kitchen

I used to make fun of realtor's photos of houses. I thought I could surely do better, ok maybe not. I cannot get a good pic from any angle of this house, so just come visit us please.
I think this is my favorite room in the house. It is what sold me on it. There is so much room, so many cabinets, so much countertops, so much clean, so much ahhh (grammar set aside to make my point). It is so funny how much time we spend in the kitchen now. I have always heard the kitchen is a gathering place, and I guess b/c of the history of our homes it was never true before, but now we do spend so much time in the kitchen. I am so thankful for this house, and it is so quickly becoming our home!

heartbroken- updated

I will begin going downtown on the last weekend of the month for the next few months in hopes to get something more established with Church Under the Bridge.  There seems to be more a need that weekend.  However, my friend, Lindsay and Troy will be here this weekend and we are going to make an unscheduled trip.  If you are interested in any weekend, please let me know.

heartbroken

I have shared stories in hopes to trigger your hearts. Some used to comment and send encouragement, but then after awhile the comments stopped coming and I felt like a nag, so I stopped sharing and asking for help.
For the 3rd month in a row, I went downtown with my 24 sandwiches and 2 cases of water and my one friend, Colleen.  I also had 3 large black trashbags of shoes, t-shirts, ballcaps and 10 Bibles ($1 a piece from Dollar General). 24 sandwiches, 2 cases of water and Colleen's stash of breakfast tacos has always been enough, and I had so many clothes, I knew it was going to be a great day. 
As I drove into the parking lot, I was swarmed by over 200 people.  Colleen and I were the only two with anything.  Within a minute all of our food & water was gone.   The Bibles were gone faster than that.  I had people asking me for Bibles, I had people asking for more food.  That has never happened before.  
As I drove home, all I could think about was you, my readers.  Do you hear Christ's voice telling you to do something? 
Colleen and I fed breakfast to maybe 50 people this morning, but there was so many more who went hungry.  What hurt the most was they were asking for Bibles, the true food and I could not give it to them.  Men were asking me for socks (I always steal a couple a pair of Ben's socks and today I did not.) - which one of you could clean out yor husband's sock drawer and give a pair of socks?!  Every single one of you can make a difference.  Maybe the homeless or orphans in Africa is not where God is tugging on your heart.  I need your help.  I need more resources, I cannot do this on my own.  I am asking you to please open your heart to this ministry.

girl's room/closet

One room down, eight to go. It is still not complete, as far as the decorative side. Their things are unpacked and they say it is their favorite part of the new house. Yes, this is the closet, it is almost the size of their room, so they did get their playroom after all.
I will post the rest of the house as I can.

needs a good home

We are not going to be able to take our cat, Mitten with us when we move this week.  We were hoping to have a home for her by now, but it did not go as planned.  She is an outside cat, and loves to hunt.  So, I would love someone with a big yard or lots of space to take her.  She is 3-4 years old, all of her shots are up to date.  She is fixed and she has lived in doors before, so will use a litter box.  If you would like a lovable cat or know any one who needs a companion, please let us know.  We do have a large bag of cat food, kitty litter box, kitty litter and her pillow that we would love to help you get started with.

packing

The next few weeks will probably be slow on the blog end.  Girls are leaving for Mimi's, house is getting empty, no make-up or hair being done so not really anything to share.   Will post pics soon of the new house.

this week's LE/Bella Day

Daddy joined for us Landry/Bella day this week and we had our first picnic at the Sprinkler Park.  I think it is even more fun as the girls get older.  I know one day they will be too big, but this year seems to be the perfect age. 

Joe McDermott

I took the girls to the local library to see Joe McDermott.  When I was babysitting Craig and Chris 20 years ago they were listening to his music.  I had no idea if the girls would participate or enjoy it all.  We were the first ones there, so we were able to go in first, made the 30 minute wait bearable when LE made the association that we were the "winners".  I have never heard the girls giggle so much at a total stranger.  They loved him.  I bought them a CD and they already have their favorite songs.

true hero

This past weekend when I was in Kerrville I was in the right place at the right time twice.  I was able to be apart of the greeting party for Jacob Leicht as he was being driven into Kerrville for his burial.  Then, Saturday morning as I was driving to take pics at a wedding I was the 2nd car stopped for the motorcade as it was approaching after the funeral.  There was over a hundred motorcycles in the honor guard for him and I stood on the side of the road for 35 minutes as the line of cars followed his hearse.  The streets were lined with hundreds of people flying flags.  I was moved to tears more than once.

Sweet Berry Farms - blackberries

After LE's bout with the fever, Papa Richards had one too.  I called Mom and asked if there was any way she would meet me in Marble Falls so I could get out of the house.  The girls were going stir-crazy and Ben was trying to sleep it off.  We decided to give the blackberries at Sweet Berry Farms a try, we had such a blast picking strawberries, why not.  Well, it was because of these rose-style thorns on blackberry bushes, that it will be the only try it gets.  I still have scratches up and down my arm and a microscopic thorn embedded in my left thumb.  The girls were quite good at locating the berries, but they picked maybe 3 berries each.  We gathered enough berries for Mimi to make 3 jars of blackberry jam, but next time we will just make a run to the local fruit stand. 

end of soccer clinic

LE was sick for the last day of soccer clinic, so it was just Bella.  At first she did not want to go without LE, but when she saw silly Coach Dan, she was ready to play. 
Each of the kids got soccer medals and Coach Dan sent one home for LE, so the world was right. 
We truly have been blessed with amazing people in our kid's lives.  We do our best to monitor who imparts in thier lives and Coach Dan is one of those people I admire.  I heard him humming Jesus Loves Me the other day during practice and it made my heart smile.  Bella caught it too.

Happy Birthday Day Paw-Paw

Only 4 little people can get this reaction from my Dad, this time it was Landry.  She took this picture of him at Christmas.  Happy Birthday Paw-Paw!

teacher gift

This is one of my special teacher gifts I received this year.  She took our class pic and captured each of my kiddos for me.  Thank you Lia and Mom.

teacher gifts

I forgot how cool getting end of school gifts was.  I had amazing parents this year and they truly blessed me the last day of school.  I got gift cards for TWO pedicures, one to Motherhood, two necklaces, purse & wallet, painting of the kids in my class, lots of cookies, Bath & Body Works, flowers, a special craft ruler, and candle.  Thanks to all of the parents for making me feel loved.

schools out

We had our last day of school party at the gym and Bella came with me.  LE has been running a fever.  One of the kid's parents brought an inflatable and we brought picnic lunches.  I had a really great year teaching, glad to cut back though too.  I will still teach two days a week and do fitness consulting, but need to catch up on life too.

Bye Naimans

We went to a going-away party for our friends the Naimans this past week.  They are on their way to plant a church in Montana.  We will miss you guys so much.  We pray the Lord's favor over you.  Cannot wait to see all the great things he has in store for you.

puppy ranch

Recently the girls were invited to a friend of mine's dachshund rescue and shelter.  The girls enjoy the pet store so much, I knew this would be a real treat.  We each fell in love with our favorites, but I would have taken any of them home.  They were so cute!

random pics from the beach

 We had a great time at the beach, Bella asked for the next week, could we please go back, like as in right then.  The condo was really nice.  The girls slept in bunk beds built in the living room and we had a large jacuzzi tub in our room. 
We also ate one night at a restaurant that I grew up eating at every year on vacation.  As a child, the restaurant had wild game cats in each of the rooms, so you could be sitting next to a tiger while you ate.  A few years back, the restaurant caught on fire and they did not bring the cats back, at least not the wild ones.  The girls did not mind much, they had fun watching the kittens.  Every day was filled with sleeping in and making memories, could not have asked for a better Mother's Day.  Thanks Honey.  On a side note, another special part of this trip it was paid off before we left.  Because of our budgeting we were able to put money away each month and pay for this trip in full with no debt.