the first time in probably a year. I am so excited for her and her husband. They are pregnant with their first child. A little girl named Kylie Grace. Kylie should be making her entrance into the world around the end of August. She is going to be one decked out baby. She got a lot of adorable gifts at her baby shower. I can't wait to see her in person!

Me and Crystal at her baby shower.

Well, my kids are already forming relationships and making friends that have me wondering, "Is this a life long friend?" I definitely hope they will find special friends that last. But my biggest prayer is that they will be each other's life long friend.

You know how when you buy some electronics or toys the box will say "batteries included". Well that is a huge plus because the batteries are essential for the product to function and who wants to spend an extra $5 bucks or more on batteries if you can avoid it? Well, I believe God gives us family, siblings especially, to be our "already included" life long friends and to be constants in our life that we can always count on. I love to see sisters and/or brothers that truly love one another, enjoy each other's company, and are best friends. Of course that doesn't mean their won't ever be disagreements, but they are handled with love and respect for one another. I wish I knew the secret to ensuring this would happen with my children, but since I don't I will keep praying about it and trusting God to work it all out for me.

Life Long Friends!?!.......

Savannah, Amaris, Jadon, and Bethany after getting all dirty making a mud "cake" in Jadon's dump truck!

My kids with their friends Colt and Caden.

Bethany and Emma

Bethany and Caden.

Friday, July 17, 2009

It's been a long time!

And I've got lots to share. Time has gone by so fast since my last post. Things got crazy busy around the 2nd week of June and have finally slowed down.

The busyness started with VBS at our church. I had signed up to teach the 1st and 2nd grade class this year. Last year I helped with Amaris' class, and so this year Savannah wanted me to teach her class. I was already stressing about getting everything together and ready for that when we found out the director of our VBS stepped down. Long story short, I volunteered to help out with a few things that I thought would be fairly easy, and ended up taking on a MUCH larger role than expected. Andy also stepped up big and helped out each day with the Worshp Rally and Music. He did an AWESOME job and the kids loved him. The adults were quite entertained by him as well. I wish I had some video of him!

VBS required a lot of time to prepare for and a lot of hard work to accomplish, but we had a good time and so did the kids.

Amaris and Bethany - soo cute!

Savannah and Jadon - not sure they wanted their picture taken.

My classroom that I decorated (with Andy's help)!

Another view of my classroom.

Andy helping with music.

During the planning and preparation of VBS Savannah got sick and had us all a little worried. She basically started out with a fever and feeling tired. She complained very midly of her stomach hurting and a sore throat. After a few days of fever she got a "rash" pretty much over her entire legs. Andy thought it was a virus. The rash faded after one day and was completely gone after two days. The fever and lethargy stuck around though. We took her to the doctor and after blood work and some waiting we found out she had Mono. We were actually very relieved because some of the other options were horrible to even consider. Poor Savannah had a pretty rough time getting over the mono. She's better now though and seems to be good as new.

Amaris turned 6 years old on June 25th. Time really goes by way too fast. We had a little celebration at home on her actual birthday, but for the big birthday celebration she wanted to go to the same resort we took Savannah to for her birthday. It is called The Villages Resort and is near Tyler, TX. It has an indoor waterpark which is a lot of fun for the kids. We went for July 4th weekend and had a really good time.

Since Andy's birthday is July 9th, the resort was a joint birthday celebration for Amaris and Andy. It was a lot of fun. We got to eat snowcones and see some great fireworks, go swimming at the outdoor pool, play putt putt golf, have some fun at the arcade, and play at the indoor water park. My dad was able to come for one night and the kids LOVED that!

The only bummer of the trip was the AC going out in my Suburban on our way to the resort. I'm so thankful my dad was following along with us. He let me and the kids use his air conditioned truck and he and Andy sweated it out the rest of the way in our Suburban. And thankfully Andy should really be called "Handy Andy" because he stopped and got parts along the way and then got up early Sunday morning and fixed the AC on the Suburban in the Walmart parking lot. Our ride home would have been miserable if he hadn't done that. Plus he saved us a lot of money!

Amaris and her birthday cake.