Flashback Friday

Happy Friday y'all!

What I Wore Wednesday

One outfit edition



Because I still try to wear this necklace every day...

Necklace: Etsy (Miss Ruby Sue)
Tank: Walmart $4.99
Skirt: Anthropologie sale 3 years ago $19.99
Flip flops: Ross (Roxy)

Yesterday we went to the new Cabelas in Allen since the kids were all super foul and we didn't want to stay home. Turned out to be a great field trip!







Of course the highlight was the fish tank. I guess they don't understand that you can see fish everywhere but it takes a sporting goods superstore to find polar bears and water buffalo. To them the fish are the main attraction.

I've been feeling dizzy the last few days so I just went to the dr this morning to have blood drawn. Hoping my body hasn't switched over to diabetes but thinking maybe that's what is happening. Of course I offered this diagnosis to my dr and he said, "Thanks for coming to me for a second opinion."

"You're welcome," I said.

Thankfully he's got a sense of humor about me.

Y'all have a great Wednesday!

...but we had fun in spite of me

Whew. Sorry for the heavy post yesterday. There was actually a lot of carefree-ness, (I know it's not a real word,) in spite of my internal mess during the Easter celebration.

The proof is in the pictures:



Cousins...lots of cousins. This isn't all of them



"Mom the egg was this big!"


On the prowl


Luke and Cole, the boys behind Ty's wardrobe


Allie, my oldest niece who just decided to go to A & M. Whoop! She's holding Owen, the youngest cousin on this side.


She shoveled candy in so fast you would not believe it


All in good fun...nephews against uncles game of smash the confetti into and under clothes


Confetti eggs+that hair=drama for momma


Caroline and her biggest fan Charlie, who was suddenly allergic to smiling. Little toot.


Luke and Pops, (Sean's dad)


It was humid and about 95 degrees at this point. I had to change shirts I got so hot. Does anybody else keep a spare set of clothes for the child plus a set for yourself in the car? Ahem. I do.


You can't win 'em all


"Mom, there's stuff in the eggs!"


Oh a Baby. "Wook Mom a baby! Candy! Baby! Candy!" those were her words of the day.



Will, who is a few months younger than Ty.


Good times. Tomorrow I'm gonna show you pictures of the weekend with my family. As in my side of the family. But now I'm going to bed since it's 8:15 and I'm apparently 93 years old.

The End.

Easter

I'm not gonna lie. Easter morning I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I was irritable. I was on edge. I hated that I felt 'off,' but I did. Our power went out a few times last night, (it was windy...not stormy, so we can't figure out why we lost power,) and the kids woke up each time because they could hear the rain. Oh yeah, it was raining so that's why the power went out. I forgot it stormed a little bit.

Never mind. Not the point.

The point is that in my ugliness this morning I almost missed an opportunity to let The Good News of Easter spring from my lips. Sure I was edgy and had bad cramps and wanted to sleep through church. Yes I got frustrated with the kids and their antics. And okay granted I was mad at myself for laying off the workout these last three days. I'm human and get all sidetracked by what goes wrong. We get frustrated and then mad at ourselves for letting little things become big things. Don't you do that? Man I hope you do. I hate being a loner.

But thank the good Lord the big picture-the biggest one of our whole being-came through in spite of me trying to ruin it. The picture of Easter: The sin of the world on His shoulders, the love of a Father in His heart, and the hope He gives is central to what I believe. That He conquered death and gave us life. That through accepting Him as the giver of all REAL, ABUNDANT LIFE, we can survive the pain and crud of this life. Shoot, if I could make it look pretty and 'together' without the desperation I felt today I'd miss the need that is there. I need redirection. I need grace. And I need the cross. Only through His sacrifice can I approach what I know to be the only way to survive: God Himself. To know Him and walk with Him on the ugliest days shows the world that He doesn't leave us when we disappoint Him. Clinging to Him and talking about how I failed as a mom 67 times before hitting the church parking lot at 8:30 am doesn't make Him hate me or turn from me. It shows other moms that we all screw it up sometimes. We get it wrong. As good as I am on my best day ain't gonna cut it in the long run. I can't save the world and I can't create perfect children. There I said it. I'm admitting defeat. Waving my white flag. I need my Savior. I need immediate help. The great news: He is here.

He is risen! He is alive and here and relevant and constant. He is working and moving and changing lives all around me. He is here.

And He's never gonna leave.

Good Friday

It is only good because Sunday is coming. Giving us hope in the midst of great heartache, He took everything we had. And knew everything we didn't have. And He loved us anyway. Never before and never again will there be one like Him.

It just takes one

One slurpee and they're hooked for life. Having the right accessories is just icing on the cake.


It's their daddy date lately...going to 7-11 in his car, getting to pick the color, (always pink for both girls...shocker) and they talk about it with such enthusiasm I ask him if they really actually only went to 7-11. It's as good as Disney World.

And little sister has started requesting certain colors for her toenail polish.


Today: "purppeh purppeh!"

Alrighty then.

What I Wore Wednesday

The I ADMIT I HAVEN'T WORN ANYTHING BUT SWEATS OR WORKOUT CLOTHES THE LAST FEW WEEKS edition.





The wind the last few days has made wearing my contacts challenging. Not only are they too dry but once one actually blew out of my eye when I was outside.

Necklace: love. Miss Ruby Sue (Etsy)
Shirt: Target 4 years ago
Jeans: Target clearance $6.99
Shoes: Steve Madden 3 years ago






Shirt/tunic: Anthropologie
Jeans: same Target $6.99
Shoes: same Steve Madden flats





I don't know why I love this shirt because it isn't exactly flattering but it's so soft and colorful. Bought it with bday money.








This one makes me laugh. For a few reasons:
1. It's a maternity dress from Target
2. But I bought it at Ross
3. After I'd had all babies
4. It looks/feels like a nightgown
5. So why did I buy it?
6. And why do I keep wearing it?






Because it feels like a nightgown it's so comfy.
Shoes: Clarks flip flops

To see other What I Wore Wednesday posts from Lisa and Lindsey, click on their names.

And now I'm off to get ready for the day wearing my maternity dress/nightgown and get ready for this one's Easter party at school.




Oh my she's dramatic.

From Charlie to Charlotte

"It's a rough transition," I said to Sean. "She wants us to call her Charlotte though, so we better start doing it all the time."

"Sure, he said. I'm game to try to switch. I'll do my best."

Turns out his "best" is evidence of his personality: he is very literal. Black and white, no mystery. He did this to her cup while I was taking a shower this morning.



Looks normal. Same cup. Same little label on the top, ensuring her teachers will know which one is hers at school. But wait, something is different.



Aha!

Hosanna

Y'all. Today when I picked Charlotte (I'm trying,) up from Sunday school she greeted me with, "Oh Santa! Oh Santa! Jesus is King!"

All while waving her palm branch.

Flashback Friday

A sweet moment I happened upon right before Christmas last year


They were watching a football game. Ah love


Ah love too! I had a brief spurt of panic last Fall when I thought they stopped making me favorite drink. Diet cherry Dr Pepper. When I got a tip from Carley that they had it at the Tom Thumb by her house I acted fast.

This supply lasted me a while.



A what I wore Wednesday picture on Friday. Thank you Granny Joann for my birthday gift! I was so excited to buy this shirt I've been eyeing :)

Shirt: Anthropologie sale
Jeans: JCPenney
Shoes: Target
I changed shoes mid-day since I looked like a crayon.

The End.

In honor of American Idol

A little surprise bug

I thought that it was impossible to get a stomach bug this late in the sick season. Turns out it's not. Happy happy joy joy. First Ty then me. Thankfully that's all so far. Praying we are the only victims.

I'm not one for many words after the night we had so here are a few pictures from the last couple of days.


At Amy's (Sean's sister) house for her boys birthday party on Saturday.


Trampoline+lots of cousins=joy and lots of craziness


Oh look there's more. They're multiplying.


It wouldn't be a party without Max getting into the pool.

On opposite day.


He rode home in my car.

Yesterday we took the big kids to the dentist for the first time. I know we're a good year, (or 2+) behind but we were terrified. We meaning the parents.

Y'all, we went to the best little place at the recommendation of both Jennie and Heather. It went so well we couldn't believe it! Victory!! Sean and I both went since he was home and after the kids amazed us with their bravery we took them to lunch.


Showing me his "new sparkly like a brand new trash truck" teeth. I love that he came up with that expression. We all know how clean and sparkly new trash trucks are. SUPER SPARKLY.


Her "new sparkly pink princess teeth!"

They totally forgot about the few things that scared them by the time our food came.

Steak and shake covers a multitude of fluoride sins.




Later on Monday we celebrated with Dr Fowers since master Ty filled his potty chart. She gave him a prize and sat with him way longer than she had time to and really praised him. He grinned from ear to ear the whole way home. This is probably where we picked up the bug.

I'm worn out after last night so that's all folks.

Night night.

An undivided heart

Today at church Dr. Mark Young preached and I love it when he preaches. I always learn about 15 things that I didn't know. Today he talked about Psalm 87 and since today the focus was on missions what I took away from the message was this: Are we standing at the gates of the Kingdom protecting what we have or standing with open arms inviting all to enter with us? As he stood up folding his arms in front of his chest I had one of the "aha!" moments that I'll never forget.

Not for a good reason or one that I'm proud of though. I truly felt humbled by the fact that I totally cross my arms to people who don't see it like I see it. As often as I say, "Come to bible study, come to church," I try to protect my kids from people I don't know. I ask another mom 100 questions before I let my kids go to their house. And even then I go with them. It's good and right to teach our kids the way they should go. It is my responsibility to teach them right from wrong and to teach them the things they should and shouldn't do. To obey rules. To respect others. To keep from stealing and fighting. But my oh my I've also got to teach them to love others and to show Christ to others above anything else.

Maybe I'm too selfish with my whole faith. Maybe I hide behind my church and my friends within my church too much. Maybe it's so comfortable that I don't even notice when I turn my head away from someone hoping to befriend me. I don't know why I'm writing "maybe" when I know all of this is true. I love my life. I love the thought of moving to my hometown where I know people and they know me and we have history. While there's nothing wrong with being joyous and thankful, if that's all we do then we're missing a huge part of the gospel. WE ARE HERE TO MAKE GOD KNOWN AND GLORIFY GOD. There are many different facets of my heart and each are known and desired by God. When I value anything more than Him, though, things aren't right. The phrase, "an undivided heart," to me means that the things I focus on and value should all point to Him. When I'm tempted to focus on other things my heart gets pulled apart. The balance is off and things start suffering.

Up until maybe today the task of keeping my family fed, bathed, on time for things, etc. was the most important thing on my mind and in my heart. That's it-the truth. It's my job and my role to do those things but I'm thankful that today I grasped what else He wants from me. Not just to raise the kids to know Him and to love Him but to teach them to love people and be the light of the world. We have the best job in the world, don't we? Our own little missionaries in training. It's also time to pray for direction in where to serve. It's a time of limbo since we don't know when we'll move but I've been saying, "No," to things because I didn't want to commit then move, you know? I've missed opportunities by saying, "Well, I'm not sure I'll still be here..." when good Lord I've been here this whole year, which was one year more than I expected to be here. No wonder He hasn't opened the door to move yet. He had too much still to teach me. Not to mention so many fun memories made with our friends.

I don't know if this makes sense to anybody else or if it's really sad that I'm just now coming to this point and that's okay. When I go back through what I've written on a day when I'm defeated and feel like what I'm doing doesn't matter, this will remind me that that's faulty thinking. It does matter. It matters to Him.

"Teach me Your way, O Lord;

I will walk in Your truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your name.

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,

And I will glorify Your name forevermore.

For great is Your mercy toward me,

And You have delivered my soul from

the depths of Sheol."

Psalm 86:11-13

Three pictures

These are the three pictures Sean sent me while I was out running errands today.










Right up there with making sure Joy doesn't break a bone or color the walls=a progress picture of the new In-N-Out in our town.

Priorities man, priorities.

Flashback Friday

Daddy's shoes are hard to fill


Nattie reading a Christmas book


Drama


Accessory love


Florida


Love


Halloween butterfly


Only place I could put her for a second


Ballerina



Costco run. I couldn't buy much but they were all happy there.




Last weekend chillin' with Pops, (Sean's dad.)



My daughter Miss Hannigan.

Happy Friday y'all.