Summer Kei

The Nursery

2011-02-09T13:35:00.001-08:00

All of this snow and cold weather has given me much needed time to nest and get Sadie Kate's nursery ready for her. I wish I would have taken a before picture of this room. It was a high school boy's room before we moved in and it was painted a goldish dark yellow with black curtains... very Abilene High! Great for a teen boy but not so much a baby girl. So we painted the walls, the ceiling and added some color! It's been fun! I always love preparing a room when I'm pregnant. It just makes me feel connected to the baby somehow as I paint and decorate the area where she'll sleep and rock and eventually play and learn.

Here's her crib. The bedding is made from an anthropologie quilt. I wish I could take credit but I actually bought it from a friend who was selling it. I love the colors and pattern!

My Japanese grandmother helped me make paper cranes for this homemade mobile above the bed. It's one of my favorite things in the room!

I painted this mural of a whimsical tree in the corner of the room behind the rocker.

Cute little red rocker

There is also a daybed for tired parents and grandmas to sleep on. I added some Japanese touches in the room with the cranes and these kokeshi doll collages, as well as some Japanese memorabilia that I've collected through the years.

A sweet welcome home note from sister Ava

Just about 5 more weeks until we get to meet our baby girl! We can't wait...

Snow Days

2011-02-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

WHAT WE DID ON OUR SNOW VACATION

Played in the snow,

made snow angels,

went sledding on the play set,

slid into mounds of snow,

snuggled up and watched movies,

played with play dough,

warmed up by the fire,

pretended to be Josh Hamilton

and little orphan Annie working at a restaurant,

made snow ice cream and...

we still have another day ahead of us! What will we come up with tomorrow?

Christmas, Tonsils, and 50's Day

2011-02-03T11:04:00.001-08:00

3 days snowed in at home has allowed me to catch up on some things around my house and my blog! So here are a few more photos from December and January:

Christmas 2010 with cousin Eydie

Small group Christmas party at our house... Can you find the random nameless man that made his way into our photo? I love our white elephant exchange and our hilarious friends!

Christmas morning in Decatur

Football cousins... passing down the jersey

Ruby and her kids

Walters' cousins (We missed you, Melissa!)

Thompson second cousins

Jenny and I are due within a month of each other!

Pierson had his tonsils and adenoids out...

Ava practicing the twist for 50's day

Dancing on the stage at Austin Elementary

50's Day with momma (I wore Chad's high school letter jacket to serve ice cream Sundays at Ava's school. He made the comment that he never expected to see his pregnant wife wearing it. I did look a little awkward!)

2010 in Review

2011-01-05T07:54:00.001-08:00

Well, I guess there's no time like January to start things anew. I cannot believe that I took a full year hiatus from blogging, but 2010 got the best of me. It was a whirlwind! I think I'm just now beginning to catch my breath and looking forward to new beginnings and simplifying in 2011.

There really is so much I could say about the past 12 months. I'll do my best to recap for the archives. I seriously doubt anyone still reads this blog but with a new baby on the way I figured it would be a good time to start writing again even if it's just for family.

January 2010

Hat day at YCW

January Recap-- The kids and I got sick last year for pretty much the entire month of January. We passed around the flu, a stomach bug and a cold. We were ready for February after all that illness...

February 2010

Ava posing with her Valentine's snowman

February Recap-- We enjoyed some snow in February and Ava loved attending the Daddy/ Daughter Valentine's Dinner at Highland. She looks forward to it every year!

March 2010

Launching our first My Sister's House Consignment Sale with Kate

March Recap-- A big reason why last year was a busy one is that Kate and I started our own business called My Sister's House, a semi-annual consignment sale for women. Our first sale was in March but the three or four months leading up to the sale were extremely busy with working out details of every aspect of the business... from the website to running the sale to advertising. We had so much to learn and do (hence the blogging hiatus). Overall we felt our first sale was a success! We were exhausted when it was over but thankful for all of the help from family and friends to help make it happen.

April 2010

Pierson practicing on the ACU field. This kids LOVES baseball!

Easter in Brownwood
April Recap-- We enjoyed Easter in Brownwood with the Thompson family! Most of the month of April was spent finishing up business from the sale and doing projects around our house. We got it ready and put our Grand cottage house on the market for sale by owner in April.

May 2010

The husbands in our small group planned a formal night out complete with a 3 course dinner at a beautiful historic home in Abilene. Such a fun night!

Ava all dressed up for her ballet recital
May Recap-- We wrapped up another year at YCW (Ava's last year of preschool), enjoyed the YCW end of year program and Ava's first ballet recital. We watched some ACU baseball, enjoyed a very nice night out planned by our husbands, showed our house a lot, and got a contract on it at the end of May!

June 2010

Dad, Ava and Pierson playing on the scooter at the Pierson family reunion
June Recap--We enjoyed spending time with family at the Pierson Family Reunion. Most of the month was spent getting inspections, wrapping up details of selling the house, finding a house to buy, and packing, packing, packing...

July 2010

Our family at Sea World
July Recap-- Remembering July makes me tired. It was an exciting and eventful month! We squeezed in a trip to Brownwood for the 4th of July and Sea World in San Antonio before we moved houses, celebrated our 10th anniversary, and found out we were expecting our 3rd baby in March. At the end of such a crazy month, I managed to muster the energy to teach two sessions of Art Camp! I was nauseated and tired most of the week, but I think that the kids still enjoyed it...

August 2010

Pierson waiting for his turn to bowl on a Friday Family Fun Night at Prime Time.

Ava's first day of kindergarten at Austin Elementary
August Recap--I turned 33, Ava started kindergarten at Austin Elementary, and we continued to try to get settled in our new house. I think I spent most of August catching up on rest from the adventures of the last three months and first trimester exhaustion.

September 2010

Ava got a new bike for her birthday and learned to ride without training wheels!

We celebrated the kid's birthdays at the Gymnastics Sports Center.

September Recap--The kids loved celebrating their 6th and 3rd birthday parties at the Gymnastics Sports Center, and I loved not having to have my house ready for a party! We spent September getting used to the new realities of Ava going to school 5 days a week, and Pierson started in the 3 year old class at YCW.

October 2010

My grandparents with the Fairy Princess and "Fat Dragon" as Pierson described his costume.

October Recap-- We enjoyed a fun Halloween, Chad's 10 year reunion at ACU and all of the homecoming festivities, a visit to Abilene from Derran, Ann, Brynn and Meg Reese, and Kate and I ran our second My Sister's House sale! We were open for two full weekends with a week in between and continued to learn ways to grow the sale in the future.

November 2010

Ava and Chad running in the turkey trot on Thanksgiving day. It was freezing outside but Ava was a trooper and completed the kid's race.

November Recap-- We enjoyed Thompson family time here in Abilene for Thanksgiving. We spent some time beginning to get ready for our new baby (a girl due in March!)

December 2010

The kids showing off mom's growing belly

December Recap-- Lots and lots of holiday parties and festivities, shopping for gifts, family time with the Walters, Micks, and Quanz families in Decatur and Fort Worth for Christmas, Charlie Brown ice sculpture show at the Gaylord in Grapevine, and a plumbing leak that caused our living and dining floors to be ripped up a few days before Christmas.

Whew! What a recap... I should say that not all that happened in 2010 was as picture perfect as the few images I chose to showcase. In an effort to be transparent I want to confess that in many ways 2010 was a challenging year for our family. I struggled personally with a very early miscarriage and the emotional and physical fallout of hormonal imbalances. We had stresses related to jobs, moving, starting a new business, finances, and family. But God has been faithful. Through the joys and struggles of the last year, I can see that His hand was always upon us even when we felt alone. I am so thankful for the support system of friends and family that continue to encourage and challenge me in my faith. I look forward to the new year, new beginnings, new goals for my own personal and spiritual journeys, and a new member our family. Did I mention we decided on a name? We anticipate the arrival of Sadie Kate Walters in mid to late March!

Here's to new beginnings in 2011...

Conversations with my Kids

2010-01-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

I've been writing down little things my kids have said lately that I find entertaining, mostly for my own memory since I'm not a big scrapbooker.

Pierson likes to randomly tell me things that he "yoves." Here are a few of my favorites from the last few weeks:

I yove Target.

I yove baseball.

I yove no pants and no shoes.

I yove Diego.

I yove jackets.

I yove not doctors.

I yove Chuck E. Cheese.

I yove yogurt.

Out of the blue while eating a organic granola bar, Ava announced, "I've been thinking about Santa and how he has to eat so many cookies at houses on Christmas Eve. Next year, we should leave him one of these granola bars. I bet he'd like a break from cookies."

I told Pierson that he was not going to be in the Nursery at church because it was time for him to go to the big 2's class. I said, I just can't believe you're not a baby anymore. His response, "Yeah. I a grown up now."

Ava has been learning to spell by sounding words out and one of her favorite gifts was a dry erase board she got for Christmas. She practices trying to spell words all day long. She showed me a list of words and explained that these are words we shouldn't really talk about so she decided to write them down. Here was her list:

PNIS BODOM POTE BOT

I overheard Pierson mumbling to himself while he was pretending, "Are you John Elway, Brett Favre, Tony Romo?"

Ava asked me what the word "mono mono" means (pronounced mow-no.) I told her I wasn't sure and asked where she'd heard it. She started singing, "Hit the road jack and don't you come back no mono mono mono mo." And asked again, "So what's a mono?"

Both of my children love to sing. Ava enjoys the musical stylings of most classic musicals and a few new faves: Annie, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz, and Enchanted. Poor Pierson is such a patient little brother. He's sings Annie as well just because he hears it so much. But I also love hearing him belt out all the words to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" while playing in his room.

After getting a shot of penicillin for strep last week, Pierson was having a hard time. I asked him if he wanted to get a shake on the way home. His response was, "No. I wanna go to Target." (A boy after my own heart... For the record, he goes straight to the ball aisle and likes to try on all the gloves, and practice throwing the different sizes of baseballs and softballs.)

Walters Christmas 2009 Recap

2010-01-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

We had fun in the snow on Christmas eve in Abilene!

We attempted sledding at ACU, but an artic blast thwarted our plans. K-Papa and Pierson were still brave enough to play in the blizzard. Ava and I watched from the car. It was seriously cold!

We dug in the attic to find snowsuits from Kaden and Karaline. Funny thing is the blue "boy" snowsuit is a size 5 and would have fit Ava but she refused to put it on, insisting instead to squeeze herself into a girl's size 2 snowsuit. Notice how short it is on her. That thing was tight! All in the name of fashion...we couldn't be seen out in a blizzard in boy's snowsuit, now could we?

The great-grandkids on the Thompson side. Cuties!

It wouldn't be Christmas without lots of scrabble.

This is our attempt at a cousin pyramid. I guess everyone's grown a little since we last tried this. Ava, Bryce, and Pierson were supposed to be on the very top, but we didn't get organized in time. The bottom row was hurtin'!

The annual icing of the sugar cookies with Vicki and the cousins. Grandma and Grandpa got in on the action too.

More icing. . .

Christmas morning at our house-- no time like the present to iron your new shirt.

Pierson, cousin Eydie and Ava posing in front of the tree

For Christmas this year, both of my kids asked Santa for things that cannot be purchased in a store. Pierson requested an ACU baseball uniform.

A few weeks ago, I told him, "Pierson, I love you."

His response: "And I love baseball."

Ava asked Santa for an Annie dress. Apparently you can only buy those on e-bay at Halloween. Lucky for us, Santa knows a great seamstress who loves these kids enough to spend the month of December sewing! Thank you, mom! (Note to readers: If you happen to see our kids and mention their Christmas gifts, don't forget that they believe Santa and his elves sewed them.)

Mom and dad on Christmas morning

Disclaimer: Somehow I managed not to take a single picture when we spent time with Chad's family for New Years. Sorry about that Walters' fam. I guess I was too busy having fun to get out my camera. If any of you took pictures, we would love to have some copies.

2009-12-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Introducing My Sister's House

2009-12-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

Introducing. . . drum roll please. . . My Sister's House!

This is a business that my sister, Kate, and I are starting up in Abilene this spring. Kate and I have always enjoyed scavenging garage and estate sales for unique finds and saving money without sacrificing style. We have often wished there was a one stop shop to sell and buy cute gently used women's clothes, shoes, accessories and furniture. . . so we created My Sister's House, a semi-annual women's consignment sale.

If you are from Abilene, you may be familiar with Dittos for Kiddos. Our sale will be run in much the same way but we will have two unique boutiques within My Sister's House. The Closet will feature women's clothing, shoes, accessories, purses, and jewelry. Right next door at The Attic, you will find home decor, bedding, rugs, lamps, and furniture.

Let's face it. After two pregnancies my closet is full of clothes that are still cute but just don't fit my current body. Yet it is so hard to get more than a few dollars for clothes at garage sales. Our hope is that My Sister's House will become a place where you can sell the items that are taking up space in your house that you just don't wear or use but that will work great for someone else! Then you can shop the sale for clothes and home decor that are new to you without breaking the bank!

It's going to be a lot of fun. We're hoping to create a "Girl's Night Out" feel at our Wednesday and Thursday night Pre-Sales with snacks, good music and no children while you shop! Bring your friends, have fun shopping for great deals, and make some money on your own clothes in the process by becoming a consignor. (You will be able to try on clothes in an open dressing area so bring your bike shorts and sports bra. We hope that it won't be as awkward as those high school locker room experiences.)

The sale will take place downtown at 181 Pine (the old Jordan Taylor location) and will be open to the public March 25th - 27th. We have no idea how big our first sale will be, but we're hoping through word of mouth and our community of A-town friends that it will exceed our expectations!

So check our website: www.mysistershousesale.com , save your old clothes as you clean out your closet after Christmas, sign up to be a consignor and tell your friends. It's gonna be fun, girls!

Ava's Art

2009-11-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

I just had to post some of Ava's artwork. She loves to color and produces more art than I could possibly display in my house. These are some of my favorites from the last few months:

Drawn after we attended a wedding last weekend. Notice the

stained glass window in the back and the Bride's train.

She said this is me about to hug her. I like the clip in my hair.

This is a picture of Ava with the 3 Strader girls.

This is a self portrait of Ava in her Halloween costume as a cowgirl.

She does a lot of drawings for friends.

This is one for Emma Russell and Ella Carder.

David and Goliath. I love Goliath's angry eyes and David's surprised face.

This is a colorful girl, but it reminds me of a Japanese kokeshi doll.

Ava drew this at my mom's house while looking at a photo of

my mom in Japan standing in front of a big pink bus.

More friends: Ava and Sofia

A princess and a rainbow

Fall & Friends

2009-10-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

These are all out of order, but here is our fall at a glance. We've had good times with good friends.

Jackson and Ava on a hayride

The Walters' in western wear at our small group dress-up party

Two of my favorite cops: Ponch and John. (Aren't these guys hilarious?)

Our little cowpokes (Ava was all excited about this horse costume until she had to put it on. Then it only lasted about 5 minutes. Oh well, we got a picture. That was the closest I could get to a smile from either of these outlaws.)

Trunk or Treat

Playing in the rain with Ava's bud, Sofia

Some old friends at ACU Homecoming

I miss these girls!

Getting ready for the parade

GATA friends at breakfast

Ava with the Russell and Encalade girls

I misss these girls too. . .

Pierson playing ball with Maddox

Ava and Sofia dressing up alike for a girl's night out

Levi, Pierson and Will. . . cuties

And one last picture-- look at that smile! I love this little guy!

Madinah Namuddu

2009-10-05T20:51:00.001-07:00

I just found an organization called Kiva that I am pumped about. If you can spare $25.00, you must check this out. Kiva connects people through person-to-person micro-lending, empowering entrepreneurs across the globe.

For my first micro-loan, I lent money to Madinah Namuddu's Group. I selected Madinah by scrolling through a list of hopeful entrepreneurs from around the world. I used paypal, but you can use your credit card to start your loan as well. It only took about 5 minutes. I'd like to add one new loan a month! I'll keep you updated. I love the world wide web!

P.S. Leave me a comment and let me know if you decided to start a micro-loan too! I would love to hear that my "tens of readers" all got as excited as I did and found someone to support. Better yet, put a link on your blog. Then all of your hundreds of readers might do the same. Am I a hopeful optimist who thinks we can change the world? Yes I am. So let's get started...

Click here for to learn more about how it works.

2009-10-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things I am writing down so I don't forget them:

1. Ava let us know that we might need to start using bigger words with her now that she's 5.

2. I asked Pierson if he was ready to brush his teeth a few nights ago and he told me, "I'd wather not." (I'd rather not.) 2 going on. . . 12? By the way, I didn't give him the option.

3. This afternoon we were reading bedtime books and Pierson was searching for the "Yucky Hat" book. I was baffled. I finally found the book he was looking for about a "Lucky Hat."

4. Ava is into clothes, shoes and anything to do with fashion. She often explains how the dress on her barbies or in coloring books would be cute if it had a different color, a longer hem, a different color bow, etc. She loves to play dress up and is extremely particular about what she wears. The other night at dinner, she let me know that she liked the pattern on my shirt, but she thought it might be cuter if it had a button by the neck. Chad and I laughed and said she might become a fashion designer someday. She asked what that meant and I explained that a fashion designer is someone who imagines what clothes might look like and makes them for other people to wear. She thought about it for a minute and then said, "I have an idea. At my fashion designer store, there will be two people who work there. I will be the one who makes up the outfit and the other person will be the one who sews my idea."

5. I heard Pierson being a little too quiet in Ava's room yesterday while she was coloring in the living room. I went in and found him standing on her bed with one of barbie's legs (detached from her body.) He tilted his head to the side, smiled like he knew this might not be a good idea and said, "Swing batter, batter, batter. . ." Then used the leg to hit to practice his swing. I had to walk away and laugh before I came back and reattached Barbie's leg.

6. When Pierson is tired or frustrated he whines in a way that sounds a lot like Napolean Dynomite. It cracks me and Chad up, which is probably not helping him learn not to whine. There is no funny way to write in words how it sounds, but imagine a 2 year old Napolean saying "Aaawwwaaawww. I don wan to go night night."

7. Chad was driving home with Pierson in the car and instead of wanting to listen to music or watch a movie, Pierson said "Tell me a story, daddy." After a short story Pierson whispered, "Tell me a secret." This reminded us that our kids just want connection with us. They don't need to be entertained, just talked to.

8. Pierson fell off of a chair last week and busted his lip pretty badly. We were lucky that the cut was on his lip or he might have needed stitches. Ava was so concerned about all of the blood and Pierson's injury that she wouldn't let me talk about it in front of him because she was worried he would start thinking about it again and get upset. She would come up and whisper in my ear, "I just feel so sad about Pierson's lip, but don't look at it. It might make him feel bad."

Pierson with his cousin Eydie. Love 'em!

Birthdays

2009-09-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

We have several birthdays in our little family around September. My birthday is August 28th, Ava's is September 12th and Pierson's is the 17th! This year we combined their parties again since their birthdays are so close together. I figure that we might be able to get away with one combined party for a few more years until Ava starts asking for a party with no boys! For now we really try to make having a shared party special. This year we had a Safari Party at the Abilene Zoo! It turned out to be a perfect day. The weather was cool and breezy (which is remarkable for September in Abilene), the animals were out and the lions were even putting on a show. I have never heard lions roar that loud for such a long time. It was pretty amazing. . . and a little scary for Pierson! Here are some pictures of the party:

The Safari Cake and cupcakes

Grandma Ruby came in from Decatur.

Posing with friends in front of the lions

The Safari Guides

Pierson blows out his candles.

Pierson shows off his new Ranger baseball cap and car puzzle.

Hungry kids

Ava poses with some friends on the caterpillar statue.

All the kids

Eydie at her first birthday party with K-Papa

I never did write the post about my birthday surprise so I thought I would recap that as well. This year I turned, ahem. . . 32! I don't feel a day over 22 except I have a bad back, an injured knee and I get tired around 9 pm every night. Okay so maybe I feel exactly 32. Anyway on to the surprise-- On my birthday Chad took the day off of work to watch the kids, scheduled a massage for me without my knowing, and planned a birthday lunch with a few friends at The Olive Garden. Then when I thought the day couldn't get much better, Chad's mom showed up at our house to watch the kids and Chad and I headed for Dallas. We ate at P.F. Changs (my favorite) and stayed the night at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Los Colinas. The next day we slept in, read by the pool and shopped around in Southlake Townscenter before heading home. I have no idea why Chad chose this birthday to pull out all the stops. Birthdays are fun in our house, but we usually just go to dinner and have some cake. I was so surprised and enjoyed having a day of pampering. I love this guy!

Ava took this picture and got a real smile out of him : )

Pierson Reed

2009-09-06T12:38:00.001-07:00

Pierson is such a funny little man. He is 23 months and has become such a talker. In the last 3 or 4 months, his language has exploded! I am amazed at all of things is starting to say and put together. Looking back I realized that I haven't posted as much about him as I did about Ava at his age. Poor second children. . . they are so neglected. I have found it so much harder to stop and write things down with 2 kids. But I have to record some of my favorite Pierson stories. They are too funny and I don't want to forget this age.

1. While looking at a book that his Grandma Ruby put together of various sports clippings, Pierson was pointing at different pictures and asking, "What's dat?" I was naming, football, helmet, baseball, glove, etc. He pointed to one picture and asked, "Who's dat?" I replied with "That's a football player." He looked up at me and said, "No. Dat's Tony Romo." He was right. Apparently Chad had been naming the players and Pierson was expecting me to do the same. I only got a few right, and still need to get a tutorial from Chad before I read that book with him again. I can't believe my 23 month old has already surpassed my sports knowledge.

2. Pierson LOVES baseball. I have never seen a kid like one sport so much. He talks about baseball as soon as he wakes up, plays ball all day, and I think he must dream about it too. He knows all the words to "Take me out to the ball game" and wants us to sing it to him every night as he falls asleep. He loves his baseball pajamas and likes to sleep wearing his glove and baseball shoes. Precious.

3. One my favorite games to play with Pierson right now is pretend baseball. It is almost more fun than the real thing. With real baseball, a lot of time is spent chasing after a ball that neither one of us can catch very well. But pretend baseball is great. He looks over his glove, looks down, winds up, throws a pitch and I back up and pretend to catch it in my glove. This goes back and forth. Sometimes he dives for the ball. Sometimes he runs deep. Sometimes he pretends to miss and says,"Oh, almost!" We also pretend hit. When he's pitching to me, I have to wait to see if he calls a strike or waits for me to run to see if I pretend hit it or not! He'll yell, "Run the bases, Mama!" I also love to watch him hit. He has better form than I do and sometimes taps the plate and his shoes before getting in his batter stance. We never taught him any of this. He just picks it up from watching the players! He lets me know when I'm supposed to run the bases and slide home. Turns out I'm pretty good pretend ball player. I think I've made about 12 home runs this week. . .

3. Pierson says, the "y" sound instead of "l" which I think is so cute. We went to Lake Brownwood this weekend f0r Labor Day and while riding in the boat, Pierson exclaimed excitedly, "I yove the yake!"

4. Pierson loves his friends right now. He prays often for LeviWoll (Levi and Will-- his little twin buddies) and Mammox (Maddox). One night while listing off the names of several of his little 2 year old friends, Pierson added, "and Brandon" (His adult uncle.) I thought that was sweet. I think Pierson sees Brandon as one of the kids. It doesn't hurt that he's an assistant baseball coach at ACU so Pierson pretty much idolizes him.

5. For some reason which I cannot figure out, Pierson has connected Dora the Explorer with our children's minister, Suzetta Nutt. He thinks they are one and the same. He asks to watch "Suzetta and Boots," he points to pictures of Dora in books and says, "Suzetta" every time. For those who don't know these two, Dora is a hispanic 4 year old and Suzetta is in her 40s and has blond hair. And although Ava tries to explain the difference all the time, Pierson cannot be convinced that Dora and Suzetta are not the same person.

6. He loves to wear his baseball shoes (tennis shoes) all the time. I can hardly get him to put on anything else. He has been sleeping in them lately because he never wants to take them off. He also loves to wear his baseball hat like K-Papa and daddy. He feels he must be wearing these two items in order to throw, hit or catch a baseball, even a pretend one.

7. I know that most of these are about sports, but Pierson really is fascinated with any kind sport. In the evenings when Chad gets home, he and Pierson usually sit down and watch baseball, and now football. Sometimes they find a soccer or even a tennis game. I am endlessly amazed at how long these sporting events hold his attention. He also loves his daddy. Once Chad comes home, he wants to be by his side until bed time. It's so sweet to see how much they both love to be together.

8. Pierson also loves his baby cousin, Eydie. The other day out of the blue he came to me and said, "I wan see baby Eydie. She's coot (cute)." We had to take a walk to Kate's house to fulfill such a sweet request.

9. Ava and Pierson have been playing great together lately. She recently said that if we have another baby she hopes it's a boy because boys are so funny. Pierson will do anything to make her laugh. It usually involves some kind of slap stick fall. He will do it over and over as long as she keeps laughing.

10. Pierson is a jokester. We took him to his first Major League game at The Ballpark in Arlington last month. The Rangers were playing the Red Sox. Pierson heard people yelling, "Go Red Sox," and starting chanting that too. Chad told him to say "Go Rangers" not Red Sox, but this only made Pierson laugh. Now any time we watch baseball he yells, "Go Red Sox" and then turns to see Chad's reaction. Chad always says, "No not the Red Sox!" which Pierson thinks is hilarious. He's now started cheering for the Eagles instead of the Cowboys too. . .

End of Summer Blues

2009-08-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

I've got the End of Summer Blues. I was appropriately named because summertime has always been my favorite season of the year. I love basking in the sun, swimming, snow cones and ice cream, late evenings with friends, various trips, 4th of July, camps, no school and less of a schedule! This summer did not disappoint. We were busy, but we had a lot of lazy days too. I can't believe that August is over and YCW starts back next week along with a busier schedule again. I do look forward to cooler fall days.

Here is our August at a glance. We. . .

. . .had fun at Carly's wedding and reception at the Horseshoe Bay resort.

. . . dressed up fancy with cousin Carly.

(Pierson and Ava were in the wedding.)

. . .spent time with aunts and cousins at Carly's Bridal Luncheon.

. . .dug in the sand with "LeviWoll" at Horseshoe Bay.

. . .splashed around at the Eastland Water Park!

. . .read books with Grandma Ruby.

. . .played with friends

. . .enjoyed a late night Rangers game with dad.

. . .visited Julia and the girls in Fort Worth.

. . .started a new Pre-K program called Stepping Stones.

(In this photo with Teacher Sherri, Ava is already

dressed up after just walking in the door.)

. . .enjoyed a wild and windy kick off to the ACU football season!

We are looking forward to what the fall will bring-- two birthdays, a zoo party, new teachers and classrooms, Homecoming, more football, the pumpkin patch, and dressing up for Halloween! (In my next post, I will write about my sweet husband and a surprise birthday trip.)

New York

2009-07-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

Ava and I got to spend an amazing 6 days in New York on a trip planned by my mother-in-law, Ruby. All of the girls on Chad's side of the family attended, making 7 in all ranging in age from 4 to 66 and covering 3 generations. Ava loved getting to hang out with the big girls all week and was a trooper as we toured all over the city and kept her up late every night. Here are some of the highlights:

The girls (minus Melissa who was sick) in Times Square

The Museum of Modern Art

This is a room at the MOMA where you write your name in marker at your height. The effect in a large room with so many millions of names is pretty cool.

The Statue of Liberty

Riding the Ferry to the Statue of Liberty

The group in Rockefeller Plaza (with Tommy the Turtle who didn't get to come home with us. Apparently turtles are not allowed on airplanes. After much sadness and crying in the airport, we had to leave Tommy in New York. )

Ava daydreaming in Central Park. I love this picture!

The Museum of Natural History dinosaur exhibit

Ava taking a nap after a long day. I wish I could have slept in that stroller a few times. We wore ourselves out walking all over Manhattan.

The view from the Top of the Rock

My niece Melissa and me at the Empire State Building. The lady taking this picture thought we were sisters. It is interesting to have a niece that is so close to my age. I loved hanging out with Melissa on this trip!

Ava and Ruby at the Empire State Building Observation Deck

The view

Meeting the actress who played Mary Poppins

We got to tour backstage with Zach, the boy who played Michael in Mary Poppins. We had extra tickets and Ruby handed them to two women at the door. It turned out to be Zach's mom and she made sure we got a backstage tour after the show! Ava was in heaven.

Ava and Zach-- He was awesome in the show and such a cute kid!

Riding the carousel in Central Park

Getting the morning started from the front porch of our home away from home in Harlem. That stroller saved the day. There is no way we could have survived that much walking without a stroller. I got pretty good at folding it up quickly to get through the subway turnstiles.

My photos are all out of order. This was actually taken our first night in NY before Gay and Karaline arrived. We bought that dress up outfit for Ava earlier in the day at Toys 'R Us and she couldn't wait to wear it. She walked all over the city in that little outfit!

Being silly with Grandma Ruby

So excited by the ferris wheel inside of Toys 'R Us! Ava was squealing with delight at the sensory overload of a 3 story toy store AND a ferris wheel. It was hilarious!

Thank you again Ruby for this trip. We loved it!

One more view of the city. . .

On our last night in Manhattan, we went to the Museum of wax. Ava dancing with Beyonce!

All the single ladies, all the single ladies. . .

7 Girls, 5 Decades, 3 Generations, 1 NY Trip of a Lifetime!

(This was what was written on our sign at the Today show.)

It's almost wedding time. . .

2009-07-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

In honor of my cousin Carly's wedding this Saturday, I am posting a great wedding video from youtube. I know this has made the rounds so you may have already seen this, but if you need a pick me up on this Monday morning watch this wedding entrance from a couple in Minnesota who knows how to have fun! You can't help but smile. Love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Sorry I don't know how to upload a youtube video. Just click on the link above.

Art Camp '09

2009-07-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ava wanted to go to a camp this summer and after looking into our limited options for preschoolers, I decided to create an art camp on my own. July 6th-10th I taught a Preschool Art Camp from 9 to noon and an Elementary Art Camp from 2 to 5. What a week! It was a ton of fun and hard work, but I think the kids enjoyed it. We featured an artist everyday, worked on daily sketchbooks and skills, and created 9 projects from a variety of mediums to take home. Here are some pictures from the week:

My Cute Preschool Class

My Wild and Crazy Elementary Kiddos

One of the preschool tables with their helper, Miss Jaci

Japanese style Shoji Screen

(tissue paper, wax paper, craft foam and ribbon)

Clay Bowl

(air dry clay)

Paper Mache Bowl

(paper mache, newsprint, and tissue paper)

Self Portrait

(pencil, marker and crayon on drawing paper)

Dali inspired Surreal Collage

(magazine cut outs and pastels on pastel paper)

Abstract Painting

(paint on paper)

Mosaic Stepping Stone

(tile and marble in cement)

Watercolor Still Life

(pencil, watercolor and marker on watercolor paper)

Warhol inspired Pop Art

(watercolor on photocopied prints)

Ava showing off her Art Camp Diploma

My amazing table helpers

I couldn't have made it through the week without them!

Every kid got to take home their Art Bucket full of supplies to keep

creating at home and their art camp aprons.

Stay tuned for photos from our New York trip. . .

Happy Birthday!

2009-07-06T19:48:00.001-07:00

This is a birthday post! I have three important people with birthdays this week:

My sister Kate is turning 28 today! She is an amazing sister and friend. I love her so much more than I can describe in words. I have loved watching her with Eydie. She is already such a great mom! I am so glad that we get to share the joys and struggles of motherhood together.

My friend Leslie is turning 30 today! She has become one of my closest friends since we moved to Abilene. I love hanging out with this girl! She is always real, always sincere, and hilarious. Happy Birthday, Leslie (and thanks for watching Pierson and Ava.) When I asked you originally I had no idea it would fall on your 30th. I owe you big time!

My mom's birthday is Thursday. I am so thankful to have such a supportive mom! She has always challenged and encouraged me. I love watching her be grandma "sasi" to my kids. They adore her. She even made this Little House on the Prairie outfit for Ava. Love you, mom!

I have so much I could say about each of these people, but I am Art Camped out tonight as I type this and I need to get a few things ready for tomorrow. I did want to give a shout out though and tell you how thankful I am for each of you!

Bible Times Marketplace '09

2009-07-01T20:01:00.001-07:00

Every other June the Highland Children's Ministry staff and volunteers transform the gym and several classrooms into a Bible Times Marketplace. This has been a Highland tradition since 1985! I found pictures from 20 years ago, and many of the kids are now grown, married and have kids of their own. Preparing for this event takes an amazing amount of manpower, creativity, hard work and organization but in the end it is worth all our efforts to see the kids transported for a day to Jerusalem.

Some of my favorite things about Marketplace this year:
1. Having the kids greet me with "Shalom" and wash my feet upon entering their homes (classrooms) as a visitor. There is something humbling and precious about having your feet washed by a 1st grader.
2. Watching different kids interact with a beggar and a leper in the Marketplace. Many responded with generosity and compassion.
3. Watching Ava listen to Jesus tell parables and enjoying how engaged she was in every word he said. (At the end of the day when I asked her what her favorite part of Marketplace was, she said without hesitation, "I liked hearing pretend Jesus tell us stories." I couldn't help but think about how Jesus's followers, children included, love to hear him tell stories as well.)
4. Hearing about one of our kindergarteners approaching our "pretend Jesus" and saying, "Hey! I thought you were in heaven with God." He can be pretty believable!
5. Seeing members of our congregation of all ages come together to create an authentic Marketplace experience for the kids complete with scribes, potter, fisherman, carpenters, metal and mosaic shop workers, a beggar, leper, Jesus and even a tax collector.
6. Seeing Pierson and Ava dressed in their Bible Times outfits. Ava decided Pierson looked like Jospeh. There is something so cute about a 1 year old Joseph!
7. Listening in as the family leaders taught their kids about Jewish tradition, culture, laws and Jesus in such engaging ways!
8. Hearing about one of the kids going up to Jesus and asking if he could heal his peanut allergy after watching a drama where Jesus healed the bleeding woman. (This made me laugh, but I love that he has that kind of faith! It doesn't take much for some children to suspend their disbelief. We tell them they are in Jerusalem and Jesus is here, and they believe it!)
9. Watching the kids become a part of Jesus' story through their interactions, singing, and relationships within their families and in the Marketplace.
10. Having the whole church get a taste of the Marketplace experience on Sunday morning as worship leaders, communion servers, kids and families wore their Bible times clothing. Jesus even preached, and the communion bread was made by the kids the day before in their family tribes!

It was a great weekend. I'm thankful that I get to work at Highland. Now I am getting ready for Art Camp next week. I have two full sessions-- preschoolers in the morning and Elementary in the afternoon. It's going to be a fun week. Stay tuned for more on that later but for now, enjoy some Marketplace pictures. . .

Ava and Pierson dressed up and ready to go!

The Potter's Shop-- The kids loved making their own pots and watching a real potter throw pots on an old wheel.

Zach and the boys-- Zach and Kara were family leaders and did an amazing job with their kids!

Our little Joseph

Ava and me

The Scribe Shop-- The kids learned to write their names in latin or greek.

The Fish Shop-- This shop was a crowd favorite with live fish!

Jesus telling a parable

The Well

The Carpentry Shop-- Kids got to build with wood and hammers.

Jesus sits and talks to the beggar as kids are in the Marketplace shops.

The Metal Shop-- Kids hammered metal and made necklaces with jute.

The Mosaic Shop-- Small mosaics were made with tile and glue.

I missed getting a picture of the market where the kids got to buy their lunch for the day, but you get the idea!

Pierson and hats

2009-06-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Pierson loves hats. Just scrolling back through photos from the last 5 months I realized that he is wearing a hat in half of them. The red polka dot hat that is his current favorite is one of Ava's dress up hats. For some reason Pierson always finds it, puts it on and refuses to take it off. He has worn that silly red hat to the park, the grocery store, and has even slept in it. Someday he will probably be embarrassed by some of these pictures, but I think they are adorable. I also realized that he is wearing his pajamas in most of these photos too. His favorite look is his "baseball shoes," pj's and the red hat. He keeps us laughing! We get smiles everywhere we go because of this little guy and his love for hats.

Eydie came home today! We are so thankful for answered prayer. She is doing well. Tonight during bedtime prayers Pierson said (with no prompting from us) "Dear God, baby Eydie, baseball, outside." That is his list of things he's thankful for today. Baby Eydie came before baseball. That's pretty big for Pierson. For more on her homecoming go to Kate's blog.

Loving on Eydie

2009-06-23T20:22:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went to visit Eydie. She is so adorable. Pictures don't do this girl justice. Kate and Brandon have had a great set up in the Family Room in the Nursery area at Hendrick. Even though Eydie is still on IV antibiotics they've been able to keep her in this room with them and the nurses come in and check on her every hour or so. Tomorrow they'll have to share it with another family, so Eydie will be in the NICU again most of the day. But I think it was nice for a few days to have some quiet family time. Tonight we got to spend a little time with her and since it is a private room Ava got to come in and see her for just a minute. (Kate asked for special permission because Ava has been desperately wanting to meet her cousin.)

Proud cousin!

Ava has been carrying around this doll all week wrapped in a pink blanket like Eydie's. You can see the resemblance with all that dark hair. Since she hadn't gotten to meet her cousin yet, I think it made her feel better to take care of her "Eydie" doll. She even slept with her.

Here's one last picture of Eydie sleeping. She has an IV taped to her hand which is why it looks strange. We can't wait to welcome her home on Thursday! Thank you again for all of your prayers for healing. God has been so faithful and we give him all the glory for her quick recovery. Kate said that one of the nurses who was with Eydie right after she was born came in today for the first time since last Thursday and couldn't believe how well she is doing! What an answer to prayer. . .

Please pray for my niece Eydie Paige

2009-06-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all of your prayers, calls, texts, messages and visits today. It has meant a lot to all of us to feel the arms of God wrap around Kate and Brandon (and all of us) through the love and support of many of you. I can't imagine how hard it must be for my little sister to have the day she had today. My heart is aching for her that she is not getting to hold Eydie right now. I also cannot describe how hard it is to watch someone you love that much have such a hard, scary disappointing day especially when we were all expecting such a happy day! I posted on Kate's blog with the latest on how Eydie is doing. You can check there for updates or to leave a comment of encouragement or prayer. I might be partial but she really the most beautiful little baby. I mean look at that hair! I can't wait to snuggle her myself soon, but I am longing to see her in Kate and Brandon's arms.

We covet your prayers right now for Eydie Paige. Pray for strength and healing in her lungs, strong breaths and loud cries, wisdom for the doctors and nurses working on her, peace and comfort for Brandon, Kate and everyone who loves them.

Armoire Problem Solved & Redbud Designs

2009-06-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

So my grandpa came over to inspect the armoire situation, and discovered that it was a European armoire which can be disassembled fairly easily with no pulling out of nails or dismantling hardware. He unscrewed a couple of hinges that were holding the whole thing together and it came apart like a puzzle. Who knew? It took 3 of us to put it back together in the right room, but the whole process was only about an hour from start to finish. Not bad! Grandpa saves the day!

I'm entering to win a new blog header from Sharon at Redbud Designs. It's a long shot because I have never won anything in my entire life. Kate was the one who used to always win at cake walks and carnivals. I have zero of that winning karma. Maybe that's my problem-- negative self talk. This time, I'll try to think positively. I think I can win. I think I can win. I think can win. . .

This, that, and a little advice

2009-06-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

This post has no rhyme or reason. It is a collection of random photos that have nothing to do with one another that I have been wanting to post for a while, so here they are . . . a little of this and a little of that:

I am finally posting a few California pictures from a month ago.

While at Pepperdine, I got a chance to see "Uncle" John and Terri Rodriguez. They are old and dear friends of our family. (I was a flower girl in their wedding when I was four!)

We had so much fun getting to spend an afternoon with Katie Maxwell. We miss Katie so much, but loved getting to catch up for a day.

We enjoyed a walk on the beach. I love getting to work with these women at Highland! I have learned so much from them.

Ava and Pierson "babysitting"

For Chad's birthday, we went to spend time with friends and family in Fort Worth. While we were there, we went to a Rangers game.

This is a picture of the family. Look closely at Chad's facial expression. We were trying to take a family photo at the exact moment that John Lackey was getting thrown out of the game after the second pitch. We could hear the crowd going crazy, but we were all focused on getting the picture. Chad and Kallan were the only two clued in to what was happening behind us. Chad is squinting to see the replay on the TV behind the photographer and was pretty ticked that he missed the whole thing for a picture.

Our good friends, The VanStaverns, came to spend the night with us because Jade was a flower girl in her cousin's wedding here in Abilene. Ava loved playing with Jade! The girls were super cute dancing together at the reception.

Pierson got in on the action too. Can I get a what, what?

More spinning

I got a little teary at the wedding. Ava was on my lap and I realized how quickly time is going by already with these kids. Shannon (the bride) was a flower girl in Heather's wedding, and that seems like just a few years ago. Amazing!

Heather and I with our boys (minus Chance who was sword fighting at the time.)

And now on to the advice. It's for me not you, just in case the title of this post threw you. I bought this really cool armoire to solve a storage problem we have in our home. We love this house, but closets in older homes are always an issue. I currently use the closet in Ava's room and she has a small armoire, but is outgrowing it. So I found this HUGE one for a great price at an antique store here in town and had Chad go pick it up only to discover after we got it in the house that we can't get it down the hall! It is a great piece and I really want to keep it, but I don't know what to do short of taking the whole thing apart and reassembling it. Chad's not too keen on that idea.

This is the sharp left turn we can't get the armoire to make in our hallway. I set a chair next to it in the picture above so you could get an idea of how big this thing is. Any ideas on how to make it work? Help! Lesson learned: measure furniture before you buy it.

Anyone want to buy a really big, really cute armoire that's sitting in the middle of my dining room?

Hot fun in the summertime!

2009-06-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

Ava loves to swing like Jane of the Jungle on this rope in our backyard!

What to do when it's really hot: stick your head in a bucket of water.

Pierson eyeing the bubbles

Cheesin' for the camera

Hours of fun with a bucket and the water hose. . .

what more could you ask?

More on Simplicity

2009-05-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

"The inward reality of simplicity involves a life of joyful unconcern for possessions." ~Richard Foster

A good friend lent me a book today which I have just started called, Simplify Your Life. It was a national bestseller in the 90's so I guess I'm behind the times. It's a practical book with 100 tips on how one family attempted to slow down and enjoy the things that really matter. Some of what I have read so far is about giving up material possessions that are unused, unnecessary and cluttering up our already cluttered lives. It's about downsizing instead of upgrading, giving instead of buying, and simplifying everything from our chores to grocery lists and laundry!

I am still in process on this simplicity concept though I have two of the best teachers I know on the subject as a living example in my own family--my parents. They have never made a big deal about their lifestyle choices or called it "simplifying." They just live a life of joyful unconcern for possessions. Period. They have always had a simple, but contented lifestyle. My mom recently said she read in a newspaper that department store sales were down, but Goodwill sales were up due to the recession. She joked that my dad has been living like it's a recession his whole life.

Growing up we bought almost everything secondhand. Our home was not extravagant, but others were always welcome. Even though they can afford more now my dad still buys most of his clothes at Goodwill and even then, if he gets something "new," he gets rid of something he doesn't wear. They rarely eat out or go to the movies. They both enjoy hobbies at home: mom sews and enjoys gardening; dad reads, bikes daily, and attends a lot of high school and college athletic events. (They also both enjoy their grandkids visiting.) I don't think I have ever heard them talk about needing or even wanting some material thing. Ever. In my entire life. They just don't put much value in possessions. It's pretty amazing really.

I've been reading some books on the matter and I keep thinking my parents already do that. Maybe I should just learn from them. I think there was a time (around middle school through college) that I sometimes wished they were bigger spenders. I mean what 80's middle schooler doesn't want a pair of Guess jeans, L.A. Gear shoes, and a couple of Swatch watches? Then in high school, I had to learn contentedness while driving a 1980's copper Honda Accord hatchback with a slightly different color door. I will say that I was just thankful to have a car and be off the bus! In college, I learned that I would have to make sacrifices to attend ACU. I got a job on campus and was either at work or in class pretty much from 8 to 5 or later all four years of college. Many of my friends didn't have to work and at the time I was wishing I didn't have to either.

But now as I am in my 30's I am seeing so much value in those life lessons. The choices my parents made to live simply were in part due to humble teacher salaries but also their decision to live within their means. So I am writing this to say thank you mom and dad for being a living example of simplicity. Sorry it has taken me awhile to fully appreciate it, but I am grateful for the choices and sacrifices you made, and I am a better person for driving that Honda. Old cars build character. Remind me of that when Ava's 16!

I love you,

Summer

Blast from the Past

2009-05-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

Chad has been downloading old videos onto our computer to burn DVD's. I hadn't seen this one since I taped it almost 2 years ago. Ava had just turned 3 and Pierson was born just a week later. I can't believe how squeaky her little voice was. It was too cute not to share! Enjoy a blast from the past-- September 2007. (And yes that is yogurt she is using as lip gloss while she sings praise songs to the Lord.)

2009-05-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

Summer Kids' Art Camp

July 6-10, 2009

Highland Church of Christ Elementary Wing

Session Ages Dates & Times

Pre-K Camp 4-6 Yrs July 6-10, 9-12 am

Elementary Camp 1st-5th Grade July 6-10, 2-5 pm

Camp Dues= $100.00 for first child and $90.00 for a sibling

Dues will cover the cost of 5 days of 3 hour lessons, supplies for 8 art projects, snacks daily, as well as a basket of art supplies, sketchbook and an art apron to be taken home at the end of the week!

Be sure to click on the image above for more details about our activities and projects. This is going to be an exciting week. I look forward to sharing my passion for creating with each child!

I will do my best to keep class sizes around 8-10 kids so that individualized attention can be given to each child. I will lead teach along with with help of one or more assistants as needed. Both camp sessions are about half full so sign up soon. . .

To reserve a spot for your child, please send a $25.00

non-refundable deposit to Summer Walters at Highland Church of Christ, 425 Highland Avenue, Abilene TX, 79605.

The remaining $75.00 will be due on the first day of camp. Please also include your child's name, age, grade, parents' names, cell phone and any allergies or medical concerns.

If you would like to post a comment on this blog to reserve a spot before you put a check in the mail, I will get back with you as promptly as possible. If you are on facebook, you may also write a message in my inbox if you would like your information to be confidential, or you can send me an e-mail: swalters@highlandchurch.org.

"Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." ~Pablo Picasso

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ava surprised me on mother's day morning with a balloon, a candle, a card and breakfast. Chad had planned on having her help him make a nice breakfast, but Ava insisted on doing it herself. I was told to stay in bed while she prepared it. I could hear her working away in there, and the picture above is what she came up with: a well toasted bagel, an orange and my favorite, a ritz cracker bitten into a flower shape. I felt very loved this mother's day.

I got this questionaire idea from a friend's blog and thought I would capture Ava's view of me right now in honor of mother's day this week. Unfortunately Pierson and I both had a stomach bug, so I am just now posting this. I will post California pictures soon. Promise.

1. What is something your mom always says to you?

Ava- I love you.

2. What makes mom happy?
Ava-Being nice.

3. What makes mom sad?
Ava-When I'm angry and mad.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Ava-By being funny, like maybe swinging me up high or pretending to be a horse and laying down when I get on your back.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Ava-Well, that's a hard one. I don't know.

6. How old is your mom?
Ava- Just a little tiny bit old 'cause you're not as old as Grandma Ruby and Sasi. (Sorry Ruby and mom.)

7. How tall is your mom?
Ava- Really tall (I'm 5' 3" so this is probably the only time in my life I have been called "really tall.")

8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do?
Ava- Maybe play with me.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Ava- I think you do something fun together if you're with somebody like go to a party or the mall.

10. What does your mom do that's really silly?

Ava- Well you dance pretty silly. (Sadly, this is true.)

11. What is your mom really good at?
Ava- Playing with me.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Ava- Listening to me. (Ouch. I need to work on this one.)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Ava- Take care of me and working at the building at church.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Ava-Carrots? (Um no, but good idea.)

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Ava-She plays baby dolls with me. That makes me proud..

16. What's your mom's favorite thing to do?

Ava- She likes to eat peanut butter and crackers.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Ava- Um. Play outside together. Sometimes we swing together.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Ava- We're both persons and we're both girls.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Ava-You're taller and I'm smaller.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Ava- By playing together.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Ava- By marrying each other and loving each other together.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Ava- Chick-fil-A

23. Describe what your mom looks like.

Ava- Black hair, pink mouth, black eyes with brown. You have a brown shirt and I don't know what else.

I couldn't have a mother's day post without a few pictures of Pierson Reed. I bought him this hat at an estate sale because he's always trying to wear Ava's hats and tiaras. I figured he needed a boy hat of his own.

Just chillin' in Ava's carseat.

Simplicity

2009-05-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

I am doing laundry at 10:00 tonight in an attempt to get a jump start on a busy week after being gone for 5 days. Ruby came to spend a few days with Chad and the kids, which we all appreciated, while I got to go to Malibu, California to the Pepperdine Lectures with some of the women I work with in children's ministry. It was an amazing trip! I enjoyed every minute of of our time there but was glad to be home with my family today on mother's day. I wrote the last post about the challenges of parenting the day before I left. I have to say that there is nothing like a few days away to refresh and restore my soul. I got to enjoy a book on the beach while I was gone called, God's Whisper in a Mother's Chaos by Keri Wyatt Kent. It was an easy read with only 10 chapters. She speaks of simplicity in a way that I found refreshing. Here's an excerpt:

"Simplicity is about slowing: To hear God's whisper, to live in his presence, I need to slow down. . . For me simplifying is listening to God instead of the messages of our culture, and believing that it really is okay that I don't always keep my house spotlessly clean. It is okay that sometimes I don't always look or act loving. It is okay that I'm not always patient with my kids. It is okay that I don't always have everything under control. My life is messy.

From that acceptance of myself, God's grace takes me to simplicity, a focus on him that puts all other things in proper perspective. When I let go of keeping impossible standards, I begin to live in God's presence."

I love that. Here's to a week of simplicity in the midst of chaos! I will post some California pictures soon, but for now here are a few photos of the kids:

Ava and K-Papa on a bicycle built for two! She

was so proud not to have to use training wheels.

Pierson loves to brush his teeth. I have to make sure I shut

my bathroom door. If not I will usually find Pierson on

top of the back of the toilet with his toothbrush.

One morning, Pierson was a little late in waking up. I thought I had a

minute so I went ahead and jumped in the shower. When I got out this

is what I found in his bed. Ava climbed in there with some toys

and was taking good care of him. Sweet siblings!

Parenting is hard

2009-05-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm just going to say it. Parenting is hard. . . I mean really hard. I am writing this while my 4 year old is screaming at the top of her lungs from her bedroom. I can't even tell you what caused this particular episode, but it's exhausting trying to discipline this kid! I thought it was the terrible twos and then we had another go round during the threes that made the twos look like nothing. Now she's four and I'm out of excuses. On days like this I wonder if it's me. What am I doing or not doing that is causing this? She said to me today while I was talking to her about her behavior, "You're the only one that makes me act like this mommy!!!" Wow. Thanks for that. She can be so delightful so why I do I get to experience the mean-spirited side of this little girl? I really do feel like she's more than I can handle sometimes. And I have tried everything, from time outs to spankings to taking away toys or rewards. I've read plenty of discipline books and asked lots of questions from experienced moms.

Most importantly, I have talked to her about her heart and about how her behavior and words reflect what's in her heart. That's the hardest thing. I feel this enormous responsibility to teach my children about God and loving others as Jesus did. Most days I feel completely inadequate for the task at hand. I am praying that God will continue to give me wisdom, forgive me when I lose my patience or say the wrong thing, and will reveal himself to my kids in real ways so that they can begin to experience a relationship with Him that transforms their hearts and ultimately their behavior. Ava has such a sweet and loving personality, but is also prone to such intensity-- high highs and low lows. Her emotions run deep. (I wonder where she got that trait?) I am praying that she will learn self-control and in the meantime God will give me an extra measure of self-control as well.

It would be easier today to post some cute pictures I took of the kids recently, but I wanted to be real. And the reality is that today was a tough day. I'm worn out from an afternoon of complaining, arguing and tears. But maybe putting it out there will take the edge off of someone else's hard day so at least we know we're not alone.

Update: I had not yet published this post because it was time to get dinner going, and I am happy to tell you that after some soul searching in her room, Ava came out and apologized. She told us at dinner very matter of factly, "I need to learn that I get what I get and I can't throw a fit." A-men to that. Parenting is tough. . . and rewarding.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

If anyone out there still checks on us through this blog, I am still here. I have been taking a little break from technology, but the time has come for a new post. Anyone tired of looking at our Christmas pictures? We have had an eventful winter and spring so far. After several rounds of illnesses, we've enjoyed a trip to Fort Worth for Spring Break, lots of fun outdoors with our little baller, gymnastics lessons for Ava, and a few home improvement projects. Here are the highlights in photos:

Bike Day at Young Children's World

Pierson loves baseball!

Showing off his red cowboy boots

Ready for me to put away the camera

Pierson wearing his sister's red hat and reading books in her room.

Dyeing easter eggs with Ava

Easter hopping

The fam

Happy Easter! Next time, I will try to post before the fourth of July. . . we'll see. I joined facebook and somehow that derailed my ability to blog, but I am over that now. I don't know how people do both. I have limited my computer time, so I think I'm going to choose to blog since it is more like a journal. Hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-31T13:49:00.001-08:00

Small Group "80's Skate" Party

Kate and Brandon (with a mullet wig)

Ava and I made a gingerbread house! I iced while she put the candy on.

Early Christmas at our house--Santa brought a train table!

Took the kids to look at Christmas lights, but they both fell asleep before we saw any.

Christmas day with the Walters side of the family in Decatur

Ava and sweet cousin Karaline

Pierson hitting his new baseball

Swinging with G-Sir outside

Football with the boys

Chad taught Pierson "Down, set, hut!"-- Look at that stance.

Seeing the musical "Annie" at the Bass Hall

Ava LOVED it and has been singing "It's a hard knock life" ever since.

Downtown Fort Worth Christmas Tree

Christmas with the Pierson side of the family at Kate's house

Matching hats (above) and matching sock monkey outfits below

Playing with K-Papa

Pierson and Sasi

A new drum and harmonica-- What a fun Christmas this year!

My Crazy Kids

2008-12-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

This is what Ava would look like every day if I let her dress herself. She has the makings of a fashion designer. In this ensemble she is sporting silver shoes, striped tights, a giraffe print skirt, a pink sweater over a grey short sleeve sweater over a floral print shirt, and a scarf wrapped around her head. This was her "after school" outfit today. She told me her other outfit was just too boring. For the record I do let her dress herself most days, but I usually have to help her tone it down a bit especially on school and church days. Today at school she insisted on wearing a purple shirt under her red sweater just to keep warm. I didn't argue since it's freezing outside, but when I picked her up she had taken off the sweater, and had been wearing a purple and blue heart print t-shirt with brown and red leggings all day. Awesome! This girl has a mind of her own. (I'm not sure why these turned out blurry. . .)

Pretending to be scared!

Playing an air guitar. . .

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

Pierson is obsessed with anything that looks remotely like a ball. He can spot them from 50 feet away, so you can imagine the joy when he woke up to a tree filled with balls. We have had to move many of them up after a few got thrown and broken. He is such a ham right now. He loves to make people laugh by playing peek-a-boo and dancing. It's like he knows he's goofy and he acts silly just to get a reaction. He will be 15 months old tomorrow and says several words: ball, basetball (basketball), two, mama, da (dad), Aba (Ava), ha (hat), papa, shoe, go, boo (book), ni-ni (night night), lots of animal sounds, owsigh (outside), tan-tu (thank you), cacker (cracker), ju (juice), bath tie (bath time), and he signs please, thank you, more, milk, and blows kisses to say bye-bye. He is so much fun. We love watching him grow and learn!

Chad's mini-me

He wouldn't take off his hat when we got home. He's loves wearing anything on his head (including Ava's headbands and tiaras.)

Smiley boy

Where have all the bloggers gone?

2008-11-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

I started this blog back in 2005, before "blog mania" began. Back then the only links I had were my sister, my dad, my cousin, and Shelly. Whenever I mentioned "blogging," most of my friends had never heard of it! Skip ahead a few years, and now it seems that everyone I know is posting their own deep thoughts or photos of their kids. I was really enjoying being connected to all my blogger friends. But lately I have noticed that the once faithful updaters have been slacking and even the comments have dwindled. I was beginning to wonder where all the bloggers had gone, and then I found you. . . on facebook! The Internet is a funny, fickle thing. There's always something newer, better, and cooler! I had been holding off, but I finally gave in and joined fb. I have to admit that it is pretty addicting watching every one's status and finding friends. I'm not giving up this blog though. It's been with me now for 4 years since Ava was a newborn! So if I don't comment on your post, I am still reading, but I'll just catch you on facebook.

October

2008-11-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

ACU HOMECOMING

Fun at the parade

We got to catch up with the Ridgells. This is Ava and Anna who were having a great time yelling "Go Number One" with their purple ACU foam fingers while at Sharon Allen's BBQ. Joe Don commented, "At least they're not yelling, 'Go Number Two!"

I also got to spend some time with my good friend, Heather, who was on the Coming Home Court this year. She had a busy weekend juggling reunion events while keeping up with 2 kids and a 3 month old, but we managed to get in some quality time, which I loved! I can't believe it's been 10 years since she graduated.

HALLOWEEN

Ava wanted to be a bride this year, and Pierson ended up as a giraffe.

She wasn't the only bride. Here she is with her friend, Anna.

Chad went as zookeeper with Pierson to our small group Halloween party. They're both sticking out their tongues like the giraffes at the Abilene Zoo.

Since Brandon couldn't make it, Kate and I went

as bridesmaids with Ava.

One cute little animal.

This picture cracks me up because Ava posed it herself. She wanted to take pictures like a "real bride," so she took a series of bridal portraits . This is the classic "Bride looking down at the bouquet pose."

Both kids together.

Okay I went a little crazy with the picture taking. I love kids in costume.

OUR TRIP TO THE METROPLEX

We got to spend Halloween night in Fort Worth with our old small group. It was great to catch up with friends. This is me, Pierson and Julia as a bee.

All the pretty girls. Hard to believe that when we left Fort Worth all of these girls were babies.

On Friday night after the party, Chad and I left the kids with his parents and headed to Dallas for a much needed getaway weekend. We hadn't spent time away with just the two of us since we moved to Abilene. It's hard to believe, but time goes quickly with little ones. We kept commenting on how easy meals were- no clean up, no one to feed but ourselves, and I couldn't get over how quickly we could hop in and out of the car with no rounding up of kids, diaper bags and supplies, buckling everyone in, etc. I took this picture with a timer; you can tell we haven't taken pictures without kids in a while because neither of us knew what to do with our hands.

We ended our trip in Decatur on Sunday afternoon with the Walters family. It was good to spend time with everyone, and the weather was perfect. Our kids LOVE their cousins!

Elmo, Pumpkins & a Visit to the Farm

2008-10-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed an afternoon with Teressa, Larry, Melissa & Bryson at the Elmo Live Show! Bryson danced the entire time. It was so cute. We had great seats and loved watching the kids watch Elmo!

The Sesame Street Gang
Teressa (Larry hiding) and Bryson
A visit to the Abilene Pumpkin Patch

Ava picks the perfect pumpkin.
Posing with the kids
Ava paints her pumpkin with Grandma Ruby.
And finally. . . a visit to May Farm for a friend's birthday party. Pierson was a little freaked out by this goat.
Ava thought they were cute, but kept her distance.
I reluctantly put both kids on a horse for a short ride. I can honestly say that I had one of those gut motherly instincts that tells you not to do it, but I had seen other kids riding and figured I was just being paranoid. The horse's owner told me she was very tame and they had never had a child fall off. I did stay beside the kids the entire time. I stepped back to take this photo a few seconds before a bee flew by which made the horse shudder. This caused both of my children to fall off, head first in the opposite direction from where I was standing. It happened in about 0.3 seconds, but I saw everything in slow motion and I still could not reach them. A mother's worst nightmare! That moment has replayed in my mind and might be the scariest thing I have ever witnessed. Amazingly both kids were fine. . . scared but not injured. I am praising God for His protection. We might have a new fear of horses now, but no permanent damage was done. (And by we, I mean me.)

My Little Man

2008-09-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

I realized that I haven't posted about just Pierson in a while. He is so much fun these days. He has quite a personality, but is much more silly and laid back than his sister. He loves to climb on everything even though he isn't even walking independently yet. He loves to run (with assistance) and he still loves to play ball and chase Ava. He also likes to make silly faces when I get the camera out. I can't believe he is one already. What a busy year this has been! A mom friend of mine described this phase of life well, "The days are long, but the years are short." So true! This has been the fastest year of my life. I have loved getting to be Pierson's mom and watching him grow. I can't wait to see what the next year brings. I just hope it doesn't go so quickly.

Silly face

AHS Football with K-Papa

Ava wanted to "fike" Pierson's hair

Walking. . . almost

Riding on Daddy's shoulders

Birthdays

2008-09-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

We have had an exciting few weeks around here with my birthday in August and Ava and Pierson in September.

Here are some photos from the festivities. Kara and I celebrated our birthdays with our small group at Joe Allens and then Oplin!

Today we celebrated Ava and Pierson's birthdays as Ava turned 4 and Pierson will be one next week. We had a "Princess and the Frog" Party! My sweet cousins dressed as real princesses, painted faces, and took pictures with the girls! So cute!

After we recovered from the party, we headed up to ACU and let Ava try out her new birthday jeep! Pierson even got in on the action. I can't believe my babies are getting so big. It was a good day. . .

Holy Firit and other "F" Words

2008-08-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm averaging one post a month these days since I have been attempting to practice some sabbath rest with my family. I appreciate all of the comments on my last post, and was encouraged by all of you. I think that my computer was helping me with my season of rest because it has been intermittently crashing and now our USB port is messed up so I can't upload any photos.

I have enjoyed taking some time off from blogging, but I thought I would reenter with this funny list of "F" words I have been collecting from Ava. She is a very articulate 3 year old, but still has trouble with the "sp" sound, pronouncing it like an "f." My mom (the speech pathologist) does not seemed worried about this and says she'll grow out it, so I am just enjoying the hilarity of some the words and phrases that come out of her mouth. To decode the words, place an sp in place of the f. Here are some of my favorites:

1. She loves to sing about the Holy Firit.
2. Ava has always loved farkly shoes.
3. She reminds me to go the feed limit before I find a good parking fot (or parking face.)
4. She loves to go to her grandma's house to fend the night.
5. I need to fit!
6. Don't fill it!
7. I'm finning in circles!
8. He's my fecial friend.
9. While reading a book, she'll ask, "What does that fell?"
10. I like to feak fanish. (She's learing from Dora.)
11. I don't like to go to the pool because kids flash me. (This one took some exflaining.)
12. The farklers are freading out! (4th of July)
13. Ava likes to play the "I fy game" in the car
14. Ava loves to drink frite and eat with a foon.
15. Sometimes she thinks she needs some hairfray.
16. She likes to watch gymnasts do the flitz in the Olympics.
17. And finally, when Ava is in big trouble she asks, "Am I going to get a fankin' with a wooden foon?"

I can't end without saying a quick word about Pierson. He is such a ham! He loves to shake his head, stick out his tongue, bark when he sees a dog, clap, crawl and cruise on everything. He has 7 teeth and a huge smile! He loves his sister and crawls around looking for her when she leaves the room. He says, "Ada, mama, dada, ball, and more." He loves to look at books and push a ball or car all over the house. He is a joy, and I love being his mama! I wish I could post some recent photos. We'll try to get our computer fixed soon.

Seeking Sabbath

2008-07-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

I am physically and spiritually tired. I don't know of many moms with young kids who aren't tired so I know that I am no different, but I am writing because I feel in my heart that my family and I are desperately in need of Sabbath. Not just a nap (although a nap would be nice), but rest that comes from dwelling in the presence of the Lord. . .Sabbath rest.

Even God rested after creation. He rested for a whole day. I can't even remember the last time I rested for an entire day. Truthfully I don't even think I know how. Part of that is because of my "type A" personality and my stage of life--being the mother of two small children, but I also think that part of it is due the media-saturated, consumer driven, fast paced culture in which we live. I feel like our life has slowed down considerably since we moved to Abilene. The commute alone cuts our stress level in half. But even in a small town, we still find ways of being busy.

I was reading to Ava the other day from her children's bible the story of Moses and the 10 commandments. I know them by heart but heard them anew as I read to her. I was struck by the fact that I have grown up in the church and have rarely heard anything taught about honoring the Sabbath. I love how simply Ava's Bible summarizes the verse from Deuteronomy: "Rest on the Sabbath day. Keep it Holy." It's listed right before "Honor your father and mother, Do not murder, Do not commit adultery. . ." I heard quite a bit about those growing up, so why did we overlook resting and keeping the Sabbath holy? Honestly, I feel kind of jipped. Why have we been skipped over the Sabbath when it is so obviously the thing we all need the most?-- Time to stop working and remember God.

Since this idea of Sabbath has been surfacing in conversation and study, it's all I can see and hear lately. Every magazine and news segment deals with the an issue related to familys' being overstressed, overtired, overstimulated, overcommited, or overworked. A good friend and mentor of mine recently said that one way we can be countercultural as a body of believers is stop doing all of the things we think we have to do "be church" and take time to meditate on what it means to keep the Sabbath holy. Now that's revolutionary! I haven't spent enough time in study and prayer to know what Sabbath rest looks like in our culture and churches, but I'm pretty sure that God didn't intend for us just to stop by church on our way to lunch, and then head home with our long list of Sunday to-do's. I am longing for God to lead me beside quiet waters and restore my soul, to hide me in the shadow of His wing, to go with Him to a quiet place where He will give me rest, to be still and know that He is God. He promises that He will do these things. I am reading a book by Anne Lamott. Here's an excpert,". . .breath is our connection to holy spirit, to our bodies, minds and souls; and if the devil can't get you to sin, he'll keep you busy."

If you were at Highland a couple of months ago, then you heard Richard Beck talking about hospitality and seeing God in the stranger. The whole sermon was filled with nuggets of truth. God was speaking through Richard in powerful ways, but for me the most profound thing he said was, "God has a pace and it is slow." If we want to be a reflection of Him, we have to slow down enough to be open to the opportunities He is laying before us. I never thought of it like that before. Our culture glorifies a fast-pace, multi-tasking and busyness, but God's timing is slow.

I'm not really sure what to do with all of this. I know some people who, in their very nature, just have restful spirits. I am not one of those people. I have a running to do list in my head that never ends. It is hard for me to be still and listen, to honor the Sabbath and not work, to rest my soul. But I long for it, and I am praying that God will teach me.

Quick Photo Post for the Fam

2008-06-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Chad turned 30 last month, and for his birthday, he asked for everyone in his family to meet together on Memorial Day Weekend at his dad's gravesite to remember him and tell stories. It was a sweet time with Walters' family.

Cousins

Siblings

Peek-A-Boo with Pierson! I love his smile in these pictures. . . he is such a happy little guy!

Mom and Ava at the zoo

Pierson doing his daily push ups. He is "army crawling" all over the place now.

Bradyn's graduation from A High

Ava's into dressing herself lately. Here she is modeling a lovely red, white and blue stars and stripes dress with pastel stripe and polka dot carpis, and dress up shoes. Lovely! And yes, we did go to the store like that. I have to choose my battles.

The thrill of a good deal. . . priceless

2008-05-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

I have inherited the "bargain gene" if there is such a thing. My grandmother is an amazing deal finder, and she passed that on to my mom. In my family, the cheaper the price of an item, the more impressive the purchase. Growing up we shopped almost exclusively at thrift stores, garage sales and consignment shops. If I ever did get something at the mall, it was definitely on sale. I now have a problem buying anything at full price. I enjoy clothes, shoes, household items, etc. so much more if I get them on sale. It's like a mental block. If it's not on sale, I am convinced it's not worth the money!

I tried to make it through the month of May without any retail purchases, and I must admit that it was tough. I was much more selective though and only bought a few items I really needed for summer (like a new swimsuit.) I did pretty well with my garage sale purchases. We also had a garage sale this month and sold some of our old stuff so I just about broke even on the purchases listed below. These are the second hand purchases I made this month at Garage Sales, Estate Sales and Thrift shops:

1 teal and brown decorative finial- $3.00

4 pairs of shoes- $8.00

2 Vintage green twin coverlets- $4.00

1 black cashmere sweater and vintage silver bead necklace- $3.00

2 Leap Frog interactive books, 2 movies & 1 Popsicle mold- $10

7 platinum rimmed glasses, 1 vintage glass butter dish & 2 antique candle holders-$11.00

1 Radio Flyer Riding Toy (which we're saving for Pierson- $5.00

1 Old Navy white button down for Ava- $1.50

1 pair of crocs for Chad- $1.00

1 retro green 1920's dining room table and 6 chairs- $125.00

Those of you who have been to my house might be wondering why I decided to purchase a green dining room table to replace my perfectly good wooden one. Kate and I have both been accused of running some kind of covert furniture consignment store out of our houses the way we both buy "new" furniture at garage and estate sales and then turn around and put our old furniture back in our garage sales. I brought in the new retro funky avocado green table since everything in my dining room was so brown. I thought about painting it, but I think I like it green. It's one of a kind, at least. And as for the old table (which was a previous garage sale purchase), I put it in the garage sale we had and as it turns out, Zach and Kara decided to buy it. So we'll still get to visit our old table at their house!

Not pictured: I got a stack of clothes from my sister for $20.00 that I confiscated before our garage sale, but I forgot to take a picture of them. We also bought Ava a kid's battery powered jeep for $50.00, which she has been asking for nonstop. We're saving it for her birthday so I can't post a photo since she'll see it on my blog. Don't spoil the surprise. Her birthday's not until September!

People always tell my sister, my mom and I that they go to sales and never find anything, and I have to admit there are days when I find nothing at all, but one great treasure will keep me coming back for more. I realize this kind of shopping is not for everyone. If you don't feel the pull of the garage sale signs as you drive by, then this may not be for you. But I come from a long line of garage salers, so it's in my blood!

Happy Birthday Grandma Ruby

2008-05-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Going GREEN in Abilene

2008-04-23T08:58:00.001-07:00

In honor of Earth Day, I am sharing ways that my family is working on taking care of the resources God has given us, and at the same time trying to live more simply and frugally. These are ways that we. . .

REDUCE

1. Switching to compact flourescent (energy efficient) light bulbs & turning off lights when we're not in the room. (If you didn't know, compact fluorescent bulbs use four times less energy than incandescent ones. If every American family substituted five CFL bulbs for incandescent, it would be equivalent to taking eight million cars off the road for a year.)
2. Not buying bottled water or paper plates. (We use washable plastic bottles and plain old tap water.)
3. The following things are small but help cut energy costs a little at a time: unplugging appliances while not in use, limiting TV watching in our house & turning the T.V. off when not in use, and washing clothes in cold water
4. Using less paper towels, toilet paper, kleenex & wipes. I am using dish towels and cloth napkins more often and cleaning with old rags and sponges.
5. Became a member of GreenDimes to reduce junk mail sent to our house
6. Driving less (This one is easier in Abilene where everything is relatively close, but the main thing here is that we are doing more at home like going for walks or riding bikes instead of always being on the go!)
7. We pay our bills online and opt to receive statements online so we don't get extra paper mail.
8. Sharing bath time to use less water! (Okay that was a stretch so I could post this cute photo of Pierson with his buds, Levi and Will.) Ava and Pierson do usually share a bath though.

REUSE

9. No more plastic or paper grocery bags for us. We now use reusable cloth bags at the grocery store! In Abilene, you can get free bags at the Chamber of Commerce.
10. Eating leftovers at home and eating out less. This one is especially helping our budget! On that note, when we do eat out, I try to return any ketchups or condiments we don't use since we usually grab a handful, and I am trying not to use as many napkins at fast food places. It's so easy to be wasteful at resturaunts, but we're making an effort.
11. Had a SWAP night with girls from our small group to share our "gently used" clothes, jewelry, shoes, home decor, etc. This was such a fun idea that we've decided this will become an annual tradition. We all left with new (to us) stuff and got rid of things we no longer needed.
12. We shop at garage sales and Goodwill for clothes, home accessories and toys. (In Abilene, Goodwill gets all of Target's cast offs, which are often still in great condition AND Friday is $.99 day for all children's clothes. Thanks for the tip, Mandy!)
13. Sell and buy kid's clothes at Dittos for Kiddos. (This is a great way to make a little extra money and buy clothes for the next season while clearing out clothes that are outgrown!)

AND RECYCLE

14. We sort and recycle paper, glass, plastics, cardboard & cans. I had good intentions to recycle for so long, but I finally bought mesh pop-up bags which I keep in the garage for sorting, and added an extra recycle bin under our sink next to the trash. When it fills up, Ava and I take it to the garage to sort items into plastic, paper, etc. When those bags are full, Chad takes them to our neighborhood recycle bins at HEB. It has become part of what we do, and doesn't actually take much time at all.
15. We are members of Abilenefreecycle which is a great organization that has groups all across the US. It's an easy way to give away what you don't need to someone who does!

GOALS FOR 2008:
16. I am looking into how to start a compost in the backyard. You'll have to check back to see how that one goes.
17. After I use up the cleaning products that are already in my house, I am planning to start using natural ingredients to make my own when I can, or at least buy organic so my house stays clean without chemicals.
18. We have been challenged and encouraged by some friends who have made the committment not to buy anything retail except consumables (groceries, toiletries, etc. and gifts, socks and underwear) for a year! We're going to try it for the month of May! Help hold me accountable if you see me at Target!

I would love to hear what you are doing to be more earth friendly. Share your ideas!

March at a glance

2008-03-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

We've been busy lately. Here's what's been going on the last few weeks:

At the beginning of March, Ava had dental surgery. She had 3 cavities and had to be put completely out at the hospital for the procedure. She was a trooper, but it was a long day. She did love that she got to ride in this little car when they took her back to the OR.

Chad and I saw Willie Nelson in concert. This was Chad's Valentine's gift from me. He's a huge Willie fan and this was his 3rd time to see him in concert. According to Chad, it was by far the best. He put on a great concert and we enjoyed a grown-ups only date!

Ava got a big girl bike with training wheels.

Notice the bow which she insisted should go on top of the helmet.

For Spring Break, we went to Sante Fe with my parents and Kate. We had a great time, ate good food, went to several art museums and painted faces at the children's museum.

While I was in Sante Fe viewing amazing art on Canyon Road and getting inspired, Chad built me an art desk in the garage so I can spread out and once again have a creative outlet. I am already working on my first piece! If I slack on blogging in the coming months, I am using any "extra" time (mostly late at night) to create! What a thoughtful hubby.

And finally, we enjoyed Easter in Brownwood with my grandparents and mom's side of the family!

Family Update

2008-03-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

This is a photo post. If you haven't seen Pierson in a while, he is. . .
eating cereal

and smiling all the time

We had fun visiting cousins in Fort Worth last weekend!

Ava is going through what I can only describe as a "goofball" phase. Any time I get out the camera, she poses like this. . .

We love our kids--they keep us laughing. Happy Wednesday!

A visit from Julia and the girls

2008-02-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

After a long and weary month of sickness, we had a much needed break. Thanks for all of your encouraging words! I have not had much time to comment on blogs, but I have appreciated the empathy and kindness you have shared with me. It sounds like a lot of people have been in the same boat we have been in with sickness. Hopefully, spring will arrive soon and bring health and sunshine!

Ava got to spend last week with Grandma Ruby and her cousins while I stayed home with Pierson who had pink eye. On Friday, Ava travelled back to Abilene with Julia and her girls for a long weekend of A-town fun! Here is the weekend in pictures:

I always love spending time with Jules. She is one of those rare friends who knows me so well that we can always just pick up where we left off with no explanations. We met at ACU orientation the summer before our Freshman year at ACU which was almost 13 years ago! I am thankful for such a true friend, and I have enjoyed watching our girls become friends as well. Ava loves to play with Emma, and I'm sure in a year or so, Pierson will love to follow Addie around!

"But in friendship, we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years difference in the dates of our birth, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting...any of these changes might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work in Christ, who said to the disciples, 'You have not chosen me but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you for one another.'" C.S. Lewis

Milk

2008-01-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy blogging, but it seems like most people (myself included) write about cute kids and happy times. When things are tough, I sometimes feel even more isolated because it seems like everyone else has it all together. Surely I am not the only who feels this way. In an effort to be transparent and real, here are some of the things that have been knocking around in my head lately: the good and the ugly. . .

Recently I had a revelation/ break down/ mother of two moment that ended in laughter. I was in the midst of sharing with Chad all of the things that have been on my heart lately that I never say. Mostly I was talking about not recognizing myself anymore. Somewhere between the extra baby weight that is hanging around my middle, the “mommy talk” that is eating my adult vocabulary, and the endless hours spent cleaning up poop and throw up and changing diapers and wiping snotty noses and nursing around clock, I stopped recognizing myself. Now don’t misunderstand, I LOVE my children, my husband, my job, my life. But at the end of the day, when I collapse into bed in oversized sweats, and think back on all I have done that day, it feels that any contributions I have made are relatively small. I was sharing all of this with Chad, and in the midst of pouring out my soul, I said in all seriousness, “I feel like all I am contributing to the world right now is milk!” Chad stopped me, had a good laugh, and decided that was his favorite new quote.

After some reflecting, I was reminded of Ecc. 3 “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. . .A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to embrace and a time to refrain.. A time to be silent and a time to speak."

And here are a few that I’ve added that reflect my season: "A time to indulge and a time to sacrifice, a time to doubt and a time to have faith, a time to play and a time to discipline, a time for health and a time for sickness." I am looking forward to the time for dancing again! It must be just around the corner. . .

Speaking of sickness, one reason I have been discouraged is that our family has been SICK this winter. Since a few weeks before Thanksgiving to now, I think we have all been well at once only a couple of times. January has been exhausting—Pierson had RSV, Ava got pink eye in both eyes, then a cold, Chad and I both got nasty colds and now Chad has the stomach flu. Will we ever be well again? My body and my spirit are weary right now.

Still, I trust that God is involved in the details of our lives—even throw up and pink eye and sleeplessness.

On a lighter note, Ava still keeps us on our toes. My mom was watching her a few days ago for me, and she found Ava sitting facing the wall in the corner. When questioned about it, she said, “I made a pretend bad choice, so I put myself in pretend time out.” Wish she was as receptive to sitting in real time out!

Do blondes have more fun?

2008-01-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

Ava came in wearing this wig the other day after it had fallen off of one of her dolls. She tried it on her unsuspecting brother, and we got a good laugh. The first thing Chad said when he saw these pictures is, "You're not going to put these on your blog, are you?" He thinks Pierson will not appreciate it when he's older. I can't help it. They make me laugh, so I have to share!

2008-01-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Our internet and phone line have been down for about a week, and we just got a guy today to come and fix them. I have many more photos to post, but for today, I'll just share this one of little Pierson. What an expression! He looks like he's up to something.

We've had a good Christmas, but an exhausting one as well. We stayed in Abilene this year, which turned out to be a good thing because both of my kids got sick, and being sick at someone elses house is always tough. Ava just had fever and a cold for a few days, but Pierson's cold turned into an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection (some version of RSV.) We have been giving him breathing treatments every four hours, and have been quarantined to the house for a week now. I haven't felt like we've had much of a vacation. We all have cabin fever!

We did enjoy time with the Thompson family during Christmas, and Chad's mom came to visit for several days last weekend. Ava was so excited about Santa this year, and has loved playing with all of her new toys! As many new toys as she gets, I am always amazed that she ends up being the most content playing with random things around the house in creative ways. She is so into "pretend" these days. She spends most of her day pretending to be someone else. It cracks me up!

Ava's funny comment of the week was last night when she called me from the other room to say, "Mom, I don't have a care." Not sure what she was trying to say, I asked, "What do you mean by that?" " I just mean I don't have a plan." Good to know. My three year old doesn't have a care or a plan. Where does she get this stuff! Funny girl.

We'll keep you posted on Pierson's health as he continue to get better. I'll post more photos later. I'm just glad to have the internet back and be connected with the outside world again since I have been at home so much the last week!

Finally. . .a new post!

2007-12-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

From a Halloween post to a Christmas post, I know that I am behind on my blogging. I really have tried a couple of times to sit down and catch up, but I never seem to finish. Pierson is almost three months old today, and I cannot believe how quickly the the time has gone. We've all adjusted and now I can hardly remember what we did before he was here. He is a sweet baby, and much easier going than Ava was at this age! She has always been intense (like her mama), and it seems so far that Pierson may take after his laid back dad! The big developments are that he is starting to smile and chuckle, which pretty much makes me melt every time. It's been more fun this time around. . . maybe becuase I am more laid back since I've done this before, and maybe because I know how quickly each phase passes. I am trying to just soak up this time and it already seems to be going to fast. Pierson has captured my heart! There's just something about a little boy and his mama! It has been fun checking the blogs of several of my Fort Worth friends who are in the middle of what can only be described as a baby boom: Congratulations to Elizabeth, Jamie, Chesley, Shelly and Tara! What sweet babies. I will say that I am glad to see they have not been posting frequently either. I don't feel so bad. I will try to get back into the swing of things even if I only post photos, which is what most of my famiy wants to see anyway. Merry Christmas from The Walters!

Big Smiles

Our Christmas Photos at Jacob's Dream

Just Monkeyin' Around

2007-11-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

Pierson Reed

2007-10-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

My friend, Susan, was in town for ACU Homecoming and took some cute pictures of Pierson while she was at our house. She is in the process of starting up a photography business so you'll have to check out her website when it is up and running. She lives in Weatherford so if you're needing some photos, look her up!

The week in pictures

2007-10-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

We've had an eventful week. Pierson turned one month old yesterday, we visited the Pumpkin Patch on the windiest of west Texas days, and I cut 10 inches off of my hair for Locks of Love! Here is the week in pictures:

2007-10-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting about the last two weeks. As many of you noticed and pointed out from my previous posts, I had some lofty goals for my week off, but Pierson decided to make his debut a little early, and I so I spent Monday, September 17th at the hospital instead of attending ACU's lectureship! The funny thing is that when I posted that late night blog on the 16th, I was having a lot of hard contractions the whole time I was typing. Little did I know I would be holding my son less than 12 hours later!

I use this blog as a journal of sorts, so I am going to post a little about Pierson's birth story. It was pretty exciting! I stayed up late on Sunday night blogging because I was pretty uncomfortable and having some hard contractions. I didn't wake Chad because I had been having pretty regular contractions for months and had even packed my bags and the car twice, but the contractions always stopped after a while. At about 1:00 AM, I finally laid down and fell asleep. At 5:00 AM, I woke up with even harder contractions, but continued to lay in bed while I timed them. They were only about 7-10 minutes apart so I wasn't too worried, and I was still convincing myself that this was not real labor. Finally, at 6:00 in the morning, I was so uncomfortable that I couldn't stay still so I got up to take a shower. Chad woke up and I told him I was having some contractions, but I thought they would go away so he could go back to sleep. About 5 minutes later as I was getting in the shower, my water broke. I stuck my head out of the bathroom door, and said, "Scratch that! This is it. Get up!" Chad lurched out of bed and started running around packing his bag and getting Ava up. I went ahead with my shower and got ready. My mom arrived at our house around 7:30 to take care of Ava while we went to the hospital. I still was in no huge hurry and figured it would be mid afternoon before we had a baby in our arms.

We got to the hospital around 8:00 AM to check in. My contractions were considerably harder at this point. The nurse let me know that there were so many women in labor that all of the delivery rooms were full! They put me in a small pre-op prep room and promised that I would have the next available delivery room. Several women were much farther along than I was and so they assured me I would have a room soon. Within the hour I progressed from 3 cm to 6 cm and got my epidural, which worked this time! What a HUGE difference from the epidural I got with Ava! I still felt a lot of intense pressure this time, but nothing near the pain I felt while delivering Ava. Friends and family arrived to visit and wish us well, and by 10:30 I was fully dilated and ready to push. I progressed so much more quickly than anyone expected that they ended up having to wheel my bed down the hall to the OR to deliver because there were still no rooms available. Just a few weeks before, I had been watching Father of the Bride II with Kate and made the comment that delivery is not as dramatic as in the movies since they don't actually push you down the hall while you're in labor anymore. I was wrong on that one! Chad was grabbing cameras, I was breathing deep and nurses wheeled me quickly to deliver. After about 30 minutes, Pierson Reed was born at 11:04. He was perfect, and healthy at 6 lbs 11 oz! I fell in love instantly.

We did get a recovery room and stayed in the hospital one night. The last two weeks have been a blur of loving moments with our new family, as well as some emotional fall out from hormones, sleeplessness, and learning how to parent a 3 year old and a newborn. Ava has adjusted well overall, but has had several tantrums in the past couple of weeks. It's all I can do sometimes not to cry right along with her. We are all adjusting right now. She kisses and loves on Pierson, but has made the occasional comment about wanting him to go back in my tummy or to the hospital. It's hard for her since I spend so much time nursing, and I feel badly that I physically can't play with her the way I did before since I am still healing and am taking care of Pierson occupies so much of my time. I am sure that everything will smooth out in time as we figure out a new routine and hopefully start to get more sleep. Many of my friends have two, three and four kids and seem to have it under control, so I am thinking of you all as a reminder that I can and will figure this out! In the meantime, I am praying for peace and patience for each of us, and an extra degree of wisdom for me and Chad to be both consistent in our discipline as well as gracious and loving since Ava's world has changed!

Thank you for all of your prayers for Pierson's safe arrival! We are so thankful the miracle of this new little life. I am amazed and grateful every day. Enjoy some more photos:

Pierson Reed Walters

2007-09-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome Pierson!

2007-09-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

Summer and Chad went to the hospital at about 7:30 this morning, and just 3 1/2 hours later, Pierson Reed made his arrival at 11:04. He weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 18.5 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair. Summer, Chad, Ava, and Pierson are all doing well! She wanted me to post some pictures so friends and family in Ft. Worth could see him. I'm sure she'll have more to add later.
~Kate

10 days and counting. . .

2007-09-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ava pretending to have a baby in her tummy!

I am up again way past bedtime reading random blogs because I can't sleep. I am ready to have this baby. Or I'm as ready as you can be, I guess. I am going to enjoy some down time this week. I took off from work, so maybe I can get a few last minute things done or clean, or I might just rent a good movie and put my feet up since it might be the last time for a while.

My friend, Becky Brooks, is speaking at Lectureship, and I am glad to be living in Abilene so I can take advantage of the great wisdom that will be pouring out of ACU the next few days. I hope to attend at least a few of the lectures. I look forward to hearing Becky speak about being transparent tomorrow; she is a great public speaker, and wise beyond her years.

Today, we passed by a homeless man who hangs out in a parking lot not far from our house. Chad has had a couple of conversations with him, and actually wrote a blog about him recently. As we passed by, Ava noticed him and asked what he was doing. We told her that he didn't have a house or a car, so he sleeps right there in the parking lot. She asked, "But does he have a pillow?" Chad explained that his name is Roland, and he has backpack he uses as a pillow, but sometimes he doesn't have food, so maybe we could bring him some lunch on the way home. We talked about Roland in the car for about the next 15 minutes. On the way home, she reminded us to get a snack for Roland, which she wanted to hold. She was very excited to give it to him. He thanked us and told us,"God is so good," before he sat back down on the side of the road. When we arrived home, Ava was still talking about Roland, and said, "I want to go sit by him." There is nothing sweeter than trying to teach Jesus' love to your 3 year old, and realizing that she is teaching you.

Ava has been nothing but excited about being a big sister until today. It may have just been that she was so tired, but as I tried to put her down for a nap, she threw a fit, and let me know she didn't want a baby! I reminded her that it was going to be fun having a baby because she would get to be a big sister! She cried as loud and hard as I've heard her cry in a while saying that she did NOT want to be a big sister. She fell asleep curled up on my shoulder repeating that phrase over and over. It was actually pretty pitiful. I know that Pierson's arrival into our family will be such a blessing, but I am reminded that it may also be a difficult transition for Ava. After her nap, we spent some time at the Sheets' house and she loved getting to help take care of the twins, so I am hoping that her meltdown was more from exhaustion than real emotion. I think once he's here, she will be excited. . . at least for a while!

Hopefully the next time I post, I'll have some new pictures to share.

Ava turns 3!

2007-09-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we had Ava's 3rd Birthday Party! It was fun this year because she was so into every detail and had anticipated the party for weeks. She told every stranger we met, "When I turn 3, I'm going to have a Flip Flop Party with chocolate cake and a jump house." It was a big day! If you know Ava at all, you know her obsession with shoes, particularly flip flops. She picked the theme of her party this year! Here are some pictures of the day. Somehow I managed to get through the party with no photos of the jump house, which was the highlight of the party. We did get video footage though! I made it through the day without going to labor which was a plus also. Now we're just awaiting Pierson's birth day!

Showing how old she is...

Playing her new pink guitar

Blowing out candles on the flip flop cake

Opening presents

Lining up cars to make a "Sea World parking lot."

There are so many things that I love about my daughter at this age. Here are some things that I don't want to forget about Ava at age 3:
1.The way she rolls her eyes and nods her head when she says something she knows is funny or cute!
2. The way she sings all the time and when she is singing praise songs, she lifts her hands to God.
3.That she finds slapstick humor hilarious! Any one who is willing to fall on the floor, run into a door, or bump their head on her behalf becomes her new best friend!
4. She is so sweet with babies, talking in a high voice and trying to mother them.
5. Her favorite toy right now is matchbox cars. She loves to line them up in little "parking lots."
6. The way she likes to pretend shes the mama and fix my hair
7. Her giggle
8. She likes us to "scratch her back and tell stories" at bedtime.
9. Her interest in shoes, especially flip flops, shiny shoes, high heels, and "farkly" (sparkly) shoes
10. Her interest in Spanish because of Dora the Explorer. It cracks me up when she says something that sounds like jibberish and then tells me, "I'm just speaking in Spanish."
I could go on and on, but right now she is done with her bath and I need to go help with the bedtime routine!

2007-09-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

If you would like something really worth reading today, read Chad's "journaling." I thought he was done as a blogger, but he has decided to make a comeback with a great entry about living out the gospel!

The 100 Things List

2007-08-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have 100 things, but I haven't been able to sleep lately so this is a good distraction in the wee hours of the night. Here goes. . .

1. I was appropriately named because the summer is my favorite time of year. I hate to be cold!

2. I wish I knew how to tap dance. When I'm really excited, I pretend like I do.

3. I have lived in Abilene, El Paso, Grapevine and Fort Worth. El Paso was not my favorite!

4. I am terrified of really deep water and swarms of fish. Scuba diving is my worst nightmare!

5. I am not afraid of heights.

6. Someday I'd like to sky dive!

7. Eating meat off of the bone kind of grosses me out. I have to force myself not to think about which part of the animal it was.

8. I like to make lists so I can draw a line through a task when it is completed. It's very satisfying.

9. Sometimes, if I do something not on my list, I add it just so I can cross through it.

10. I think that might make me obsessive compulsive.

11. I love to have a clean house, but I don't love to clean it.

12. I don't really like to cook.

13. I am clumsy in the kitchen. I spill things. I drop knives. Two weeks ago, I got a nasty second degree burn on my arm while cooking with grease. This is probably why I don't like to cook.

14. I do like to decorate and rearrange things in my house.

15. I decorate a lot better on a tight budget. A few times I have been asked to help people decorate with a fairly large budget, and it makes me nervous. I do better finding good deals and bringing stuff together that I find at garage sales and Target.

16. I wish I was better at sewing. My sister quilts and I think that's pretty impressive.

17. I have never met anyone famous. Kate met Matt Damon once while running an errand for me. I was very jealous for a long time, but I'm over it. Really, I'm over it.

18. I would like to be funnier. Most of the time, my jokes are pretty lame. Even Ava says, "Daddy is sillier than mommy."

19. I love to travel. One of the best summer's ever was the summer I did study abroad in Oxford and visited France, Switzerland and Ireland.

20. That was also the summer I made a pact not to date for 6 months in order to clear my head and not have any distractions.

21. I broke the pact and started dating Chad. I think he was worth it.

22. I was a camper and counselor at Camp Blue Haven for about 10 years. I still miss it every June!

23. I wish that they had camp for grown ups. I could still use a week away in the mountains to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate!

24. In my heart of hearts, I feel like I'm more bohemian than I appear. I now shop at The Gap like everyone else, but when I was younger and had time, I loved to buy most of my clothes at thrift shops! I wish I still had my favorite torn jeans and crochet top!

25. I think I would have liked to have been a hippie. . .minus the drugs!

26. My first car was a copper Honda hatchback with a slightly different color door. My friends called it, "The Penny Incher" because it was so slow.

27. At ACU, we once piled as many people into as we could and drove it from the intramural fields to Nelson dorm. It looked like a clown car with so many people getting out. I wish I could remember exactly how many fit-- it was a lot!

28. My sister is my best friend. She is four years younger, but I think she is wiser in a lot of ways. . . more grounded and stable. I am sometimes too emotional and impulsive!

29. People always think she's the older one. I used to hate it, but now that I'm 30, I'm starting to enjoy it!

30. I turned 30 this week, but so far I feel no different.

31. I love being a mom!

32. I thought I knew what to expect before I had a child, but it is more exhausting and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.

33. I have a tattoo on my foot of my name in Japanese.

34. I am 1/4 Japanese, and have visited Japan when my parents lived there in 2001.

35. I am growing my hair out for Locks of Love. I will be cutting 10 inches off in November!

36. I was an Art Major for a while at ACU, then switched to English/ Education, but I now I work in Children's Ministry!

37. I taught 7th grade English for 3 years before I realized that middle school is not my thing.

38. I love to read great literature, but rarely have time to start and finish a good book these days.

39. One of my favorite books is The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, because it taught me a lot about my Asian heritage and my relationship with my mom and grandma.

40. When I get together with 2 of my best friends, we spend a lot of time analyzing ourselves. It's very interesting. . . at least to us!

41. The first time I ever rode on an airplane was the summer after my freshman year of college.

42. The first time I ever got a pedicure was the week I got married.

43. My dad is one of the most unique people I know. What I used to find a little embarrassing in Middle School, I now find endearing!

44. Several of my boyfriends in high school and college stayed in touch with and/or hung out with my dad even after we had broken up. I don't what that says about me, but at least they thought HE was cool!

45. I love just about anything chocolate. . .

46. if I have a tall glass of cold milk to go with it.

47. My middle name is Kei (pronounced Kay) and is a from a common Japanese name, Keiko.

48. My mom used to call me Keiko chon when I was little, which means "adored one." My other childhood nicknames were Summer Sunshine and Happy Feet. (See #2 about tap dancing.)

49. I loved taking art classes in college. It was therapeutic for me.

50. I miss pottery. I would love to have a potter's wheel in my house as an outlet for stress.

51. I am pretty neat and organized, except when I am painting or creating. . .then I become a complete mess! I used to come home with paint from head to toe and clay in my hair. I cannot explain this.

52. Chad is actually a much better artist than I am.

53. For my 30th birthday, he drew a BEAUTIFUL drawing of Ava. It looks just like her. I cannot capture a likeness in a portrait!

54. My favorite color is green.

55. I am a night owl, but have a hard time getting up early.

56. If I watch TV, it's almost always HGTV or TLC.

57. I have a love/hate relationship with the show, "Lost," because I can't stop watching it, but I am frustrated after almost every show!

58. I HATE scary movies and haunted houses.

59. The scariest movie I have ever seen is, "Watcher in the Woods." It's a Disney movie, but it really is scary. Don't mock it until you've seen it!

60. I have peed my pants as an adult. To my credit, I was pregnant at the time.

61. I still like to color.

62. I enjoy helping others, but find it hard to ask for help when I need it.

63. I have a major guilt complex. I feel guilty about things over which I have no control.

64. Awkward situations make me laugh hard.

65. I struggle with God's plan for our finances-- giving generously and living humbly versus saving and investing for the future.

66. I am also conflicted about poverty worldwide and nations that are suffering. Again, these are things I feel guilty about but have no control over.

67. I have started recycling and using canvas bags at the grocery store in an effort to be more green. When I run out of cleaning products, I am going to switch over to organic. (I told you I would have liked to have been a hippie.)

68. If I could see any band in concert, it would be U2!

69. I would like to be more up on the music scene, but I listen to too much kid music right now to feel cool at all.

70. Our next car will probably be a minivan for economic and functional reasons, and I'm okay with that.

71. Someday I'd like to drive a jeep!

72. I don't speak any other languages. I wish I did.

73. I feel blessed to have a lot of good friends.

74. I don't handle adversity well. If someone has a problem, I lay awake at night thinking about it until the situation is settled.

75. I try to stay out of "drama" between girls. It wears me out. I am thankful that my closest girlfriends are self confident and don't get their feelings hurt easily.

76. I do not return phone calls very well.

77. I have broken one bone in my life.

78. I had a brief episode of seizures once in El Paso.

79. I have herniated a disc in my back several times, which is by far the most painful thing I have ever experienced, including labor!

80. I usually buy cheap drugstore makeup, but I spend money on good soap and cleansers.

81. I rode the bus in middle and some of high school.

82. I hate to drive, especially in a big city.

83. I would almost always rather be a passenger.

84. I have NO sense of direction.

85. I have been in 2 car accidents, both when I was 16.

86. I am not very athletic at all.

87. I always wanted to be.

88. In High School, I was in Theater, Art and Student Council.

89. I was also a pep squad leader for a brief time.

90. That was not my proudest moment. My dad still likes to bring it up.

91. I was the co-lead in our One Act Play my senior year, which made it to Regionals. We have the play on video, but I've never watched it because it makes me cringe to watch myself act on stage.

92. I am not very good at math in general, but I do our budget and pay our bills.

93. Sometimes if you tell a really great detailed story, I will retell it as if I was there. This is not an intentional lie. I just remember it with such detail that I honestly think I was a part of it.

94. I have been having contractions for weeks, but still have 4 weeks until my due date.

95. I love to go to my grandparents Lake House, ride the boat, play games and hang out with family.

96. I have 9 cousins on one side.

97. 4 of them attend ACU right now.

98. When I married Chad, I became an aunt. One of my nephews is also at ACU.

99. I liked being a student, and I studied pretty hard.

100. I find it annoying when people make jokes about my name and expect me to laugh like I have never heard them before. In my yearbooks, there are probably 100 places where people wrote, "Have a nice summer, Summer! Ha Ha!" as if they were being original.

If you actually read all of this, I am sorry. It did help me pass some time with late night contractions!

Pierson's Nursery & My Abilene Shower

2007-08-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Pierson's Nursery. I think it's just about ready for him!

Last weekend, some of my sweet friends threw me a shower here in Abilene. We had a great time, and I enjoyed opening lots of little boy things! I think he's going to be set. . .

We have so many milestones in our family this month, it's almost overwhelming to think about! I turned 30 today which seems impossible, because I still think of myself as about 24! That's where I stopped counting mentally. Ava will start back to preschool next week, and then she turns 3 and we're having her birthday party at our house the next weekend. And we're expecting Pierson Reed to arrive sometime in the next month! Lately, I've been having alot of contractions, so I am preparing myself and trying to make sure we're ready before my actual due date just in case, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Alot will be happening around our house in the coming weeks! Stay tuned. . .

2007-08-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

Some of my dear friends in Fort Worth threw me a shower this weekend at P.F. Changs (my favorite resturaunt.) We enjoyed great food and conversation, and Pierson got loaded down with cute outfits as well as the necessities! I love that even though we moved over a year ago, I still feel such a closeness to the friends we developed while we lived in Fort Worth! I also loved letting Emma and Ava swim and play together, and spending some time with family! It was a great weekend! Here are some shower pictures:

There are actually 12 people in the picture above:From right: me (due in Sept.), Elizabeth (due in Oct.)Jamie, Cheslea, Shelly, and Tara (all due in Dec.)

A Bad Choice

2007-08-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

On Monday Chad walked in the door after work and immediately said, "Why is the garage door open and where is my bike?" The answer to both questions was, "I don't know." We immediately had a sinking feeling because this is not our first time dealing with theft (Chad's truck was stolen when we lived in El Paso), and also because Chad had just recently purchased the bike after saving up for almost a year. It's a road bike that he loves! At this point in his life, I think he would have rather someone stolen his vehicle than that bike!

We immediately called the police who came out and took a police report as well as Bike Town, the shop where Chad purchased the bike, to get the serial number. They let us know they'd post a note on their computer that the bike was stolen. Chad has gotten to know the guys at Bike Town pretty well since he goes in for adjustments and equipment from time to time, and he browsed for quite a while before he made his purchase. It's a small town so the biking community is fairly well acquainted.

We were bummed all night Monday. Kate treated us to ice cream and Chad was trying to make the best of it, but I could tell he was truly disappointed. I felt awful because everything we've ever had stolen are Chad's favorite things. . . truck, golf clubs, and the bike! We had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that it was gone.

But Wednesday morning around 10:30, we got a call from the Abilene Police Department letting us know that the bike had been recovered! Apparently, the guy who took it showed up at Bike Town with the stolen bike wanting to know how much it was worth! The employees immediately guessed that this guy was not the original owner of the bike, and when they checked the serial number, they realized it was Chad's bike! The guy clued in to the fact that he was caught and took off running down the street! Two Bike Town employees chased him on foot and caught him, bringing him back to the shop and calling the police. Then we were called to identify the bike and file a complete report!

Gotta love a small town. . . where the thief is knuckle headed enough to take the stolen property back to the one Bike Shop in town the day after stealing it, and the employees recognize the stolen property, then chase the thief down!

The great thing about this whole ordeal is that we now we are both thankful and appreciative for a bike Chad owned in full and might have taken for granted a few days ago!

Also, Ava and I have had some interesting conversations about policemen, stealing and jail. Her commentary on the story is hilarious! She explained to me that a boy took daddy's bike, but it wasn't his and that was very ugly of him. She wanted to know what his mama was going to say!

Then after the bike was recovered, she asked me if the police man was going to put that boy in time out because it's not nice to take other people's things. I explained that he might have to go to jail which is like a very long time out for grown ups. She replied, "He made a bad choice, didn't he?"

Yes he did.

2007-07-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Debbie Riggs and her husband of Pure Photography, came to our house to take some family photos. They did such a good job and were so patient and loving with Ava! After she and her husband left, Ava commented, "Well mom, that was fun!" Here is a preview of more pictures to come. This is the first professional photo we've had made since we left Fort Worth. Ava has changed so much since the last time we did this! I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. . .