Catch Up

i so need to catch up. We're in Huntsville, Alabama with Levi's parents. We had a GREAT time in Florida with my parents. When we got off the plan and were waiting for my mom, Addy had tears of joy in her eyes. I got teary at how excited she was to be with her family. Christmas was wonderful. It was so cool to watch Addy believe and enjoy Christmas. We drove from Florida to Georgia and got to spend a night with Levi's sister. It was good to see her and her family. We drove to Alabama yesterday and have enjoyed being with Grammy & Poppy & Mimi.

If you read Levi's blog you know the van broke down on his way to Florida. I'm still not sure what we're going to do about it. It is supposed to be in Huntsville this week and we'll get it to a mechanic to fix the brakes. I'm thankful it wasn't the transmission but we are getting rid of it and getting something else, enough is enough.

Speaking of enough, I guess that's enough for now. Hope you all had a great Christmas.

Christmas Light Junkies

Our family is turning into a family of junkies....for Christmas lights. Seriously, so far this week, 3 out of the 5 nights, we're driving around Rowlett looking at Christmas lights. We have so much fun doing it. My joy comes from the backseat. There are constant squeals of excitement from Addy and she's saying, "Look, look, look!!!" It has been so much fun. Keegan's back there saying, "Santa" over and over. It is so cute!! I love it. Levi and I just look at each other and smile. I do have to contribute Addy's love for Christmas to her Grammy. Levi's Mom LOVES Christmas. We are hanging out with our friends, The Hortings tonight and we're all going to go look at lights together. We have so much fun with them. Here's to Christmas Lights :)

It's been too long.....

I haven't blogged in a while. We had Aunt Connie last week and stayed very busy. We had a great time with her. It's so good to be with family. This week started well except that Addy and I are both trying to get sick. I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow if we don't feel better. We leave for Florida next week and I don't want us to be sick for any of that. We have a busy week. We have another cookie swap tomorrow and other various appointments. Then this weekend we have a lot going on too. It's kind of crazy but it will be fun! I took the kids and got their Christmas pics taken today. They turned out cute. I hope to blog before we leave but not sure that will happen. If not, Merry Christmas!!

PooPoo

So Keegan has begun talking. And he's trying to say all kinds of stuff. He started saying poopoo and pointing to his diaper. We put the potty out a few months ago and let him sit on it and we talk about it. Well, he's started getting more interested in it. So, last night he sat on it and I think he used it. I couldn't be sure. So, tonight, he said "poo-poo" and sat on the potty. All of a sudden, he started peepeeing. I was so excited I yelled, "Yeah Keegan," which startled him. He jumped up and peed on my foot. I didn't care I was so thrilled he actually used the potty:) woo hoo for the K man!!!

Rough

We had a rough night last night. One woke up with diarrhea, the other woke up afraid of geckos. Poor Keegan has a fierce diaper rash from the diarrhea so he stayed up from about 2 - 4 and then woke up for good around 7 something. What a rough night!! We are all pooped...ha ha, no pun intended. Levi's Aunt Connie is flying in this afternoon. We are all excited to see her. This morning we've been finishing up laundry and a little cleaning and straightening. Hopefully the kids will get some rest before we pick her up.

Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

We had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner earlier this week. I really love cooking and knew I wasn't going to be here for Thanksgiving. We invited the Sprangs over and Xuan and her family to have a mini Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for all of our new friends in Texas. The Sprangs moved here with us to start this church which is a huge committment, undertaking, etc. It's been a fun ride with them and we truly consider them family. Then, Xuan is my new friend here in Texas. Our stories were so similar it was weird. We both moved here with in a month of each other. We have no family here. We were both stay at home moms. We were both teachers, weird I'm telling you. She and I have a unique bond that I'm so thankful for. If I hadn't had her, I really don't know what I would have done. I really miss her now that she's teaching again but I definitely enjoy our times together.

My husband and his evil twin....

Okay so not really evil but boy it is weird how much these two favor each other. Isn't it weird???

Happy Thanksgiving

Today I celebrated my first turkey day ever not eating a home cooked meal. It was really nice. We ate a great little restaurant with Poppy and Grammy. We've had a great time with them. The kids are slap wore out but it's been great. I am very thankful for so very much in my life. I'm trying to think about those things today. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving today!

Addy

So Addy is one funny little thing:) She cried for the first time during a movie last night. Levi and the kids were watching Air Bud and she cried when the little boy yelled at his dog. She is so tender hearted. We were watching it again today and she cried again and said the little boy would be sad without him. She is super sweet!

Then before naptime, we read a book about kittens. She told me she wanted a kitten. She said that when she got her own "home" she would have a kitten and she is going to be a teacher. I can't believe how big she is getting :)

Sunday

So Sunday I led worship at Catalyst...it was kind of crazy. I've told Jonathan that I will sing in front of whoever but don't make me talk. I've made a really big deal about not wanting to do that. In fact, even on Saturday Levi told me he thought I was joking this whole time by telling him I was actually going to do it. I really felt checked a couple of months ago about being so against it and making it so known to Jonathan and Levi. I really prayed that God would use me and help me. I felt really good about it on Sunday, I was a little nervous but not nearly as bad as I thought. I had a peace about it which is pretty cool because I know that only comes from God. So anyway, I led and it went really well. It was neat to hear the guys in the band singing behind me, pretty cool!!

Sunday night ended well, we had two couples over and played Mexican Train dominoes....it was a lot of fun. I laughed harder than I have laughed in a while with these friends:) They are definitely special!!

We're celebrating a mini Thanksgiving tomorrow and I'm excited about it. I love cooking and I love making our holiday favorites, it will be fun!!

We're off to Little Rock for Thanksgiving later this week. We're really excited about seeing Levi's parents. It will be fun! I probably won't blog anymore unless I get some quiet time then or when we get back.

Catch Up

We've had a crazy few days....although I can't remember a lot about the, bad sign I know. Let me recap, the van has given us a fit, again. Again, we were blessed with the means to pay for the repairs which were a lot less than what we originally thought. I'm amazed at how God uses people and I want to make sure I'm one of those people that He uses for others. However, it's hard to accept that sometimes, I tend to be prideful. I'm working on it. We stayed at home a good part of the week because the van was being worked on. That was actually nice. This weekend, we hung out at home alot too. We got all of our Christmas decorations and lights up and out. Andrew brought his big tall machine thing over and drug it in the front yard to help Levi put up our lights. We all took turns getting in it and going straight up. We could see the Wylie water tower, it was crazy, scary, and a little fun. I got all of Keegan's hair cut too. I didn't mean to. He wouldn't let anyone come near him with scissors ("Did you say scissors?" inside joke which I tell everybody so if I haven't told you, ask!). The clippers were okay but still he batted the lady's hand. It took 45minutes to cut his little head of hair. She was very patient with him. We ended our Sat night at the Bloomer's home. We celebrated Shelley's birthday with fondue, it was yumolicious!!! That was all the excitement I could handle for the weekend.

Family Pics

So, my friend called today to say our family pics were ready. I'm just going to post a few on here but I love them. Thanks Katy, you're awesome!!!

Oops

Sorry for the largeness of the last blog. I tried to go back and make it smaller but I couldn't. Oops!

By the way, I never blogged about the weekend but Levi did...it was very interesting. The Sprangs kept our kids Saturday night and we went out on a date and stayed in a hotel. (can I say I LOVE priceline.com?) It was great! Our Sunday morning was when it got interesting so go to Levi's blog and you can read about our Wild Sunday:)

By the way, you can still vote for me to win that Wii for Catalyst Kids....I only had 23 votes last night....I'm getting an unpopular complex.. just kidding:)

Heather

It's beginning to look a lot like

CHRISTMAS!!!

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet (however it's only a week away) but we're traveling for Thanksgiving and the kids and I are leaving early for Christmas.

So, it's looking like Christmas around our home. Levi's aunt, Aunt Connie, came last year around this time and made us a wreath and matching garland for the mantle, and one for the door (along with lots of other goodies actually). So, I've been fluffing those and I put the tree together. Addy and Keegan watched Rudolph the whole time. We put a mini-tree in each of the kids' rooms. We're going to decorate the tree tonight. I love Christmas time and I'm so excited about all the pretty lights, the music, the gifts.

I'm most excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I'm more and more thankful for His birth, His life, and His death. I'm really excited to go into this Advent Season. Levi is writing his Advent teachings now and he says they're going to be good and very different. He's got my interest peaked. I'm thankful for God's love and mercy.

Kind of random but here goes....Levi and I were talking this weekend about a conference he and Jonathan went to. One of the speakers spoke on dreaming big. He shared about a 26 year old whose dream was to put 1000 wells in an African country. Her first year, 30, her second 90, her third year 300 and something. His point was this if she died, others would die. Her dream was big and it impacted many others. I'm praying during this season that God would help me to dream big and make it clear to me. I'll keep you posted:)

Back to Christmas......

Catalyst Kids need a Wii

Okay so I entered this contest. The prize is a wii. It's totally a popularity contest...that's actually the name. So, please let me beg you to go here and vote for me, Heather Lowry. I'd love to win a wii:) In all honesty, I'm going to donate the Wii to our kids' area at church, we already have our own...come on Catalyst needs some cool stuff for our kiddos;)

CVS

I just got back from CVS. They have a GREAT deal on duracell batteries this week, buy $20 worth and get $15 back in ECB's. They also had CVS coupons $5 off of $30, $4 off of $20, and $3 off of $15. Those expired tonight....thus why I went tonight. So, I go and get my deal, $21 worth of duracell batteries and $10 Glade products (buy $10 in Glade and get $5 in ECBs). Well, my total was $33 something. I get $5 off with the CVS, $1.50 off of batteries, and $7.99 off of the Glade stuff. I pay $17 (they didn't let me stack my CVS coupons-bummer). I was fully expecting to get $20 back in ECB's. I only spent $18 in batteries. I only got $5 back. So, I went back and bought $22 in Duracell. All in all, I spent $29 which should of cost $55-ish. And I got back $35 in ECBs. That's pretty good. Now, I can go buy diapers for free-woohoo:)

I've got to blog about my weekend experience but that will have to wait till tomorrow. Good night.

No News

is good news! This week has been good but pretty par for the course. We had a playdate on Wednesday and had a houseful. It was a lot of fun. Katy (a friend from our playgroup) took our family pics. It was a lot of fun. I hope they turn out well. I'm anxious to get them back. Hopefully we're done with our ear infections...knock on wood...I'm sick of ear drops and antibiotics....YUCK!!!

Loving

I am doing a Bible study and it's really challenging me. I've learned that I like to have things down in my brain. I like to understand. I don't always feel that way about what I read in scripture and sometimes it's hard to resolve that. Sometimes it seems contradictory or harsh and that doesn't "feel good" to me. I am learning though so that is good. A theme that is resounding so loud to me is to love. To love and to forgive and let things go. That is so hard for me but I'm really working on it. I can truly say I don't have hate in my heart for anyone. I can think of situations or experiences that kind of leave me with a yucky feeling. I think that's because I feel sad because they way they went down or ended. I wish every relationship, experience, situation, etc. felt great but that's not life. That is the part I hate.

I'm also trying to listen more. I'm reading a book that talks a lot about listening to your spouse or kids but not only to what they're saying but what they're not saying. It's really good. I think I talk to much...I can hear Levi amen-ing in the background. I'm working on that too.

Hope you're week is off to a great start. Mine has been good. We're having our playgroup over tomorrow. I think I counted 10 moms and 16 or 17 kiddos...it's gonna be CRAZY!!! But always fun!

Weekend

So I had a great time at my 10 year reunion. I met up with my Yo Yo Mamas!! This was the first time in a LONG time we've all been back together. They are truly friends that I can see and it feels like we were never apart. I love that!! I thank God for that!! I stayed with Wyatt and we had a great time together. We were on campus for the parade and Wes' concert that night. I got to see Andrea's family which was great...it's been a long time. I met Susannah, Beenah, and Milby's little ones for the first time. It was so good to be with them. We had our reunion Sat. morning. It was good to see old friends. I had so much fun at Trevecca. I loved my time there. It was good to be back and remember that heritage.

It was a good amount of time to be gone. I was glad to be away but was glad to get back. Levi did great with the kids. I think they all enjoyed their time with each other.

Albertson's STEAL

Okay so I just got back from my 10 year college reunion and have lots to say. However, that will have to wait till tomorrow. I have to blog about my steal at Albertsons. I've been out of the loop since I've been gone but I read a friend's blog tonight and saw there was a 3 day sale at Albertsons. I had to tutor till 11 so I quit about 10 minutes early and headed the 3 minutes to Albertsons. Okay so here's the deal, they had their family packs of chicken breast for $1.68 a pound. However, they were completely out of their family packs. The guy gets on the phone, calls the manager and he gives me the smaller packs at the same price....SCORE!!! Then, there were 2 coupons in the ad paper. One was buy 1 seasoned petite sirloins packs and get 2 free. Score again!! Final coupon was for $5 off a purchase of $50 or more. Well, my total was $60 and some change. I couldn't find small packs of petite sirloins and I wanted all the chicken because we eat that likes it's going out of style. My final cost....drum roll please......$33.94 for 15 pounds of chicken and 5 pounds of steak. That is crazy, that's $1.69 per pound. Nice!! Here's the actual breakdown just in case you're wondering:
Seasoned Sirloin- $14.06
Seasoned Sirloin- $13.50
Seasoned Sirloin- $13.34

Chicken Breast- $4.12
Chicken Breast- $3.92
Chicken Breast- $3.86
Chicken Breast- $3.85
Chicken Breast- $3.64

Total Before- $60.29
minus $5 coupon
minus $13.50 (steak)
minus $13.32 (steak)

Total Savings- $51.23
Total Out of Pocket- $33.94

God's Goodness

I'm amazed at God's goodness and how He works things out. On Sunday we were challenged to tell of His mighty acts. I'm so thankful for those acts. I tried to tell Addy today that Fred was helping us because he loves us and because he loves God. So, I asked her, "Do you know who loves Fred?" Thinking, because of our discussion, she would say, Jesus...nope...she didn't miss a beat and said, "Shelley!" That's Fred's daughter...she was right:) I tried to make it a teachable moment. In all seriousness, I'm so thankful for Fred. I'm thankful for the guys in our church that help us...bless Levi's heart:) I'm thankful for our neighbors that love us. I'm just thankful for all these people in our lives that love on us. I'm thankful for friends far away that love us that are obedient to a big G God!! I want to be faithful and obedient in my walk. I'll be gone through the weekend so you guys have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Heather

Backed Up....

I know you're thinking I'm posting a lot but I've got a lot to catch up on...I was backed up on my blog. This will be my last. So, this morning I went to the 5am Turbo Kick class. It was great. It went by fast so I didn't think about quitting...which was nice. I liked the class a lot. Then, I met my two friends at Starbucks then Chicfila to do our life group Bible study. We read 2 Peter and Jude. Can I just say that I love the book of Jude!! You'll have to read it...it's super short. Levi thinks that's why I like it but I like his message. I ended my early morning going to Home Depot to buy fence slats. I have got to give a shout out to Fred Sweeney. He is fixing our fence...I almost said helping to fix our fence but that would not be correct. Levi is talking and Fred is fixing:) Thanks Fred....you are a lifesaver. Why do we have to fix our fence? The City of Rowlett Code Officer came around last week and gave out a lot of "warnings" for high grass, missing fence slats, junker cars, etc. So, we got one for our 2 inches of grass between the back fence and alley, 1 for missing slats, and 1 for "junker" cars. The last offended Levi greatly. His 1966 mustang was in the driveway. We had to go back and read the part about out of date tags. We have to get new tags. All in all they were easy fixes, mow, put the Mustang in the garage, etc. The fence however needed some help so Fred is the man!!

Catalyst Rocks

We were surprised and honored on Sunday by our church and friends. They planned a service and we shared God's goodness in our church family. It was so cool to hear people call out what they were thankful for. A friend of Levi & Jonathan's, Darrell MacLearn led the service. He interviewed Levi & Jonathan and then let some of the people from Catalyst share. It was so cool!! I love our church. They gifted us with a bed and breakfast getaway...how nice! I got beautiful flowers. Then we headed over to a local park and had a cookout. The food was wonderful and there was so much of it. Wowser!!! Tim gave the Sprangs and us each a beautiful canvas print. Our print was of an old church, it's black and white. I love it. I already hung it above our fireplace. The whole day was such a wonderful surprise!! The only bad part was at the cookout, Addy started complaining about her ear. We took her to the doctor yesterday to find out she has a mean ear infection!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween night and weekend! We took the kids trick or treating in our neighborhood then headed over to the Russell's house to trick or treat and pop in on the costume party. Everybody looked great. Addy and Keegan had a wonderful time trick or treating. Keegan was not a fan of the lobster costume (mainly the hat). However, when bribed with candy, he let me put it on and then forgot about it. He looked so cute!! Addy was Ariel and had a lovely head of bright red hair. She wore for a long time before she was over it. We've been eating Halloween candy ever since. They got WAY WAY WAY too much. We have hidden the candy and gave a lot of it away at our Catalyst cookout on Sunday. Here's a picture of them.

Bloggy Carnival

I've spent a lot of time this week on the bloggy carnival....I stayed up way too late a couple of nights. So far I won a ring:) I hope I win more...it was addicting to say the least but also fun!! I will blog soon!
Heather

Long Time.....

Hey, I know it's been a few days. We had a good weekend. We stay busy but I like that. Today however, we kind of chilled. We had our playgroup Halloween party this weekend which was fun. It's gotten colder here which is nice. I've spent my afternoon on the phone...I hate that. It's such a waste, especially since most of it was on hold. In fact, I am still on hold....YUCK. Anyway, we had a good weekend. I'll write more later.

Sunshine

I just got a phone call from a friend telling me her mother passed away tonight. They were friends from our church in NC. Mary always used to sing, "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day...." I thougth to myself, now she's really got sunshine. It makes me sad to think that a family has lost their mom and their grandmother, their sister. This family has gone through a lot, the father died about a year and a half ago. I can't imagine the pain they've felt. I remember when my grandmother died, it was so sad but Papa was still here so it was almost as if that pain was pushed down. Then when he died, it just felt so horrible because I was dealing with both deaths. As I think about Mary's life tonight, she loved missions and she would always do competitions for VBS and she did a big dessert auction to raise money. It was crazy how much money that woman could get for a pie (she did have a great auctioneer that played dirty, no nose scratching if you know what I mean). She had so much spunk to her. I'm also reminded that life is fleeting. It makes me sad that at some point, I'll have to deal with the death of a parent. I can't imagine how that must feel. It also makes me realize that life is short and that I want to be a peaceful person. It's too short to have regrets and what ifs. I want to live life being honest with others so that I don't let things build up and get the best of me. I don't want to be angry or bitter. I don't want to have ugly things to say about people, I want to let petty things go and hold on to what is important. If you think about it, pray for Mary's family. She left a strong legacy for them and I know their hearts are broken tonight.

Great Omaha Steak Deal is no more

It appears the Omaha Steak deal is done....I guess they were giving away a lot of $25 giftcards. I hope some of you got to take advantage of it.

One more before Night Night....

Tonight Addy and Keegan and I took a walk (Levi was reffing). We went to see some Halloween decorations. Texans go all out for Halloween. I've never seen anything like it. Addy is pretty timid with that kind of stuff. She likes it but doesn't like it if you know what I mean. So, as we're walking there, she starts kind of cowering away. I looked over at Keegan who is jumping up and down so excited and said, "Keegan tell Sissy not to be a scaredy cat." To which Addy replies (in a very grown up tone), "Mom, I'm not scared of cats, just Halloween decorations." I stand corrected:)

GREAT Omaha Steak Deal

Okay so it's been a while since I posted about a GREAT deal. I was reading a blog today and found out about this deal. I've always secretly wanted to try one of these and now I have...woohoo!! Okay so here it is if you're interested....
1. You go to this link. You don't have to have Geico, you don't have to switch to Geico. It just gives you a username for their website...they will email you within a couple of hours with a link to a gift card code. It is for $25 to Omaha Steaks. Check your spam folder, mine came within the hour.

2. Then go to this link. Let me know if it doesn't work for some reason. It should say something like, poncey76@hotmail.com has shared yada yada with you. Type in your email address. You'll get an email confirmation right away. And in that email, there is a link to start shopping. After you get your code from step 1, use that link to order the burgers (described below0. It will automatically give you the 12 free 4 oz. burgers. The 12 free won't show up in your cart until you check out, so don't panic.

3. When you get your gift card code and go to the link through the step two link, you'll be at the Omaha Steaks website. In the left hand sidebar, click on the link for "burgers/brats" etc. Scroll down until you see the option for "eight 5 ounce steak burgers" for 12.99. Add that to your cart, then checkout. (Note: apparently the $12.99 option doesn't work for everyone, if you get through the next step and it doesn't work, go back and get the $14.99 option. It will cost you $2 more out of pocket, but you'll get that much more meat.)

4. At checkout, enter your address and info. You should see your burgers for $12.99 and the free burgers. They ask for payment....they added $13 for shipping but don't worry, that will come off once you enter that BIG ole' code from your gift card email. Before you enter your credit card (or paypal - one of the payment options is "pay by paypal" if that is easier for you), enter your gift card code and hit "apply" or whatever the button says next to that. That should take your total down to roughly $1.98.

How cool is this??? I'm excited to get my burgers in the mail...cooler and all!! Let me know if you do this deal!!

The Fall--NOT the season

Today I took the kids to their music class. We had to go to the restroom. Keegan discovered the button on the water fountain and wouldn't leave it. I went to get him and turned the corner. My foot hit some water and started sliding...it was kind of like slow motion (and I'm totally okay about being laughed at). My left foot started sliding (and yes I left skid marks) and I couldn't catch my balance. I am holding Keegan by the way, an extra 27 lbs. My right leg just gave way and it looked like I was doing a herkie (sp). It was my first herky or however you spell it. The lady at the desk looked up and saw me sitting on the ground in a herky and got a rag and came over. She cleaned up the water and made sure I was okay. There wasn't a lot of water, and my kids were both dry, thankfully. Anyway, I ended up filling out an incident report just in case. I'm fine, just embarassed, it's been a long time since I've fallen in public.

Pumpkin Carving

We carved a pumpkin with the kids over the weekend and went to a fall festival thing at a local business. We had a lot of fun. I'm blogging about it because I have to show you this picture. At some point, Addy gave Levi a sticker, can you find it? Well, obviously Levi forgot about it and was so into his pumpkin carving. I laughed as I took pictures because I knew he had no clue he had a little yellow sticker right on his forehead. I thought I'd share:) Addy enjoyed watching Daddy carve the pumpkin but was grossed out by the gooey "hair." Keegan could have cared less, he was playing on the swingset the whole time. I also included a picture of the fall festival at the nursery. They had a great time.

Date Night- Steve Fee Rocked

Okay so Levi and I had our date night tonight and we went to hear Steve Fee, Meredith Andrews, and Phil Wickham. We actually went because of Phil Wickham. Steve Fee rocked the stinkin' house. He was awesome. His spirit and passion and level of intensity was so cool. It really was awesome just to be there and get to worship with a totally different group of believers. I got tickled when he played, "We Shine." Fusion played his song, "We Shine" at camp. We did the fist pump and everything. I thought Jonathan came up with that but apparently, it's a Steve Fee thing because he was rocking the pump. Levi and I had a lot of fun. We stayed for a few of Phil Wickham's songs. He was good. His voice is killer good and super clear, it's really kind of freaky how good his voice is. We're old and tired so we headed on home.

Catalyst 2

I love Catalyst. We had a good service today. It started off as one of those days were I just kind of felt unsettled. I think Levi felt the same. When we walked in the theater (like 2 min. before start) there were 2 people in there...for real! By the time we finished the first song, there were around 50 in there. It felt much better:) Levi is still teaching from James. James doesn't play. He tells you like it is and doesn't care. Today talked about how rich some of the people were while there were innocent people dying. Levi gave the background of how rich and corrupt these landowners were. He talked a little about hoarding vs. saving. The point is where is your trust and where is your focus, on temporary (monetary) things or in the stability of a God who loves you. It's much more important to leave a legacy of trusting in the Almighty then to leave a legacy of wealth. I think it's cool that Levi tries to think practically when dealing with scripture and he said he kept coming back to where is said, "moths will eat your cloths." He said we might not be "rich" but most of us are rich in clothing. He challenged us to clean out our closets (especially winter) and bring it next week. It will be cool to see what everybody brings. I really liked that. We are not rich but we have things to give. We also have time and if we see a need and can meet it, I should. I'm going to try to live practically in that this week.

While we were singing today, I looked around at our crowd. It was so cool to see all different life stages, backgrounds, etc but to see everybody worshipping in one voice. I love Catalyst!

Parenting

It's hard to parent sometimes. It's hard to discipline. I want to do what's right for them to make them into responsible, respectful, loving beings. It truly does hurt me more than it hurts them (well maybe an equal amount). It's hard when you know your kids intentions but you still have to punish for their actions because they have to learn there are consequences for their actions. For me, I'm having to figure this all out. I caught myself tonight wanting to belabor a point because I was embarrassed by my kids' actions. I don't want to do that, I want to discipline them for the action not my embarrassment. Does that make sense? I also have to remember that kids are kids and it's my job to help shape them and teach them.

My kids truly are sweet beings. I was talking to a friend today about Addy and how her nature is to step back and be non-confronatational (most of the time). I don't want her to get pushed around so I try to watch out for her. She definitely has to have a level of safety and security before she let's loose. Even though, she's usually pretty mild mannered. Tonight she did something WAY out of character. I honestly think she was caught in the moment and got carried away. I hope she's learned from that experience.

And a bit of randomness, today we were in Sam's. This lady passed us that had red hair and it was obviously colored. It did look more like a burgundy. So, as she passed us, Addy says (in a not so quiet voice), "Mommy, look at her pink hair." I just tried to smile and tell her to keep those things to herself or whisper them to me. It was quite obvious that she really liked the pink hair. And a note on Keegan, he points for everything but he is starting to make words. He can now say bird and bed which sound very similar but are very different:)

Normal

Just enjoying an easy morning. We've had a good week, not too eventful. Addy played in her soccer game last night and did a lot better. She actually looked like she was having fun. I think she might be too young yet. I got tickled because there's all these 3-5 year olds running around the field. I look down to the other team's goal and they seriously have 4 kids in the goal...literally in the goal. Their strategy was to barricade the goal so a ball could not get in. Funny stuff!! Levi was in Oklahoma City all day yesterday so it seemed like a long day. Nothing much to report. I'm trying to get caught up on reading all the blogs I read and laundry...fun stuff around here:)

5 stinkin am

Okay I know there are those of you out there that enjoy waking up early. I am NOT one of you. I am NOT!!! But today I joined your ranks. I have really super missed my friend Xuan since she started teaching again. And I have missed the gym (that's a lie but I need to miss the gym). So, we met at the dreaded gym at 5:20. Our plan was 5am. I got there at 5:20 which was a huge success for me. We decided to do the treadmills since I missed the class, fortunately Xuan is a late being like myself so she too missed the class. I enjoyed our time chatting and sweating. We got to catch up which has been long overdue. I will admit I laid back down. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep but I did. It was like I had this bad dream. It was obviously dark when I left and it was still dark at 6:30 when I pulled back in. I felt like I dreamed it but I didn't. I bet I could make a lot of money if I could somehow market that. You can get exercise out of the way but it's like you slept right through it. Hmmm! Anyway, I was proud of myself for at least one day of early rising!

So I'm on a roll.....

I'm blogging a lot...I'm catching up I guess. We went to the Callahan's tonight for our first monthly gathering as Catalyst. We had a great time. Chris, Shari, and kiddos are awesome hosts and we have so much fun there. There was a great turnout and everyone looked like they were having a great time. The food was great and it never got quiet:) The guys hung out inside and watched the game, the ladies sat outside by the beautiful pool and talked. It would be nice to be able to have womanly conversation and not worry about the kiddos diving in the pool. I'm not complaining...and if I didn't have kids, I probably wouldn't be where the kids were. Just wanted to clarify....I know it's the stage where they are. I'm ready for more families with young kids to be at Catalyst...okay selfishly for right this second. It would be nice to have some other kid mommas up in the Barbie room with me. Levi did hang out for a while with me which was great. I'm making it sound like I was stuck in a room...I wasn't. I'm being overly dramatic. Shari and I spent some time outside letting the kids play. I like being around someone with older kids, I like hearing how they interact and hopefully will glean wisdom from that. So, I digress...you get the picture. I came in for the last part of the game and it looked like everybody was having a great time. I'm so glad. I love that Catalyst is accepting of everybody. I don't feel like I have to be something that I'm not. That is so free-ing.

Catalyst

Another great Sunday at Catalyst...it was great to see the theater feel full. Levi spoke out of James and talked about being a do it yourself Christian as opposed to an as you wish Christian. Basically living life submitting to God and seeking His input in our decisions instead of having a plan and then double checking with Him...kind of like an afterthought. We got a lot of compliments on the music. I realize that I'm the kind of person if I hit a bad note or if something doesn't go right, I kind of freak out inside myself and get way off focus. I caught myself doing that today and really had to pray that God would refocus me on the words that we were singing. We had more kids today which was awesome. It was a great day!

On the way to church Addy asked me about a friend of ours. Her name is Carla and she can't speak. Addy asked me why she couldn't speak words. I told her that God made Carla that way and that she was very special. She then said, "Why would God do that?" Then she told me that wasn't very nice of God to do that. I didn't quite know how to respond. I told her that God made each of us special and different. I told her that she could pray for Carla. So in the backseat, I heard her say, "Dear God, please give Carla words to speak." I was kind of in a rush so it took me a while to process. I want my kids to always know they can talk to God about stuff they don't understand and things they don't think are nice. I want there to be an open line of communication between us (as parents) and with God. It was a cute way to start my day.

Week

Ready for a random bloggy recap??

This week has been good. It felt a little more laid back which was nice. We went to the Little Gym one day for a playdate which is always a lot of fun. The kids just run around and the moms tend to spread out and watch each other's kids. That was the only playdate we did this week, except for our preschool.

We had Sue & Jeff over for dinner on Wednesday night. We had a lot of fun with them. They are both so much fun. Sue brought a delicious pumpkin cake..yumolicous!!

Tuesday was our 8th anniversary. We actually celebrated the Saturday before. Heidi & Jason (our friends from my mommy group) kept the kids so we could go out to eat. Heidi has a great book that gives date ideas. We did some questions from that book, I think it was called "A Trip Down Memory Lane." It was really neat. We spent time talking to them afterwards. Levi and Jason talked a lot which was really neat.

We did our family night at SpringCreek BBQ and then walked around Firewheel. It was nice. Addy loves her some Popcorn Papa. Speaking of Addy, she did a soccer scrimmage this week. I hope she gets some of Levi's athletic ability. She kind of stood in the middle of the field...at one point I think she bent down to pick flowers. In hindsight I think she might be a little young for soccer but she's so darn cute out there in her little outfit.

This week, everyone has thrown up except me...knock on wood. I was afraid we were going to miss our Couple's Game Night because Levi got sick yesterday. It passed and I think we're all okay. We had a great time with our friends and we learned a new game that is now a fav of our's.

Today Catalyst peeps did a serve project at Sharing Life which is a place that does food, clothing, and other help. It's a great organization. I didn't go (obvious reasons-KIDS). And Levi didn't go either, he was reffing. The cool thing about Catalyst is that we do not want to be a church that relies on Levi and/or Jonathan to "do" everything. It's neat to see our people get excited and have a vision to go after something. It's neat that things can still get done (and done well) without them. A guy in our church Jono is our Serve Coordinator, he has a great relationship with Sharing Life. He's also got some other things lined up after Sharing Life. It's neat that he's just taken this"job" and run with it. It's cool to have a church with people who will see a need and meet it. We've seen Catayst do that in many different situations. That's so cool I think that's part of teaching people to become self sufficient christians...okay that sounds weird. I mean doing things because they're growing and doing things motivated by Christ not by the church or guilt or expectations of anyone other than Christ. Hope that makes sense. I have to admit I kind of felt weird about neither of us being there but I've had to work through that. I felt weird because of expectations of the pastor doing everything and being at everything and I worry about what people think or say. I really want to fight that (in myself). I don't want to put expectations on Levi and I or Jonathan & Meagan or our people for that matter. I think in myself I've always felt like everybody should be at and support everything. I see things a little differently now. I can remember going to church twice on Sunday, Wednesday for youth group, Thursday for "gym night" which turned into game night. And we usually did something on the Saturday too. That's a lot of going. Maybe part of that was being a teenager and being able to keep up wtih that schedule. I can see how people would get worn out. I can also see how people would be inwardly focused with their group of church friends. I think there's a balance there and I hope at Catalyst people feel free to be involved and connected and to serve with their fellow Catalyst people but also to be in their community loving people too.

So, how's that for random???

Dinner

We are really encouraging our Catalyst Family to connect with each other and giving them the opportunity to do so over meals. I am all over this. I love having people over, I love going to people's houses. I am social and I love it. It also keeps the house picked up which is always good. We have a list of people from church who want to be invited and who want to invite. I am about 1/2 way through that list and it's been so cool to connect with these couples outside of church. I love being in a home and just sharing with them. So cool!!

Evening

Just recapping the last couple of days. Life is crazy and hectic and we all have so much going on. Tonight we had band practice. We're singing a song called "Healer" which has a crazy background but it's an awesome song. There's a line that says, "You are my portion." We teased a little bit about that word because it sounds like buffet language. I thought about it and I started really liking that word. What it said to me was that Jesus is the right amount at the right time. He knows what we need and He's it. I really like that song. You can check out some of the music from the Fusion site. I've been meaning to upload the youtube of our acoustic set. I really liked that week.

I've been thinking about that verse in the Bible that talks about bearing each other's burdens. That's a lot easier said than done. It's messy. It hurts. It's hard to bear a burden without taking ownership of the burden...at least for me it is. I'm trying to bear my friend's burdens. I want to be that kind of friend. I want to listen without having the answers (which is hard for me). I want to be what they need me to be but also be a Truth speaker...that sounds mystical. I just mean I want to be able to be honest and straightforward at the same time as being a compassionate listener. I hate it when my friends hurt. I want to be that friend and at the same time I want to have those kinds of people around me.

8 Years

Today is our 8 year anniversary. That is so crazy to me. We celebrated this weekend and did some "date questions" that caused us to reflect on past memories. It was really cool. We had a great time talking and reconnecting. In some ways, 8 years have flown by and in some ways it seems like we've been married forever. It's hard to remember back to not being married. So, woohoo for 8 years and we're looking forward to many more to come!

The Walls Are Closing In

Does it ever feel like the walls are closing in? Like you can't gain any ground? I am feeling that way this afternoon as I type this. I almost didn't type this but I'm going to. I'm just needed to get it off my chest. We paid a major vehicle repair bill this summer. We knew Addy's medical bills would come in but thought they'd be a couple of thousand dollars. Well, we got some of those bills and it looks like it will be twice as much as we thought. My van did this crazy thing this weekend (yeah, the one we just spent a lot of money on). We've had to visit the doctor for one child and may have to visit for the other shortly. I feel like I'm suffocating financially. We are frugal, we budget, we have followed a plan so that we would not be suffocating...but we are. I don't understand it and it makes me mad. Levi was reffing 3 days a week, I was tutoring 15- 18 hours at night. We never saw each other and we were always tired. We've cut back on that and refocused ourselves to spend more time as a family and as a couple which has been great. I knew that staying home with our kids would be a sacrifice and it's been okay so far and if there's one thing I know, I know we will be okay. I know that God will take care of us. He has done so in amazing ways. I've got to focus and rely on that. I know we'll be okay. I know we can make payment arrangements for the medical stuff and we'll be okay. I just needed to get all of that out before I exploded. Thanks for listening.

My Age

Okay so if you read my previous post and the comments from my husband and wonderful friend...I said I was 33. I AM NOT!! I am 32. Can you believe that I added a year to my age? Who does that? Thank you Levi & Andrea for your reminders that I am younger than I previously posted!!
Funny stuff!!

Friends- Past Present Future

When I think back on my life (thus far), I have been blessed with friends. It has been easy for me to make friends for the most part and I'm thankful for that too. When I moved here, I realized how important friendship really is to me (I knew it but I think I took it for granted). I joined a playgroup here and that really helped me because I again had an instant network of friends. It's hard to develop friendships that go beyond chit chat because normally there are kids everywhere so you might be mid-sentence and have to rescue your child or someone else's. There are a group of us that do a mini preschool together so we get to connect a little more. This past week, some of us were sitting around talking (while our kiddos were playing, yes we were watching them) . I realized that our conversation was not superficial, we were talking about our kids and their personalities and our struggles as moms and women and wives. We were talking about hurts that we experienced. I realized that these were women that were my friends not just moms in a playgroup. I am so thankful for them.

As our church has grown, I've met some wonderful friends that way which has been SUPER!! A lot of them are younger than us and are kidless but love us and our kiddos which means more to me than they know. One couple just found out they were pregnant with twins....woohoo...I am so excited for them. That got me thinking how cool it's going to be ot journey through parenthood with them. I thought of another couple that we've met who is older than us but we have so much fun with and how they can help mentor us through parenthood. And not just parenthood but the different stages of life. I'm excited about that for Catalyst.

I was talking to a friend from our church in North Carolina last week and we started talking about Addy's accident this summer. She shared that her child had been in a similar accident and how hard it was for her. Even, 3 months after that accident, I found myself tearing up because it was really traumatic for me. It was so good to hear her story and that she understood and knew exactly how it felt. For her, that was 10 years ago but in talking about it was still fresh. I was so glad to hear from her.

I am going to my 10 year college reunion in a month...I know you didn't think I was that old did you? I could be one of those really smart kids who graduated college at 15. I'm not..I'm 33 so it's that 10 year reunion time. I think back to those days and I had a wonderful group of girl friends, we were called the Yo Yo Mamas. That's a story in itself but I love those girls and I am so excited about seeing them.

I guess I'm just reflecting on how important it is to connect with others and for me it is vital. God tends to put the right people in our lives for the right reason and purpose. I think that's so cool.

WOOHOO for Levi

Levi and I are going on a cruise in January (I know how excited are we, especially b/c it was a gift). We are PUMPED!! Anyway, we knew we both had passports...but had no clue where they were. I looked everywhere I thought they might be...no luck. We had a billion boxes in Levi's office closet. That was our last hope. Levi just went through them and found our passports...yeehaw!! Passports are like $100 or so so this saved us a couple hundred. I do have to figure out how to change my last name...hopefully that will be easy enough. Yeah for Levi!!

Check In

Just checking in. This week is half over and we're in October...how the heck did that happen? Goodness:) Let me fill you in on the week. It's been good. Levi and I are revamping our time which is a good thing and we've had a good week. Monday night we did a pastors and wives cookout with some friends in McKinney. We had a great time getting to know some other pastors in the area. It was fun. That morning the kids had their performance week for their music class. They both got in front of their class by themselves and sang a song (okay so maybe saying "sang" is a stretch but they both enjoyed the microphone very much). I was so proud:)

Tuesday we ended up taking Addy to the doctor because her cough will not stop. The doctor thinks she has asthma...which makes me really sad. Now she's on antibiotics, allergy meds, and a nebulizer until we can kick the cough. I feel so bad for her. The doctor said she can still go and be active so we headed to her soccer practice and then to Chickfila for our family night. We had a great time. I went out for a late Mom's Night Out at Snuffers. It was good to be with my mommy friends and just talk. Xuan came so we got to catch up which is sometimes hard to do with all the munchkins around.

Today I met my new friend hotmommy for lunch. I think we might share a brain...we've got some major connections going on. We had a great time and it's good to realize that the world isn't as big and disconnected as it sometimes feels. Thanks girl...can't wait to get together again.

It's been a good, full week. Tonight we're having some friends over and are looking forward to that time too:)

Great Day

Today was a great day. We did our first baby dedication as Catalyst Church (we did Keegan's but it was when we first got here and there was more family than anybody else here) and there's just something about baby dedications...I love them and I cry through most of them. I got to help Levi and it was just really special for me. Thanks Baby Annie:)

The service went great today. We sang one of my new favorite songs, "This Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin...like it alot. I went back with the kids today. I'm really going to make the kids stuff at Catalyst a major matter of prayer. We need some high energy stuff going on back there. I'm not sure what role I'm supposed to play or feel like I'm supposed to play or if I feel God leading me to play a role at all...does that make any kind of sense? I know God has a plan for Catalyst so I'm just going to pray that He would take care of us and lead the right people at the right time. I'm going to be patient and enjoy the ride. I'm really liking the DVD's we're using for the kid's teaching. It's funny and fun but it also gets the point across. And by the way, we hit 69 people at church today which is awesome. I'm always amazed when and how God brings new families our way...it's so cool :)

We went to the Callahan's for supper tonight. We had so much fun. They are great and just so down to earth. I will say, they have an INCREDIBLE house...notice the use of all caps. It's beautiful and I love that it's just them and their personality comes out in their house. Does that sound weird?? They just had a pool put in and so all 8 of us got into their hot tub tonight after dinner and just talked and had fun. It's so nice to do that. I love all these great people that make Catalyst who it is:)

Buzzing.....

I've got a lot of random thoughts buzzing around in my head right now. Levi and I went to dinner tonight...kidless. He asked our friends, Blain & Connie to watch them for a couple of hours so we could go to dinner and talk. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Blain & Connie, you don't know how much that means to us...really!! We really hashed out some things which needed to be hashed out. I think a lot of it was things we've both been thinking but haven't shared with each other. We need to do that more often and without kids.
Which leads me to my second random thought....I've had a rough week missing all of our friends in North Carolina. I've talked to a few of them this week and some of them have had big changes and other friends that weren't apart of PowerLine are now going there and that makes me happy. I just miss them, there were so many great people there. This weekend is also their HUGE Biker Weekend. The youth ministry would do the food and so this weekend was absolutely chaotic and fun all wrapped into one. I miss that, I think teenagers keep you young....I loved being around that. It was so cool to be apart of Biker Weekend and see all the bikes and the different people and to hear the message and see them make committments to changing their lives. It was totally awesome. Our "church" people were so accepting of them and seriously Biker Sunday was like Christmas for PowerLine. There is so much anticipation, it's awesome. I'm thinking and praying for them this weekend, maybe that's why I'm missing it too.
Another random thought....at the same time as I've kind of struggled, I know we're supposed to be here. I feel confirmed in that and that God has led the way and opened doors and made provisions. I don't question that. At times, I wish it were easier but I guess that's life. We just keep trusting and "being" in Him and it all works out.
Thanks for listening, I needed to get that all off of my chest.

Sick

We had a great playdate yesterday. It was a lot of fun, there were about 10 moms and 17 kiddos running around. It was alot of fun. And, the moms are wonderful about cleaning up....that makes it alot easier to host knowing the house really won't be a mess when they leave. After they left, I wasn't feeling well. I laid down and woke up 3 hours later...Levi came home and took care of the kids, fixed pizzas for supper and kept them occupied. Wow!! I was and am so thankful. I think I'm havnig sinus and/or allergy issues. It was good to rest though...thanks Levi. I really do appreciate the extra sleep. Today we're just taking it easy and moving slow. It's nice to do that. Hope you're all having a great Thursday.

Tuesday in Review

So, we are having a playdate at our house tomorrow. I needed some supplies so I headed out to run some errands, Dollar Tree & Target were my destinations. We get out of the van at the Dollar Tree and hear somebody calling Addy. It was our friend Natalie & Beth Horting. We LOVE LOVE LOVE the Hortings. Kurt pastors Stillwater Church (where we met for 5 months). They are awesome. We got to talking and they've had a crazy last week and this week is crazy too. Beth had to do lots of running so we took Nat with us. We had a great day with her. She and Addy played so well and so hard together. Addy also had her first soccer practice tonight. She was so tired, she fell asleep on the way. She did great for not feeling well and being so sleepy. She can kick a ball. Everytime she scored she would throw both of her arms up (like a touchdown). It was so cute!! I ended my evening at Texas Roadhouse with some moms from my Mommy Group. We were celebrating the birth of one of the babies. It was so nice to get to eat in peace and talk and laugh without havnig to entertain or take care of a little one. It was a great day!!

Monkey Doodle

The inevitable happened today. I heard Keegan through the monitor waking up and then I hear a banging on his door. Only to find out that he has crawled out of his crib by himself. Addy went into check and came out screaming, "Mommy, he got out of his bed by himself." over and over and over. What to do now?

Week Ahead

This week we've got a full calendar. Addy starts soccer this week...not sure how that will go:) We're hosting a playdate at our house which is always crazy but so much fun. I've got a baby shower to go to. Levi's reffing at least one night this week but I think two. I'm tutoring but cutting back just a little this week. Oh and we've got some other dinner in Greenville...wherever the heck that is. I only got to the gym twice last week. I've got to get there at least 3 days this week. Have a great week!

Weekend in Review

This weekend has flown by. It was a lot of fun. We left for Austin Saturday mid-morning. We took our time getting there and stopped at some outlets on the way. I love hitting The Children's Place outlet. We got a TON of stuff and my bill was $18.98. I got Keegan 5 pairs of shoes for $1.99 each. I got him swim trunks, a couple of shirts, and shorts. Addy's size clothing was very sparse so she ended up with some times for $0.19 a piece...CRAZY!! I loved it. We got to hotel in the afternoon and Addy loves hotels, she says, "ho-teel." She was so excited to swim. We all had fun. We went over to the Self's house last night and had pizza and just visited with them. I love spending time with them and I forgot how much fun they are. The kids played and we got to talk. We went to Free Chapel this morning. It was cool to see another church plant that also meets in a movie theatre. It was also great just to be able to enjoy the service. We had a great time. We missed Catalyst and found ourselves calling to check on the service as soon as we got in the van. We headed back today. I know I told you it was short. The kids did nap on the way back but it seemed like the trip back took forever. Hope you all had a great weekend!!

Small World

I have to tell this story and I'll be through blogging until next week. I'm into couponing and I've been reading up on blogs of other CVS'ers and Walgreens shoppers. I tried a Walgreen's deal last week and I posted on one of the other blogs. Come to find out, one of the other bloggers lives close to me. We've been posting back and forth on each other's blogs and we've had some weird coincedences about schedules and shopping, etc. Come to find out, we have common friends that she went to high school with and I went to college with. We're both southerners...from the southeast that is. How cool is that?!! I thought it was really neat and we're going to try to meet up at some point. Just thought I'd share how small the world is:)

Update

This week has been good, it kind of got busy but still was good. Today was a good day. I've been thinking about Christmas and how it sneaks up on me and even though we do not go overboard with gifts it still gets expensive. So, I went to Target today (and Walmart actually) and headed to the clearance aisles. I got the kids some of their Christmas gifts for 50% or more off...NICE!! I'm going to keep checking out the clearance and the Thanksgiving sales and try to be done with all my Christmas shopping EARLY and cheaply (don't know if that's a word but you know what I mean).

We were invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this afternoon. Our friend, Emily, had her birthday there. Addy has been looking forward to it all week. My kids love that place, all 3 of them, Levi included. I found myself giving Levi the evil eye multiple times when I realized he was playing the games and Keegan was MIA. I do tend to get a little addicted to certain games there myself, especial DEAL or NO DEAL...yes they have it there. Anyway, we had a great time.

We're heading out to Austin tomorrow morning. I'm excited about seeing the Self Family and checking out their church, Free Chapel. I'm also excited about being away, even if it's just for a couple of days. Our family needs some "away" time. We get really caught up in church stuff which is okay but it will be nice to enjoy being together and not thinking about anything else.

I've also been thinking of Halloween and scheming for outfits for our family. I'm one of those geeks that likes to be "themed." So, Addy wants to be Ariel (Little Mermaid). I found Keegan a lobster costume from the consignment sale last week so he's Sebastian. I am not sure what Levi and I can be. I think we might be pirates. That's the easiest thing I've come up with. Any ideas?? I need cheap costume ideas people. Let me know.

Have a great weekend!!

Soon

It is late and I'm pooped. I've been tutoring a lot this week trying to earn some extra moola. I do want to blog but it will have to wait. Just wanted to let you know I'm still here and I will write more soon:)

The Day....

Today was really laid back. I had to run some errands this morning. I ended up taking the kids to Burger King. That's our new favorite place because the kid's playground is big and there's usually nobody there. The only bad part is Keegan can't crawl up the levels to the top. So, today, I crawled in there and put him up so he could play. He loved it. We had a lot of fun. I love that. I love just watching my kids have fun!! This afternoon I had a meeting at Eastfield Community College. They hired me in their Continuing Ed. Dept. However, there's not a job...remember that post from a while back? Today, they did a short training on teaching GED classes. It was really good to be with other teachers, I miss that. I wouldn't trade my time with my kids for anything. At the same time, it was nice to have a taste of my career field. I hope it works out where I can teach one night a week. I think I would like it alot. I ended the day meeting Levi and the kids at the Sonic in Mesquite. They have a great playground, 2 actually. Our playgroup was meeting there tonight to play. We had a lot of fun. I just finished tutoring so I'm going to call it a night.

Monday Monday

We had a good weekend. This week's schedule is going to be a little slower for which I am very grateful. I am taking the kids to a free music classic put on by Free Harmony. Last week was the first week and Addy did wonderful. Keegan did good until it was time for the "sticks." The teacher doesn't pass the sticks out until the child is sitting. Keegan did not get that concept and he wanted sticks. I had to wrestle him. Today we went back....Keegan did great. He even sat for his sticks, well kind of. I was so glad they both did so well. Then we made our Walmart run. I went to our Walmart Market. I did some research to use a lot of coupons. I used almost $20 in coupons. That's crazy. I couldn't believe how much I got...crazy. I made one of the e-mealz recipes for dinner, black eyed peas with ham, rice, and cornbread. It was really good. We also decided that we're heading to Austin this weekend. Sprang is preaching so Levi doesn't have to be there. We're going to go to church with our friends, they just launched their church plant last weekend. It will be fun to get away and fun to see them. This week is going to be more laid back and I'm thankful. I've got to pick up around the house and finish laundry. I'm embarassed to say that I was without laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent for the past few days and Levi was out of undies...he was not a happy camper with me. Is that TMI? Sorry, I'm back on track now...just telling you how desperate the situation was and how badly I need to stay home and take care of the house:)

I'm BACK!!

Okay what a crazy week!! Let me just give you the run down of this week. Monday, the kids had a music class, then to a birthday party then dinner at a friend's house. Tuesday indoor garage sale with our playgroup, I had band practice while Levi reffed. Wednesday nothing during the day, had a couple of couples over for dinner. Thursday had to take all the clothes (that i stayed up till 2:30am the night before preparing) to the JBF consignment sale, had a 10:15 massage (from Mother's Day), met Levi and the kids for lunch in the park, went to playgroup preschool, met friends for dinner, went to a friend's house to hang out after the kids were in bed. Friday, preschool for Addy, Keegan and I went to Sam's, picked up some friends and hit up the JBF sale had to get Addy from school, mowed the yard (my new favorite hobby....weird I know) met Levi for supper and hung out at home while Levi reffed. Saturday Levi reffed soccer this morning, after lunch I took Addy with me to Walgreens for our deals....turned out it wasn't as great as I thought it would be but that's another post in itself. We've had the effects of IKE all day. It has been super windy and rainy. I really anticipated more rain than we've had. It was much more mild than what I expected.

So, as you can see, this week has been hectic to say the least. I have been checking the sale's website and I'm making some good money so it does seem like all that work is worth it. I feel like I haven't stopped to breathe this week, let alone go to the bathroom. I don't know how I forget to do that but I do. I kind of like weeks like that, I also got the house somewhat cleaned and picked up but it's like that adrenaline rush telling you it's got to be done.

I'm going to try this week to get some things down....like my quiet time (prayer and Bible). I'm going to try to get in bed early and get up before the kids. I also want to get to the gym at least 3 times if not 4. I am drinking way too much coke so I've got to cut back on that too...those are my goals this week.

I'm also tutoring more this week which is kind of crazy, the students are more prevalent which is so nice. At least I'm not sitting there staring at a blank screen:)

I feel rushed going into Sunday so I'm going to try to calm myself and enjoy tomorrow.

Plum Pooped

This week has been really busy so far. It's been great at the same time. We've been going like mad so far this week. I don't feel like we've spent a lot of family time in the evenings...we've all been going in different directions. Hopefully tomorrow we can slow down a bit. I'm actually getting a bunch of the kid's clothes ready to consign at the JBF sale. It's a lot of work, I hope I can make some money on selling them...I'll keep you posted. I hope to write more....maybe Thursday;)

Mowing

Yesterday I mowed the yard. I was doing it as an act of love for Levi. He’s been reffing trying to earn some extra money. I didn’t want him to have to come home after reffing in the hot Texas sun for 6 hours to mowing the yard and the neighbor’s yard. Another story in itself…anyway. As I was mowing, I kept thinking the mower wasn’t cutting the grass short enough. At one point, I reached down with one hand to move a lever which didn’t move so I just kept mowing knowing something wasn’t quite right. I mean, it was cutting the tall pieces of grass but it didn’t feel like it was short enough. When Levi got home, he was very appreciative that the grass was mowed. I told him that I thought something wasn’t right. He had mowed our neighbor’s backyard a week ago and her grass was really high. He put the blades up and didn’t lower them. It made perfect sense.
I can see a spiritual correlation here for myself. I work hard, I try to do the right things but come up feeling like something's not exactly right. I try to tweak something but it's still not right. I don't want to live that way. I want to live fully engaged with all blades going. Sometimes I feel that way and I've realized it's a phase and kind of cyclical. I feel that way when I'm tired and need to refresh and renew. I've also realized that I'm pretty independent and strong willed. That carries over for me too. I want to do it in my own strength and that is so not what this spiritual journey is about. I've struggled this last week with reading my Bible. I can really tell a difference in my actions, reactions, and compassion for others when I don't stay connected, not just in reading but also in praying too. I'm going to make an effort this week to be more consistent. We've got a lot going on this week and I'm already tired....I know the week hasn't started.

CVS Deal for Newbies

Here's the CVS news for this week. I got this scenario from Alyssa at Keeping the Kingdom First. This week should be pretty easy for those of you that haven't done it before. You can probably do more but this is what she had on her site and it seems easy enough so I thought I'd share. Let me know if you do it and how it goes:)


Transaction #1
Buy (1) L'Oreal Age Perfect, Revitalift or Skin Genesis Cleanser @ $5.99
Buy (1) Chex Mix @ $1.00
Use $1.00 L'Oreal coupon from 8/10 insert
Use $1.00 Chex Mix printable here

Total After Coupons= $4.99

ECBs Earned= $5.99

Transaction #2
Buy (1) Excedrin Migraine @ $1.99
Buy (1) Purex Laundry detergent @ $2.99 (hidden deal)
Buy (1) Right Guard Extreme or Sport @ $2.99
Buy a $1.50 filler of your choice
Use $2.00 printable Excedrin coupon here
Use $0.50 Purex coupon from 8/10 SS insert (or you may have received a coupon with this sample)
Use $1.00 Right Guard coupon from 8/10 SS insert
Pay with $5.99 ECBs from above

Total after coupons= ZERO OOP (possibly tax, varies regionally)

ECBs Earned= $3.00

Grand Total OOP= $4.99 or very close to it!

Sunday Update

We had a crazy weekend. It was weird. I didn't see Levi very much. He's trying to ref which is good but too much this weekend. We went to our friend's 40th birthday party last night. Today at church, we had 61 people....what??!! I know it was crazy. We were missing about 15 regulars too. It was really encouraging. I'm amazed at what God is doing. I really am. It was so cool to look out at new faces. There seemed to be a lot of kids today which was also awesome....a lot for us at least. I was really encouraged today. I hope you felt that same encouragement when you left your body of believers:)

Preschool Blues

Today was the day that Addy started her preschool. She was so excited. She was ready to get into her class and leave us behind. I had a harder time with it. I got teary as we drove away from her. I am glad she's independent and ready. I just hope those teachers love her like she deserves to be loved. I think that might be my biggest fear about her being away from me is that the other adults that are responsible for her will love her like I do (or close). I don't want her to be an afterthought or pushed aside, mistreated, made fun of, etc etc etc. Am I weird or is that normal? She had a great day. I asked her 20 questions about what she did, who her friends were, etc etc etc. She was so funny answering them. I'm so thankful for her. I've included a picture of us walking into school.

CVS

Okay so I said I was going to get back into couponing. I did this week at CVS. I've been reading a blog where the author does $5 CVS challenges. I took the challenge this week. Basically you are challenged to spend $5 in cash ONLY and see how many transactions you can do without spending anymore. You have to use their ECB (extra care bucks) which are basically gift certificates that print out on your receipt for purchasing qualifying stuff. So, I went to CVS 3 times and here's waht I bought.
Trip #1
3 Suave shampoo products $2 each (buy $6 worth and get $2 ECB)
2 Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste $2.99 each (get $2 back for each tube)

Coupons Used
Suave Buy One Get One Free -$2
Colgate - $1.50
Suave-$1
Colgate- $1

Total - $11.98 (pretax)
Coupons Used - $5.50

Total Out of Pocket - $6.73
ECB's earned- $6

Okay so I went over the $5 limit but I still did good

Trip #2
1 Febreeze Noticeables Kit - $6.99
1 Covergirl Wetslicks Lipstick - $5.99 (Earn $5.99 in ECB)

Coupons Used
Febreeze - $5
Covergirl- $1

Total - $12.98
Coupons Used- $6
ECB's Used - $6

Total out of Pocket- $1.06
ECB's earned- $5.99

Trip #3
3 Suave products $2 each (spend $6 on Suave, get $2 ECBs)
2 Dawn dish soap $0.99 each
1 Febreeze Noticeables Kit $6.99
2 Covergirl Lipsticks (buy one get one free) $9.99
Swedish Fish $0.99
Orbit Gum $1.19 (so I wouldn't have a negative total)

Coupons Used
2 Dawn Coupons ($0.50 each) - $1
Covergirl - $1
Suave- $2
Febreeze- $5
Covergirl- Buy One Get One Free- $9.99
CVS printable coupon- $2

Total- $28.15
Coupons Used- $21.99
ECB's Used - $5.99

Total Out of Pocket - $0.17
ECB's earned - $2

This was actually fun to do this week. I drive by CVS at some point almost everyday so to swing in isn't that big of a deal. So, I went over the $5 challenge. I spent $7.96 but I got $53 worth of stuff and still have 2 ECBs to use. Thought I'd pass it on to see if any of you wanted to join the challenge. The ad papers for CVS come out tomorrow so if you check out that link from above, you can see the deals and just copy them at your CVS. That's what I did. This does require getting the coupons and clipping them. It's worth it. You can also use those ECB's for milk, juice, diapers, etc...more of necessities. Good luck :)

Weird Wednesday

Today is weird. It's overcast but actually feels good which is nice. I think it's around 84 degrees today which is such a nice change. I went to CVS today for my second time this week. The challenge is to spend $5 cash and see how many times you can go back without spending any more money. Well, yesterday I spent $6 but got $6 in ECB's. ECB's are their gift certificates that print on your receipt that are like money. So, today I stopped in and spent $1 but got $6 back. So, I'm up to $7. I'm going again and should spend nothing if I've got my plan right. We'll see if it works. I took the kids to Burger King today. We've been at home all week so it was good to get out and let them play. They had fun playing together and they were so much fun to watch.

Labor Day

We've had a great Labor Day weekend. Last night we just hung out as a family. We actually rode our bikes up to McDonald's for supper and met a neighbor of our good friends. It is such a small world. Today Levi did some yard work and cleaned up inside. We took the kids to get shoes. Addy has to wear closed toe shoes to school. We lucked out at Dillards, they were having 75% off summer stuff. I got Keegan some shorts and shoes and Addy some bathing suits for next year. No luck for Addy with shoes so we went to Payless. We ate lunch at Pei Wei which was pretty good. Our favorite is Rice Boxx. We went to dinner at Xuan and Juan's. We have so much fun with them. We ended our night with heavy hearts. It's so hard to hear when family is hurting. My initial reaction is to fix and figure out how I can handle it for them. I've been praying really hard the last couple of hours that God would draw near and be almost tangible to this loved one.

I've been reading in Acts. Now, it's telling about where Paul traveled and who with and what happened as he was preaching and teaching. It's kind of crazy what he went through. He was stoned, flogged, put in prison, fussed at, parted ways with a friend, and more. It's amazing how strong Paul must have been.

Sunday Part 2

The day actually got MUCH better....dare I ask if it could have gotten worse?? Levi actually got up as I was blogging before and helped me clean up the mess. He actually stayed up and got ready for church. I went back to sleep for an hour or so.

Catalyst was really good today. It was very different. We had an acoustic service. Jonathan played and Meagan and I sang. We had a prayer service where we talked about different aspects of prayers and read scriptures that talked about prayer. We got to reflect, meditate, be still, and share. It was really nice. It was a good change and felt a lot more laid back. It was good to be back up to around 50 this week. We saw some new faces and some old ones that we've missed. It was encouraging to have a new family. I'll be glad when we get in our own building and have that consistency.

We came home and took a monster nap.....we all needed that. I think we're going to bike up to McDonald's for supper. I know that's kind of crazy but at least we're getting some exercise. Have a great Labor Day. We also found out some friends are expecting...that's great news to get on a Sunday.

Sunday-Early Sunday

Good morning and happy Sunday. Well, not so happy for me so far this morning. Our kids are both really good sleepers....usually. Well, Addy has been in a phase for the last couple of nights where she crawls in bed with us. Usually, I am not coherent enough to realize what's happening. This morning, at 3am, I took her back to her bed. She was very upset with her pj's. They weren't right. So, we changed pj's and went back to bed.....while I was in there with her, I hear Keegan crying. I think her crying might have awoken him. I guess he went back to sleep, Levi came in to tell us he was crying....not sure why. Levi went back to bed. I hear Becker whining....which means he needs to go out. Levi is all over Becker....usually.....not this morning obviously because at 4:45 when I go back in to my room, I smell something. Mind you, Becker has had diarrhea for the last day or two. We've been watching him and he seems fine other than that. I had the baby gate up so he couldn't get to where the new carpet was, thankfully. I usually put the gate up at night just so he doesn't go in Addy's room and wake her. Becker hardly EVER (I am tempted to say NEVER) has an accident inside....he's so good about that. When he has to go out he whines and if he's whining, he's held it as long as he can. So, you know what happens, I've been cleaning up. So, now it's 5:30am. Everyone in my house has been awake at some point between 3am and now. Everyone in my house is asleep, even Becker, except me. What a way to start a Sunday!!!

Luau

Tonight we went to a Luau that my mommy group hosted. I love it when we all get together. There was a house full and we met everybody's spouses. I am so blessed with this group. I have connected with a handful of them (I like ALL of them). I feel really comfortable with them. Last year, we did a couple's game night-kidless, and we had so much fun. I'm going to try to schedule another one of those. It was nice to be able to talk uninterrupted. We ordered in Chinese food and just laughed and played games for a few hours.

Today we relaxed. Levi had to get up early for a referree meeting, he met me at the library to pass off the kids. We went to Sams. Put the kids down for naps and headed to the Luau. It was kind of a whirlwind of a day but fun. Levi put a bunch of stuff on craigslist and we sold one of those items today. I'm back to clipping coupons. I'm trying to be frugal but also get things I need, not extras.

I had a rough evening last night. Levi had to ref so I was with the kids all day and all night. I had to tutor last night online too so it was kind of crazy. We stayed home all day too so I think I just felt cooped up. I had no patience....I hate that. I never want my kids to remember me as being impatient or rude to them. I'm glad I recognize that about myself but I need to be able to change it in the moment and sometimes that's hard.

I've done okay this week with reading my Bible but not as good as I should. The crazy thing is that I feel so much better and more peaceful when I'm in the Word. It's really kind of stupid that I don't make it more of a priority, I'm really trying to do better with that. I talked to a great friend last night for over an hour. She's one of those ladies that has the best heart and I wish we were closer. I can just tell her whatever I'm thinking and she can laugh at me or correct me and it's okay either way...I don't take offense. I know that everything that comes from her is from love and I love that.

Okay this has been one random post....

Meet the Teacher

We have enrolled Addy in a one day a week preschool. Tonight was "Meet the Teacher." Addy has been super excited all day about meeting her teachers. We took her out to dinner before and she was so excited. When we got out of the van, she wanted to know what bus she was riding. I informed her that she would not be riding a bus and that I would be taking her and picking her up. She also told me not to be sad. We got there and met in the sanctuary for all the directions. She asked why the school had a church room in it. She also thought we might start the meeting by singing:) She's so observant. She went right to her room and was a little shy with her teachers but jumped right in and started playing. Keegan followed her lead and played with all the "big" kids too. She had a great night and wanted to sleep at school. I'm so glad she's independent and ready but I'm still kind of sad. Sad to let go and trust someone else to love my baby....even if it's only one day a week for a few hours. As I was rocking Keegan tonight I prayed that God would watch over my babies, keep them from harm, and let them always love Him first and foremost. I remember when I had Addy the realization of how much love I have for her and thinking about how much God must love us and how it must break His heart when we hurt. Back to the Addy story.....Levi made a deal with her before we left home, he told her she could either go to Popcorn Papa or 7-11 for a slurpee after she went to her school. She wanted a slurpee but I wanted Popcorn Papa so we swung through both and got a mini bag of popcorn and a small slurplee (as Addy calls them). YUMMY!! All in all a good night with the family:)

Shake it Off

Today was a good day. I went to my step class...woohoo...I've gone 2 days this week to work out and I'm sore. I've got to get another day in. We just kind of rested at home and got some things done. I did pick up my neighbor from school...yuck....all these parents wait in this SUPER long line to pick up their middle schooler. You've got to know which line to get into and where to meet your kid. I was a little sketchy with the details of that. I guess that's something to look forward too.

We met a couple for dinner tonight, it was great to get to know them a little better. I'm amazed that God continues to bring new and neat people into our lives. It really is cool. Levi and I had a few different "grown up" conversations today. Sometimes that's hard to do with 2 kiddos who want your attention ALL the time. It was good to talk some things out. I'm so proud of him with this church. It has been the hardest thing we've ever done. It's constantly changing because what you thought it would be like and look like and feel like isn't necessarily how it looks or feels and so it's a learning process. We are anxiously awaiting what God is going to do next. I pray that God would use me in spite of me and my shortcomings.

I read Acts 12 today. The end of that chapter is where Paul and Barnabas were kicking butt and the "religous" people were jealous and mad. They got everybody all worked up by telling lies and the version I read said, they "stirred" up the influential religious ladies. Man, how sad. Because of those people, I wonder who missed the Message and the Good News. God help those that are "stirrers." They will have to one day stand accountable for what they do. I don't ever want to be a stirrer, I want to be an encourager and a peacekeeper and peacemaker. Life is too short:) Paul and Barnabas left that town and they shook the sand from their feet because they were rejected there. I guess when we say "shake it off" it means the same thing. Shake it off and keep going :)

Acts 12

I have been reading Acts the past couple of weeks. Today I read chapter 12. Acts is a very interesting book if you've never read it. The thing that stuck out today was Rhoda, the servant girl. The chapter was about Peter being imprisoned by Herod and an angel of the Lord rescuing him. So Peter escapes and goes to this house where many believers are. He knocks, Rhoda, I guess looks out the peephole and freaks out basically. She doesn't let him in because she's so excited she runs to tell everybody while poor Peter is outside continuing to knock. When she ran to tell everybody, they didn't believe her, then they told her it must be his angel. The funny part is Peter is still knocking out in the street while they're in there arguing. I think that's funny that they mention Rhoda. I wonder why? She is a servant, she's a nobody but again, God uses the nobody. I'd be interested in knowing more about that. I read a few commentaries on Rhoda. One of them said that again there's a woman who is delivering good news and she is dismissed as being "mad." I don't know, I think God likes to surprise us with who He uses and how.

WoF

We got back from Women of Faith (WoF) this afternoon. I had a great weekend. I hope the rest of the ladies did too. It was so nice to be at a swanky hotel and to only have to worry about and pack for myself. I hope that doesn't sound selfish. On top of that to get to go to the conference was just an added bonus. I love women conferences. It's like estrogen overload but awesome. The speakers and singers were incredible. I think my favorite speaker was Patsy Clairmont. She is just such a firecracker. I loved Natalie Grant and Nicole C. Mullen....very different but both FULL of intensity. Everybody was great. I would love to travel around with them on their worship team, how cool would that be. I love hearing women sing, it was beautiful. I was challenged to love myself because of how much God loves me just like I am. We heard the speakers speak about how God's grace and love for us accepts us like we are with all the baggage, failures, and crap we tend to bring with us. It was great. I was also challenged to be patient and loving with my husband and kids. That's so hard sometimes. I really want Addy and Keegan to feel love from Levi and I and not judgement or conditionality (is that a word) or criticism. I want them to know they are good enough and worthy of love and adoration because they are them. I had a great weekend.

Levi survived as well :) I'll let him blog about it and see what he has to say:) We came back and hit the ground running with our last community in the park tonight. Hopefully, this week will slow down a bit. I'll write more later. Love you all.