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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Home

We got home tonight and I am glad to be back here. We had a nice trip. I'm glad to be back in my own bed and back into a routine hopefully tomorrow. I got everything put away and just need to do a few loads of laundry tomorrow to get us back on track. I know the kids are worn out. We get back to swine flu country which kind of freaks me out. I'm going to do some research but just saw a flash on tv where Ft. Worth schools are closing until May 8th because of it. Crazy! I am pooped and have to tutor in a few so I'll catch up later. Have a great night!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Fabulous Friday

We had a good day today, kind of low key. I went back to the gym, the first time in like a week and a half...I know SOOO bad!! It felt really good being back though. We'll be out of town next week so I'll miss a week. I've got to get back in my routine after that. Tonight, we went out to eat with Jonathan & Meagan. It was great. We have so much fun with them. We had a wonderful time. I love just being able to talk with Meagan (and JJ for that matter). We can just be ourselves and share and know there's no judgement....they're family!! In thinking about the past two years, I am so thankful that they are apart of this journey with us. I honestly didn't know how all this would turn out but at this point can't wait to see what God has planned next....

Heidi & Jason kept our kids so we could go kidless which was so nice. I have so much respect and admiration for them. They are truly mission minded people and i love that. Their hearts beat for others and that is very cool. Thinking about my friends, they are all very different but all have such wonderful characteristics, I guess that's why I picked them!! I'm very thankful for the people that are around me in life right now and I do not take that for granted!!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Chic-fil-a




Okay so you know you visit a fast food restaurant way too much when you walk in and they say, "Hey Addy, Hey Keegan!" And my kids run up and give hugs. It's bad but that's how it is for us at our local Chic-fil-a (which is by far the coolest one around). Our friend, Ms. Bari, loves our kids (or at least acts like she does). Last week, they were giving out "Easter" treats. She let Addy pick two. They set up a booth at a community Spring Fling event where you got to spin the wheel to see what item you got. She made sure we all got good prizes:) There are other employees there that know our kids and that ask us about Catalyst. It just makes me feel good. I love that. I love that I'm at home with my kids (ha-not at home literally a lot) so I can take them around the community to our "regular" hangouts. Ms. Bari even let Addy babysit the cow a few weeks ago. The cow came to the Spring Fling too. Here's a pic of it!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Wednesday, right?

Today is Wednesday right? I'm kind of mixed up on my days...weird I know. The kids have both been coughing and struggling with allergies so our routine is totally different this week. For the past couple of months I've had a pretty good schedule going (music class, preschool, playgroup preschool, gym, etc.) but this week that all went out the window. I think they're both fine, they're definitely getting better. We leave to go to Levi's sister's wedding next week. I'm excited about going but nervous about how the kids are going to sleep and hope that I can rest. I am a little weird about leaving Catalyst so soon after we're in our new building. I never thought I would be that way about getting away...it's different for me. I'm just so anxious to see who comes to visit each week, I hate to miss. It will be great to be with Levi's family and catch up with some old friends too. It looks like we're going to get to stay with Wes & Andrea one night. I am super excited about that. Thanks Annie;)

Tomorrow we're going to take the kids to Chic-fil-a for breakfast and then head to the Dallas Farmer's Market to get some fresh produce. I'm really excited. The kids and I went with our playgroup last year and we had a ball. I'm glad Levi's going with me, it will be a fun family outing.

This is just kind of a random, this is what's going on with me post. I just realized I really don't have a point to what I'm writing, just filling you in. Hope you're all having a great week.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Converstaion with a 4 year old

Addy: Mommy I don't want you to go up into heaven.
Me: Well, Addy, why not?
Addy: Because you're my mommy and when I'm 5, I don't want you to go up in heaven.
Me: Addy, I'll always be your mommy no matter what.
Addy: Yeah but I want to stay with you forever. I don't want to make my own house. And when I'm 13 or 12 or 5 I want to stay with you and with Daddy too.
Me: Okay we can all live together forever, I would love that.
Addy: And could Keegan live with us too?
Me: Sure Addy, we can all four live together forever.

I hope when she hits her teenage years she still thinks like this:)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter & Catalyst Grand Opening

Today was an awesome day. It started storming around 6am and Addy crawled in bed with us, she is not a fan of lightning and thunder. I couldn't help but think about the tomb and how powerful that moment was when the stone rolled away. I was kind of glad for that reminder as I awake to the strength and power of the lightning flashes and the thunder claps. It was a good way to wake up on Easter (I know that's kind of weird but it got me thinking early on).

The Easter Bunny left goodies for the kids along with indoor Easter eggs. The kids do an "indoor" egg hunt before church. Unfortunately, I had to be at church early so Levi got to enjoy their faces and the hunt. Jonathan & Meagan picked me up and when we got to church, Sprang showed me the video that played behind us singing "True Love." It was awesome. I couldn't help but walk through each row this morning and pray for the people that would hopefully fill the worship center. Tears just kept flowing as I walked through the kid's area too. I cannot explain the anticipation and excitement that I felt this morning. We have spent so much time, energy, and whatever else we could muster in preparing for this day. I just prayed that God would bless that and keep all distraction away. I hope I never forget that. I hope I will always pray just as fervently for the people that walk in our doors, not just on Easter and our first time in our new building.

I will have to tell you that God not only met our expectations but exceeded them. There was not an empty spot in the parking lot (and a lot of our regulars parked on side streets and walked). We had 150 people and were missing about 20 regulars. (For some perspective, the most we've had is 69 and we were hoping for maybe 100.) Is that not killer??? It was AWESOME!!!! I was seriously just dumbfounded by it all. It was so cool to hear our people say, "Do you know them? Did you invite them?" And the answer was, "I have no clue who they are but how awesome that they're here." It truly was amazing. Thank you God for knocking our expectations out of the park!!!

Meagan's parents invited us over to eat Easter dinner with them. It was a lot of fun. It's good to be around family (even if they're not blood). We truly feel like Meagan & Jonathan are part of our family. The thing I struggle with most about being here is being so far from our families. It makes holidays really tough. It was good to be at someone's home and just relaxing. Rob and Sue treated us just like their own kiddos....it was nice!! Thanks:)

I'm pooped. I'm trying not to get sick, you know that tickle in your throat! I'm signing off and going to hit the hay. Happy Easter!!!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Good Friday

I'm reflecting today on Good Friday...why do we call it Good? It seems like it was all together horrible when Jesus was hung on the cross. I read on another site that good can be translated to holy. I also read that in translating the scriptures sometimes good and God got switched.

This Easter weekend is exciting for me because the whole reason we moved to Texas was to plant this church. We've waited a long time to be in our building. I think the original move in date was January 2008. It's exciting to see it all come together and to know that God's timing is perfect and right.

I was thinking about my blog from yesterday and how I complained about Keegan having croup and then talked about my friend having cancer. I didn't want to make that sound trite. The funny thing, not funny ha ha, is that another friend of mine has dealt with cancer for a while now without telling anyone. She asked for prayer this week, the same week that my other friend was diagnosed. I think it's neat that my two friends can help each other through this battle because they are sharing similar experiences that no one else can relate to. I'm reminded in the scripture when it says (paraphrase of course) "What the devil intended for harm, the Lord turns to good." I've seen some negative things that God has been able to turn to good. I don't understand why bad things happen and I surely don't like it. I'm trying to learn from everything I experience and gleam some wisdom from it.

Okay, kids are calling...yelling actually.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Wacky Wednesday

Well, Wed. started pretty normally I guess. My friend, Ashlie, was going to take Addy to an Easter egg hunt while I took K to his 2 year check up. At about 5am K woke up with a crazy cough and kind of weird breathing patterns. It didn't sound good. It was croup. Which is treatable but if not treated quickly it could send us to the ER which scared me, especially with breathing issues. I knew I needed to get the steroids in him SOON. I went to pick up the prescriptions and they only had one. I had to go to another pharmacy and it took forever. Levi actually had to pick it up later. Anyway, I met up and got Addy, who had a blast by the way. Last night, I was taking dinner over to the new Bloomettes and needed to get the food going for them. I was running late. Levi had been at the building working. We didn't have the meds yet so he was still freaking me out with the breathing/barking/coughing stuff. Anyway, it was just crazy. And the big side effect of the steroids he is on is that it makes kids aggressive and at times violent. GREAT that's all I needed. I was worried about him. I wanted to go see the Bloomettes (which I didn't get to do, didn't want to expose although doc didn't think this type is contagious) so I was kind of bummed about that. I had to tutor for 3 hours. It was just kind of crazy. And before I started tutoring, I found out that a friend was just diagnosed with uterine cancer. This friend does so much good and is such a loving, caring person. It's so hard to know the right words to say or what to say. It is so sad.

We did get to visit with J-J and Mea-Mea last night, they brought us a Starbucks treat. It was a nice way to end the evening. Then, they all went to the building to work while I put the kiddos down and yes, you guessed it, tutored.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Ugh...don't even feel like blogging now

I totally need to blog and destress from my day but I am exhausted. I will tell you more later. I'm gearing up for a rough night with Keegan so I need to get as much sleep as I can. Hopefully tomorrow I can tell you that he did wonderful. Will write soon:)

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Tuesday

Today was a good day. It was busy. My Tuesdays are always long (poor me, right). I get up and go to the 5am Turbo Kick class. I meet a couple of friends at Starbucks at 6am for Bible Study. I stop in Walmart and do my grocery shopping (kidless). By the time I get home, Addy is usually awake or wakes up as I'm unloading groceries. Today, I got them up and ready to take Easter pictures. The picture place is about 5 minutes from IKEA and we had to return and swap out some church furniture. Grabbed a quick bit and headed home. Our van was in the shop today...again. Thanks Blain for letting us use your van:) It made our lives a lot easier today to not have to squeeze in the Saturn and head to IKEA and we didn't have to move our schedule around. That makes life a lot easier on us:)

Put the kids down for a nap (only 1 slept) and when they got up we hung door hangers on our street. Got to visit with a neighbor for a bit. I know I'm giving you detailed info but it is what it is. Fixed dinner while a couple of neighbor friends played with kids. Levi came home as I left, I go to WW on Tuesday nights to weigh in and I am 4 ounces away from losing 10 lbs...woohoo.

Headed up to church b/c a couple said they bought stuff for our kid's area...DID THEY EVER. I was absolutely dumbfounded at how much stuff they bought. We have a baby who was born a few months ago and her mom told us to have a "kid's area shower" instead of a baby shower so that the baby would have plenty to play with at church. Sweet right?!! Super sweet! So, we gave a list of things we needed in our kids area. That was Sunday. I seriously think they bought everything on the list and more. It felt like Christmas. I'm seriously still in shock at their generosity. And their response was, "This is for the church and the kids here!" The funny part, they don't have kids (they're in college) or grandkids. Awesome!!!

There's more but that's enough for now. I need to get back to tutoring. Have a great night.

By the way, we got power in the building today and the inspection is tomorrow or Thursday. Keep praying!! We are all so excited!

Have a great Wednesday!!
Heather

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Sunday

Today we had a GREAT morning. How cool to be able to do a prayer walk at our building! We are all so excited about getting close to being in our building. We took a HUGE group to Burger Island and it was great to talk to some people I haven't been able to connect with yet, awesome! SUPER Sunday!!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Super Saturday

Today was a great day. Levi got up early to ref so when he got home we all headed for the community Easter egg hunt. The hunt was over and there wasn't much to do there so we headed to lunch and the building. I was sorting and straightening the kid's rooms while Levi tried to mop. I thought Addy & Keegan were playing so well together when I hear Addy say, "Mom, Keegan's doing something very bad." Yeah, right, she waits till the bad is done to tell on him. They had gotten the Sam's size hand sanitizer from the changing table and Keegan had "gelled" up his hair. They were both cackling about it. Crazy kiddos. So, I headed for home. I actually got a babysitter (Thanks Ash!!) and headed back up there. The Sprangs, Moriarty's, and Lowry's worked up there for a few hours getting some final touches done. It was nice to be able to work uninterrupted. Levi and I had a nice dinner and headed up to see the Bloomettes & parents at the hospital. I love holding "fresh" babies. It truly reminds me of God's goodness and how perfect His plan truly is. There is nothing like a baby!! I love it!! Brad and Shelley have two beautiful babies...and nobody better tell Addy we went to the hospital without her or she'll KILL us!! Seriously!! :)

Looking forward to a very different but great service tomorrow at our BUILDING...woohoo!! However, we will be meeting outside, still we're there;)

Friday, April 3, 2009

Lots Crack-a-Lacking Here

It has been a busy week. We've been up at the building every night this week for something or other. Levi has been up there late and we haven't a whole lot of family time this week. I did get to go out with the girls in my Mommy Group last night for a MNO. I had a lot of fun. I truly feel so blessed to have all of these wonderful moms in my life. I truly need their support and encouragement. The building is almost finished. Keegan and I went up there today to straight out the kid rooms. We got almost a room done. I'm going to go back up tomorrow and finish. We're going to have church outside on Sunday and do a prayer walk through the building which will be pretty cool. Hopefully, we will have our CO and the electric company will have our power on for Easter Sunday. I know God is in control and it will all work out. We're trying to trust and not worry. I am so proud of our building and all of the people who have just done "whatever" to make it a success. I love that about these people. It is so encouraging!! I am going to sign off but wanted to give an update on Lowry Life here lately. Have a great weekend!!