Totally Taekwondo

Another Door

2012-02-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

Hey ya'll! Just another picture of some doors I just sold to a sweet lady.

They are kinda squashed in my garage, so again, ignore all the other stuff in there!

She ordered a matching set with a base of white paint and a black glaze on top.

Corner Door Units

2012-01-28T18:10:00.001-08:00

Ok, so here are the doors that I currently have ready for paint and shelves.

Once one is chosen I will type "sold" under it but will leave it up so you will have an idea of the different types of doors I can use.

Once I get them done I will post pictures so you can see the different ways that they can be finished.

I took these in our garage as we were working so excuse the mess and the many other projects I've got going on in the background! Ha!

This door has the black on top of what looks like a burgundy and then white. Can't wait to see what it will look like sanded and distressed!

Don't worry about the center boards, I paint them to match the rest of the door. I use all reclaimed wood so they are pieced together.

I'll post finished cabinets as they get finished.

Thank you for all your interest!

Been Awhile...

2012-01-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody! Yes, its been forever since I've posted anything and sorry for those of you who keep checking to see if I've put anything on here! We've been crazy busy, I've been dealing with some health issues and just life has been happening.

We have started making some super cute vintage door shelving units and have gotten a few orders, which is also keeping us busy.

I will post pic's this next week of some that will be for sale.

Ok, that's it for now, just letting you know we haven't disappeared from the world...just from this blog the last 6 months!

Summer 2011

2011-07-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, been awhile, huh? Life has just been busy and wierd and crazy the last year or so and I just haven't felt like blogging. But we won a new camera right before we went to Oklahoma so I have tons of pic's to post and share. Exploring Papa's creek.

We celebrated Beth's bday while we were at mom and dads. G.G. and Aunt Tootsie came down for the day. Beth designed the cake herself.

Cutting the super yummy cake.

It's amazing how much fun kids can have in a little bit of water!

At VBS they made pinch pots.

Papa taught Jon Michael how to use the drill and he made his own "yahoo" game board.

Zeke loves VBS for the snacktime!!! Smores was a hit this night with him!

They tie dyed shirts.

Zeke did a bandana.

Beth during rest time with Papa.

Exploring the creek with Papa.

Uncle Jonathan using his "indian skills" to show the kids how to catch, "mudbugs" "crawfish" "crawdad's" or whatever you wanna call them! The kids LOVED this!!!

Petting goats from VBS.

Next we went to Papa John and Renae's house. Its all about the food at Papa Johns house! The kids become carnivore maniacs!!!

Emmy loving the smell of the baby chicks! Ha!

There were Amish men bailing the hay on the land...I really wanted a pic of them but I know they don't like their pic's taken so I settled for a quick one as he drove by. They hire themselves out during hay season.

Zeke chasing Papa Johns birds for feathers.

Beth collected shells from the Blue River that runs at the back of the property.

The kids LOVED exploring and "swimming" in the river.

Jalyn found a stick he turned into a bazooka....yes we brought it back to Texas...its in my front flower bed right now!!!

Emmy driving us back from the river...she did a really good job. She told Renae, "my mom would be mad if she knew I was driving!" It was so funny.

Jon Michael caught fish out of the pond and then Jonathan showed him how to fillet them.

Then Renae fried them for him and the kids chowed down.

Petting birdies!

Zeke pretending to be a "birdie"!

Jon Michael learned how to catch a chicken. It was so fun to watch!

Uncle Jonathan caught a turkey for Zeke to "pet".

Loving holding his own chicken.

He really enjoyed helping Renae clean the bird poop off the front porch!

We have a wonderful family from church staying with us while they are waiting to get into the house they are buying. Kenley loves Jon Michael and he is so super good with her!

I just loved this pic of Emmy! So funny!

We took the kids to the park. Zekie giving Beth a ride with his motorcycle and side car.

Man, those kids can wear us out!!! Ha!!!

Jon Michael is so great with little kids! He's always laying with them and holding them. So cute.

What was supposed to be naptime....

Turned into wrestle time!!!!

Love the "big kid" in the middle!

That's it for now. I'll try to stay more on top of blogging, I didn't think I had really missed it but i have.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T10:43:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We started our Christmas weekend with candlelight service at The Brook Church last night. It was so good to see old friends from there. Pastor Mike did a great job of bringing together the Christmas story and Salvation.

Then we came home and the boys got to open their Christmas eve gift. They opened Papa and Grandma's gifts and Papa Jerry and Mama's cards.

Jon Michael doing the workbook grandma and papa sent.

Jalyn playing with his bible "super heros". Daniel and the lions, David and Goliath.

Jalyn "spearing" a lion...so violent!!!

Aunt Court found a great deal on a used ds for Jalyn b/c his old one was broken. Thank you Aunt Court! He loves it.

The boys got Nerf guns...this is the first picture frame....

second frame...David and Goliath facing off...Jon Michael is fixing to shoot past David and take Goliath out....I love how little boy brains work!

third frame...Daniel praying for victory!!!!!! So hilarious!!! Can you tell we go to a pentecostal church now from how Daniel is praying?!?!

Its just us at home for Christmas....its been great. Jon Michael fell asleep in our bed with us last night tracking Santa (no he does not believe but he thinks it fun to pretend), so when he tried to get up at 6 something to open presents I was able to make him go back to sleep for a little bit longer. Easy morning of opening gifts with the boys and me cooking while Jonathan helped the boys hook up all their video game systems to one tv box. Can't wait to eat and take a nap!!!

"Risen" Truck Show

2010-09-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Carthage, Texas for the "Risen" Truck Show. It was a show that benefited Court and the kids in Bob's memory. Bob and his friend, Shay Wiggins, had talked lots about putting on a family based show. Shay worked hard and made the first of these style shows happen and it was AWESOME!!!

You know me I don't post until I have a ton of pic's to go with it. I took almost 200 pic's but some of them are just to emotional to put on here so I just put the good times.

It was held at the baseball fields in Carthage.

This is Shay...he doesn't really have a "fro"!

You should have seen the little kids lovin' on Spongebob!

Ryan, Dakota and his wife came up for the day. We really enjoyed spending time with them just hanging out and catching up....and of course picking on Dakota!

The first of many sno cones!

They had a whole kids area with a joy jump and then puppets and bible story time with games.

All the trophies were donated and handmade. We all called this one the "Bob" trophy. It was fun to watch, it kinda had a bobble head that moved around, especially when the bands were playing....it was like Bob was headbanging!

There are to many pictures of trucks to post so I just chose a few. We love flat black on old trucks, there were a couple like this we liked.

This one was cool b/c of the crosses that held the hood open. There was also one with a huge guitar pick holding the hood open.

Ryan, Dakota and his wife enjoying the music. It was so good to have them there....pieces of Bob's life represented.

This is some of the youth group singing some of the songs that Bob wrote.

Shay owns a clothing line called "Whywear". He presented Dad with a jacket that was just like Bob's with the same pin stripe cross on the back and dads name on the front, like all the members of the truck club.

This man owns, "Texas Heatwave", a well known truck and car show in Texas. He was so touched by Bob's story that he wrote a poem and drove down from Austin to present Mom and Dad, Court and the kids, and Shay with a Heatwave plaque that had Bob's verse and info on it.

I love watching the boys together! They are so funny!

...and sweet sometimes too! Love that little man! He gives sweet hugs and kisses.

Shay presented Dakota with a guitar he had painted in memory of Bob.

Skull with dreads on one side.

The other side.

This is the trophy that Merch won for best bike.

Love seeing those two men together!

Merch and his Sucker Punch.

This truck won the "Bob" trophy.

He's actually from our area, Cleveland, Texas. He had met Bob at a show down here in Houston.

The base of the "Bob" trophy...

Ryan's "Why Wear" sticker on his car!

Sometimes I think Bob only liked friends with long hair!

Merch and the kiddo's....I think Zeke was off getting another snowcone! Merch and Bob were great friends, they were in Bikers for Christ together and took road trips and did ministry together.

Merch was injured in a work accident a few years ago and one of his hands doesn't work anymore. Dad and Jonathan bungee corded....YES, I said bungee corded, his trophy to his body so he could ride home to Tyler with it!

Oh my gosh, it was so funny! But Merch is so cool he pulled it off!

Dinner at Jalapeno Tree....so yummy! Look at all those cheeks! They are the exact same!

After church on Sunday they planted a Cedar of Lebonan tree in memory of Bob.

It was an emotionally draining weekend but also will be such good memories for us. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported Court and the family.

Oklahoma Trip

2010-08-02T13:02:00.001-07:00

We spent last week in Oklahoma. We loaded up Saturday night and drove to Dallas to pick up the Fields cousins and then to Durant and spent the night. Got to see Aunt Tab and her family for a little bit and then headed to spend the day at Papa John and Renae's house. After that we headed to my parents house in Muldrow for the week, where the kids got to go to vbs at their church. It was a great trip. Enjoy all the pictures.

Renae dishing out the ribs, the kids waited all day for these. Jon Michael loved it.

The kids spent almost all day playing hide and seek, they had so much fun.

Jon Michael hiding under the coffee table.

Emma Leigh with her frozen yogurt face. I'm sure the kids ate them out of everything in their fridge while we were there.

Jon Michael had so much fun catching grasshoppers around the house. Papa John is giving him a jar to keep them in. They did try to go fishing with them later at the pond but the fish would nibble off pieces of the grasshoppers but not get hooked.

Papa showing them a storm cellar.

Picture at the park.

Bethen running the relay race at vbs.

Emma Leigh wouldn't rope the cow at vbs but she did the next day with Papa.

Zeke loved sleeping next to Jon Michael.

We would sit on the porch during vbs and watch the games. Zeke was taking a break and playing his "guitar".

Mr. Heith teaching the kids to rope.

This is Ms. Ashlee, Heith's sister, she was in charge of snacks....she quickly became Zeke's friend and we had to visit her every night once he figured that out!

Jalyn learning to rope.

This was the cutest thing I saw all week! Mr. Heith taking his time and showing Zeke how to rope. Zeke loved it!

Ok, well this was the 2nd cutest thing! Look how sweet! Cute little "mohawk" boy and cowboy just hanging out!

I told you! SO SWEET!!!!!!!!!!

On Thursday we went to Ft Smith, Ark. to walk part of the Trail of Tears and see where they had to cross the Ark. River.

They had a very cool museum of the fort. Jon Michael checking out the bedding in the jail.

The kids wanting to be let out of jail!

Jon Michael standing partly in Arkansas and partly in Indian Territory.

Zeke enjoying snacks from Ms. Ashlee! He had 4 swiss cake rolls that night, along with pond water (kool aid), he loved it!

In the afternoons we made lunch then the kids played on the slip n slide and had popsicles.

The kids had so much fun climbing trees and playing outside almost all day long. It was so good for them to just get outside and make up their own games and have fun together.

Friday morning we went to Sequoyah's cabin. He's the cherokee indian who created the first written cherokee alphabet.

It was a cowboy themed vbs. Dad was the "mascot" so he was a cowboy all week and Mom taught the missions class so every night she dressed up like whatever country they were learning about. This night happened to be about the missionaries to an indian reservation.

Dad "taught" the kids to drive the riding lawn mower.

So cute! Look at those little legs!

Bethen doing the stick horse relay in boots, so fun to watch!

Second time around they could wear their own shoes so they could run faster, the kids had so much fun racing.

During break Zeke had to give the boots and stick horse a try....he was so much fun to hang out with in the evenings and see him enjoying himself.

Friday night after vbs we hung out in the gym for awhile. The kids ran around like crazy and played ball and ping pong. Emma Leigh became a pro at playing frisbee with Papa and after just a short while was throwing and catching with one hand.

Papa worn out from the week and playing in the gym! Just kidding, he was just trying Zeke to lay down for the night.

We had such a good time. The kids were WONDERFUL, it really couldn't have gone any better. I'm hoping we can make it an annual trip for the kids.....that is if mom and dad have recovered from our visit in a year!

Jalyns Birthday

2010-08-02T12:18:00.001-07:00

July 15th was Jalyns 6th birthday. It ended up being a few days of celebrating. We made cupcakes on the Sunday b/f so he could celebrate with his friends at sunday school. Then on the 15th we had a few friends from church over for dinner and some swimming.

Jalyn wanted a motorcycle themed birthday party. I made a "flame" colored cake for him.

His best friend Andrew from school.

"Aunt Haley" and "Cousin Grayson" I'm so glad they are right down the road now, their family means so much to us and we're so glad we're sharing our lives with them.

Building the car that came with Papa and Grandmas birthday card.

The family came down on the 19th to celebrate his birthday with us. Emma Leigh getting some yummy homemade icing we made.

Court and I always dive into some kind of adventure when she's here, this time it was tuelle skirts and pumpkin cupcakes for ladies small group. So yummy.

This is what we came home to after ladies small group that night!

We dyed all the boys "mohawks" red, they were so cute!

Such a great smile!

Zeke fixing to shoot Uncle Justin.

Cuddling with Uncle Jonathan.

Flame/Racing cupcakes for all the cousins.

Cutie patootie girls watching spy kids 3d.

We had a great time with all the friends and family for his birthday. Thanks for celebrating with us, he had such a good birthday.

4th of July and More

2010-07-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Here's lots of pictures, random ones, and our 4th of July celebration with Justins family.

First I think that Jalyn must be going thru a growth spurt...as you'll see I find him sleeping all the time...and if you know our family you know our boys have never slept, so its strange, I wondered if he was sick the first few times I found him knocked out.

One of the rare times that I've caught them sharing something, not fighting, and being quiet all at the same time! They were so cute I let them sleep downstairs that night.

This is how I found them when I came downstairs the next morning. So sweet...I'm sure it didn't last long once Jon Michael woke up.

Jalyn didn't even make it to the pool b/f he feel asleep.

We found these fun jousting horses at Target, the boys have had so much fun with them.

This is the front of Jalyns birthday invite. Its super hard to find motorcycle stuff for a little boys birthday party!

The boys going at it with the jousting.

This is a string of pictures of Jalyn sleeping and Samson not wanting to move no matter how Jalyn changed position.

So cute, but needs a haircut so bad.

I can't believe he didn't move, he was so squished!

He kept looking up at me like he was miserable but he wasn't gonna move.

This was another day, I told you he must be growing, I catch him asleep all the time.

The boys have wanted to start getting an allowance so they have to help me out more around the house. Jalyn thought was fun the first time but not so much now.

The boys were impressed with their domino building skills.

The girls, Anika and Ariana, brought me some flowers in cute little glass jars!

Milli with Uncle Jonathan.

I was trying to get a picture of us together but the flash was so bright I kept closing my eyes. She wasn't to fond of the fireworks.

Sparkler time.

Most of our neighbors have little kids so quite a few were out doing fireworks at the same time, it was fun for all the kids.

Trying to get a picture with me in it, I settled for this one.

Jon Michael and Anika were allowed to light their own fireworks.

After fireworks we all went swimming. It was fun being up late after fireworks and then relaxing in the pool.

Milliana riding the horsie.

Snack time!

Midnight snack, literally, we didn't come in from swimming until around midnight.

Jon Michael was teaching Milli to blow bubbles in the pool.

Monday the guys had a meeting at the bakery so Ana and I got to hang out with the kids. We went to the outlet, then to yummy mexican rest. for lunch, and then home for swimming. Apparently Ana and I need to learn to reapply sunscreen, we both got burned even though we had put it on. It wasn't to bad but enough to be annoying.

Having fun splashing her feet.

More snack time! Even Milli had a granola bar.

Tuesday we went to Mardel and Half Price books. The boys found Spy Kids 3D so we came home and the kids all watched the movie. Aren't they cute in their glasses?

Gotta have popcorn with the movie!

This is how I found Jalyn after Ana and the girls left on Tuesday....told you he's been sleeping a lot!

Aunt Ana had bought Jon Michael the last of the Diary of A Wimpy Kid books to complete his set. He had read it by the end of the day.

It was a great holiday, I think we're gonna start a tradition of fireworks, late night swimming, and midnight snack.

We're Back!

2010-06-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

We're back! A friend of a friend fixed our computer! Actually he told us there was nothing wrong with it (we are VERY sure there was b/f we gave it to him) so either he fixed it when he updated things for us or laid hands on it and prayed for it! Either was I'm just glad its fixed and I can blog again!

There's been tons of things I've wanted to blog about but of course I've forgotten them all so I'll just start with our fathers day crafts.

Nope, this was not a fathers day craft but I can't get it to move to the bottom of the page so here it is! You'll see at the bottom that we made duct tape wallets for fathers day. Since the guys all got something made from duct tape I thought I'd make myself something. I didn't think I could pull off a duct tape mini skirt so I went with a tshirt bag, it's lined with duct tape to hold its shape. I'm using it as a library bag, its amazing how well its holding up.

This was just a cute picture of Jalyn hugging Samson...can't have enough of those. Its probably one of the last ones I got with that hair style. He's now growing out his hair b/c he wants it long.

Haley and Grayson came over and did some fathers day crafts. They are actually bookmarks but Gray decided they looked better on him as necklaces...I have to agree.

Here's what Haley "punched" into the washers. Its such a super easy craft, I really enjoyed them, thanks for the idea Kaylene.

The boys and I made duct tape wallets for Jonathan, Papa, Papa Jerry, and Papa John.

Do you see the wallet picture I put in each of the wallets? I felt that I had to explain to the photo lab guy that my boys weren't kidnapped that we were just being funny to go with the duct tape wallets we had made. He looked at me like I was insane! But the cops never came for me so I figure he just went home and told his wife about another crazy picture and customer he's encountered!

(By the way, why can my boys never have normal eyes when I take a picture? Wait, I know, they get that from their daddy!)

Now that the computer is back I can't wait to really start blogging again. See ya'll soon.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

2010-04-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

Here are TONS of pictures from our week running a daycare center! Just kidding, we had a GREAT week with Court and the kids. The boys didn't even get to 1/2 the things they wanted to do with them while they were here so Court is gonna have to hurry back.

The girls tradition, doing nails with Aunt Carrie. This time we added stickers, Emma Leigh's were hearts with crowns, Bethens said "wild love"!

Zeke wanted a nail sticker also so he got a blue star.

This is one of the flower hair bows Court made, isn't it so cute?!?!

Taking a break to wave at the camera while sword fighting.

For some reason when Court comes we always decide to take on a new crafting adventure....this time it was hair bows and hair flowers, then she made these bow holders. Its always one of my favorite parts, last time we stayed up past midnight sewing a christmas tree skirt!

Uncle Jonathan calming down Zeke and Jalyn...why? Look below...

Jalyn crying...why?...see the wet spot on his shirt? Its Zeke's tears and snot!

Zeke had gotten in trouble and wanted comfort from Jalyn and Bethen, that's how the snot and tears got on Jalyn.

Kiddo's having popcorn snack after a long day of school, shopping, and playing...don't they look exhausted?!?!

Zeke putting the speedracer hat on Uncle Jonathan.

Smiles from Bethen.

Smiles from Emma Leigh.

Aunt Court showing off her can balancing skills for Jon Michael.

The middle of the bow extravaganza. I loved it! So much fun making cute little girl things! Something I never do since I have boys.

Court working so intently on petals for the hair flowers. (See Jon Michaels naked chest back there? Zeke fits in great with the boys, he doesn't like to wear pants, the boys don't like to wear shirts!)

Donkey (yes, that's Court's dogs name), checking on Zeke...he's crying for chips.

This is an amazing picture! Emma Leigh was the first one in the pool. Last year she was the last and then as Court puts it, she would "spazz" out, but this time she was awesome, swimming from end to end and playing, it was great. So Uncle Jonathan torturing her last year and taking her into the pool really paid off.

Uncle Jonathan getting Zeke used to the water.

It took the whole time for him to feel comfortable steping into the pool.

Playtime at the school playground.

Love seeing Emma Leigh smiling and having fun, she's so serious...yes, like I was.

Jon Michael getting in some ball time with Diego and another boy who was playing at the school. I love when kids just make friends with kids and have a good time.

We made Zeke slide over and over b/c we wanted pictures of his hair...it was so funny! I call this his "pirate smile"....arrh!

Just another monkey hanging around!

Can you believe how big these kids are?

Just a swingin'!

The older kids got to ride bikes to the playground, Zeke got to ride up front with Uncle Jonathan, he was proud.

Look at their faces...totally reflects their personalities!

Jon Michael is so good with little kids. He had a great time with Zeke and would "translate" for me sometimes.

Car time.

Bethen getting hugs from Uncle Jonathan.

It was a great week!

Work in Progress

2010-04-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you wanted to see a picture of my front door/porch when I got finished. Well, its going to be a work in progress until we're totally out of hurricane debt. So for now I'll just show you what I've gotten done. Its been done for awhile but I wanted to add another coat of stain to the porch b/f I posted a picture. Then Jalyn wrote "i love you mom" on it with chalk and I don't want to wash it off so I just went ahead and took a few quick pictures this week.

Obviously this isn't the front porch, it was supposed to be at the bottom of this post but I can't get it to move so here it is. We looked out the kitchen window last week and this is what I saw...Jalyn putting himself in Samsons cage...I PROMISE this is not something that we've taught him! Guess he just wanted to see the world from Samson's point of view....who knows.

So here's the door/porch. I sanded, primed, painted and then lightly resanded the door to make it look a little aged, put the kickplate on the bottom b/c that's the part the boys beat up the most as they kick the door open with their feet. I plan on adding some black metal scrollwork above the door to match the black numbers, door bell, and kickplate, but that will come later when I find something I love and its on sale. I also stained the porch the gray color you see, it was just regular cement that had all kinds of junk stuck to it and melted crayons, etc...The stain did an amazing job of blending it all together.

Just a little closer picture that might show the sanding a little better. The door was just flat black that was really beat up and scratched but not in that pretty aged way, just ugly and beat up and needed a good cleaning. I just sanded it on the corners down to the primer.

And this is just a random picture of a HUGE strawberry that Jalyn ate last week. He LOVES strawberries and was so excited to see that I had found a whole carton of this size. It was huge even with the top cut off. I'm sure it was probably that size from all kinds of nasty chemicals, oh well it still tasted good to Jalyn.

Seeing Red!

2010-04-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

Jon Michael tested today for his red belt. He only has black tab and then black belt. He was sitting on the couch just now and said, "I just thought about it...I have a red belt!" It was funny.

This was a hard test for him, he had to know the normal stuff for the new belt but also the names of all the stances in english and korean. He did a great job though and knew his defenition when they asked. He was also the only one testing for red belt so he was all alone when it was time to do his thing. It just shows how much he's grown, never b/f would he have stood in front of a group by himself with all eyes on him for anything. We still talk about the first class he ever went into he had to be carried in by Mr Webre and now look at him.

Self Defense

Kicking

Sparring, he's in the red gear

His break for this test was a "jump 360 reverse turning kick"

Awful picture but he got it after one test try.

Getting his new red belt

2nd Gup Red Belt with his broken board

(gup is kinda like ranking, black belt tab will be 1st gup then black belt)

We are super proud of him! He's really stuck with taekwondo, a lot longer than I would have! He's got a goal and we're proud that he's working so hard on his own to attain it.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone. Besides having the worst stomach virus EVER, we've had a great resurrection holiday. I was so sick I didn't make the boys their easter bags so this morning I had them come to my room and while I laid in bed I handed them their bags and then handed them their things to fill them on their own...I think they enjoyed that more than having them ready on the table this morning. There is LOTS I didn't get done b/c we've been so sick, didn't get to make resurrection rolls, easter bags, easter cupcakes, and didn't even make easter dinner. Just the thought of going to the grocery store and then cooking turned my stomach. So I loaded the boys up and took them to Sonic for lunch!!! (They ate, not me.) Jalyn made a cross out of construction paper today and wrote this on it, "Hees crist ovr are livus"...can you read "Jalynese"? Translation, "He's Christ over our lives".

Jalyn made easter bunny ears at school, I love that he actually wore them around the house.

Jon Michael would have showed me and then refused to put them on and then it would have been a game of trying to put them on his head w/o him knowing.

The bunny hat even had a little cotton ball tail, so funny.

This is Jon Michaels easter bunny ears.

Its been a great week to be reminded that Jesus Lives and Reigns. I hope that each of you have personally experienced that new life found in Him.

Update

2010-03-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, here's just a lot of pictures updating ya'll on what we've been up to the last few weeks around our house.

We got to watch Grayson again a few weeks ago. Grayson is my dear friend Haley's little boy. We met in College Station when I was assigned to be her mentor in the Excellent Wife class at church. We watched her get married, move, and start her family and now they live 3 miles away from us! It has done my heart so much good to have her and her family in Cypress.

I was sweeping the day he was over and he wanted to "sweep". I think it looks like he's dancing with the broom.
Then it became like a game of shuffleboard. I'm sure we've got tons of magnets under all the appliances. The boys bought Gray his own set of letter magnets for his birthday last week. Haley's gonna have a great time with her OCD and lots of little magnets everywhere...ha ha ha!!!

Gray trying to climb the coffee table, for some reason he thought it was hilarious, which of course made us laugh.

Jonathan and Gray building, so cute together, look at that little hand on his knee! We were to busy cleaning up throwup with our boys so we missed this part of enjoying them.

I love it when Jonathan lets the boys "help" when he's being my handyman around the house. This night they were fixing a spring that had come out on the couch.

A rare moment of catching Jon Michael playing with "toys", little skateboards and skateboard park they were designing.

Jalyn was so excited to find a little gecco.

This is the gecco after he got 1/2 his tail pulled off! He was so little and "see thru", very wierd.

Friday b/f spring break was rodeo day at school. Jalyn dressed up, super cute. They tried chili for snack time that day...he was not a fan of it. (I promise I'm not trying to pass on my "meat issues" to my children!)

One of the days during spring break they spent nearly the whole day outside. This is Jon Michael refusing to turn around while they ate lunch outside. Its so great that they are getting old enough to play outside by theirselves.

Another day they loaded water balloons into a laundry basket and let them fly in the back yard.

Another day we walked to the lake/pond and fed ducks. Jalyn and Jon Michael always try to "catch" one.

Samson wanted to catch one also.

What a great final picture, huh?!?! This is Jalyn on the second day of his stomach bug and allergy attack! Pretty miserable spring break for him. Its how we rounded out spring break!

Finally

2010-02-21T18:34:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post some pictures for the last few weeks but it got really busy so I'm finally just making the time do it tonight. We've had lots going on, below are a few pictures, you know me, I'll just put the caption w/ whats going on, all in no particular order.

Jalyn is my creative one, his "creations" don't usually make much sense to me but he loves it. This day he asked if he could go outside and color. He's getting so big, wanting to do things on his own, getting very independent....well, except for when its time to clean his room and then independance is thrown out the window!
I didn't know that Spider Man was bashful but apparently so.

A rare chance of catching Jon Michael being silly while playing.

Just had to take the picture when I saw Jalyn with his arms around some stuffed animals while sleeping...not sure how much longer I'll be able to see this kind of thing....yes, that's a longhorn that they won at a carnival type game at the aquarium...believe me I've tried to "sneak" it out of the house but they are proud that they "won" it.

Valentines week was busy, 2 different days of deliveries. Which also meant two different days of tracking down flowers and then making them up and then cleaning up the kitchen.

Everytime I do this it reminds me how blessed I am to have a husband that supports me working at home. I have to put off daily chores when I do flowers and I realize how much time it takes away from my family and all that I do for them.

Jalyn made a "heart hat" for Valentines at school. He was giving Samson a kiss.

So one more thing on my list of reasons I HATE TILE FLOORS....they don't get warm!!! Our entire downstairs is tile so its always a battle to keep it warm enough b/c your feet are always cold even with socks on. The boys hate to wear socks and this day I caught Jalyn wearing my gloves on his feet, it was pretty funny.

My dear friend, Haley and her family have finally arrived in Cypress! I got to spend some time with her little boy Grayson while they did the closing and then while they movers were at their house. We had a great time. I "caught" him feeding Samson some of his snack, it was funny, Samson enjoyed it.

So funny...I'm sure its the helmets fault that it won't stay on right...I mean it is a longhorn helmet.

This was the second day, he went to the kitchen got the little chair, put it at the end of the coffee table, and said please...apparently that is the official snack spot.

Uncle Bob called today and said he was in the area at a truck show, so Jonathan took the boys to hang out.

Jalyn got to take home the "class pet" peanut for the weekend and take him to do fun things with him. He went to church this morning also.

Things are crazy busy right now, hopefully we'll be able to soon post more of what's going on but for now, hope you enjoyed the pictures.

How?

2010-01-30T12:31:00.000-08:00

How did he get this big?!?!

Big enough to:

- pick out his own hairstyle (thats been going on since he was 2)

- start forming his own sense of style

- ask questions about God that I'll never have an anwer for

- make his own sandwiches

- start the car to let it warm up

- read books on his own

- check out and read chapter books in one day

- think he's old enough to join the adults in their discussions

- almost be a black belt in taekwondo

It goes on and on....all the things he's growing into. I really can't believe that this 8 year old that is almost as tall as me was ever small enough to be in my belly kicking and causing trouble, even then. It's amazing to see him growing, changing, and developing into his own person.

I loved when I walked into the living room and found him just hanging out and reading....such a big kid....we're very proud of him.

Oh My Boys....

2010-01-20T06:58:00.000-08:00

Boys...for real boys...sometimes I just can't say anything else....

What would cause those two boys to laugh so hard, jump up and down, roll on the floor trying to catch their breath, point fingers at their mom while enjoying something you know only boys thought up?

THIS!!! This is why they are laughing so hard at me, well technically they are laughing b/c they are enjoying what they did to their mother! I opened our bathroom door and this is what I saw....every kind of slithery creepy crawly thing they could find in the toy box to play a trick on mommy!

Jalyn even asked me later if I was sure I saw the big scorpion..."Yes, Jalyn I saw it"!!!!

Seriously, they thought they had played the best trick ever, it was so fun playing it up for them.

The thing is that we're so used to their toy snakes and bugs it didn't scare me as bad as they think it did.

These are just a few pictures that we took at Christmas. Jalyn was so done with picture taking...totally summed up his attitude that day.

Jon Michael just hanging around....Jonathan hung him up on the beam, it was cute.

That's all for now, post more later!

Happy Birthday Jon Michael!

2009-12-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

Today, December 29th, 2009, is Jon Michael's 8th birthday. Since Jonathan was off work we celebrated and had his party at our house yesterday.

Jon Michael helping mix the cupcake batter.

The night b/f his party we told him we needed him to go in the attic and get something out for us. We'd put his present up there weeks ago after we found it on sale.

Impressive gift wrap huh? He's been looking at Tony Hawk skateboards for months now and since he's proven he's actually interested in skateboarding for the past couple of years we got him the one he's had his eye on but he really wasn't expecting to get it. He kept saying, "This is the one I really like, but I'd be happy to get any of them." Needless to say he was happy with this one.

Do you see Jalyn's face in the top of the picture? He's crying so hard b/c he thought Jon Michael was bringing down two boards, one for him also.

This is Jalyn still upset at us! So sad but so funny at the same time! See Samson going down the stairs? He couldn't take the drama anymore either!

The kid's decorated their own cupcakes...it was messy fun.

Icing, candy, and sprinkles EVERYWHERE!

Emma's cupcake covered in pixie stick dust...looked like purple snow.

Colton's "Happy to be at Jon Michael's party" cupcake...in his own words. Such a sweetie....yes, Connie, YOUR Colton!

See the cupcake volcano? His mouth was so full when he took his first bite I thought he was gonna be sick, but no, he set it down and added more icing to the top....yucko!

Jon Michael showing his manly strength by popping the balloon with his bare hands.

Uncle Jonathan hugging/wrestling baby Ariana. She said she saved her ring pop holders for her pacifiers so Uncle Jonathan wanted to hold the baby....of course then she insisted she wasn't the baby.

Setting off the mento pop geyser that was one of his gifts.

We celebrated today by going to the Chipmunks movie with friends.

Christ-mas 2009

2009-12-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

The following is lots of pictures of Christmas 2009. Its been busy, but not as crazy as past years. Enjoy....

Jalyn making his christmas cards for his teachers.

Jalyn wanting to "help" make his stocking. I made very quick ones this year but I've gotta make bigger ones b/c that's where I put the boys Christmas cards that they open on Christmas eve and the bigger ones wouldn't fit.

Jalyns "gingerbread house" he made at his class party at school.

This was his dinner that night! He was tearing it up.

The final demolition.

The boys crushing peppermints for the peppermint bark for the guys that work with Jonathan.

This is what the boys were doing yesterday while watching christmas cartoons. They stuffed pillows up their shirts to look like Santa and then were fighting with their bellies.

Jalyn fell asleep on the way to Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.

Its hard to see b/c I didn't want to use my flash in the church but Jalyn is sitting next to his friend Franco at church....so cute in his Santa hat. He was very polite to the man who asked him if he was ready for Santa to come and if he was gonna get a lot of presents from him.

The praise team leading in Christmas songs.

The boys got to open their stockings for christmas eve. They got to open their christmas cards with money and each got a new shirt and mini skateboards...oh, and a popcorn tin to eat while they played.

Playing with their mini skateboards, with the little bitty shoes on their fingers!

Jon Michaels "eyeclops".

Jalyn's diesel with "hotwheels". I think its the last year he's gonna be the "little boy" who enjoys christmas, he's right on the edge of being the grown up boy who wants video games and more "mature" gifts.

This was hilarious....they opened a manual to an air hockey table...do you see Jalyn's face?!?! They didn't know that we'd put it together while they were sleeping and it was up in the office.

Enjoying their new air hockey table. If you want something that keeps your kids occupied get them an air hockey table, they've played all day.....they did ask to play with the box it came in at one point!

Jalyn playing with his "diesel truck"...he keeps calling it that b/c that's what he calls daddy's truck.

Talking to family wishing them a Merry Christmas.

Playing "Topple". We get the boys one big combined gift (air hockey table), then each a gift, and then I like to get them a game each year, so this year it was Topple, its simple and fun.

I'm sad the "season" is almost over. I love how we say Merry Christmas to the people who check us out at Walmart and the drive thru guy at Sonic, the chipmunks music they boys love to sing to in the car, the christmas praise and worship music I get to listen to during the day at home, the messages at church, candlelight services, parties with friends, and so much more!!! It's such a wonderful season while we're celebrating Christ's birth.

We had a good and peaceful Christmas day. Hope ya'll's was the same.

MERRY CHRIST-MAS!!!!!

December Happenings

2009-12-08T11:33:00.001-08:00

Its December so of course a lot has to be going on, but we're doing good keeping it all going at a good pace. Here' lots of pictures of some of whats been going on.....enjoy.

The boys working on their gifts for the girls of the family.

We are making almost every single gift we're giving this year...I have loved it, the boys are really putting an effort into what they think everyone would like.

I walked into the living room and found this going on one day after school...Jon Michael reading Jalyn his library book...one of those few peaceful, scene's b/w brothers! I love that Jon Michael enjoys reading, Jalyn would love to, he's always on the look out for his sight words and he's trying to write so he's constantly sounding out things...which of coures doesn't always work in our english language...we're always telling him, "Yes, thats how it sounds but this one breaks the rule." What's the point of rules that are constantly broken when learning?!

Here's pictures of the Houston Blizzard of 2009!! Samson standing on the back porch looking at me thru the door wondering whats going on..see his hair blowing in the wind? I put our christmas party drinks outside to be cool instead of taking up my fridge space!

Snow (sleet) on my hoodie after walking back from the neighbors house.

HERE IT IS!!!!!! YES, THE BLIZZARD!!!!!! THOSE ARE TEXAS SIZED SNOW DRIFTS!!!! Well, not texas sized like bigger than life, texas sized like we don't get snow 'round here!!!!

Really this is as much as we got, we actually got more in our few hours of snow last year, it all stayed down south of us, so the pictures you were all seeing of Houston on the national news were just frustrating my boys!!!!

Pictures of our "non-small group christmas party"! This is a group of friends that were originally in a small group together but we're all in different places and churches now but we're still family! I can't imagine having Christmas w/o these guys. Mr. Jeff is checking out Jalyn's toolbox that holds art supplies.

Jackson and his nerf sword.

Chris and Nathaniel playing with his gift.

The boys checking out Jon Michaels shotgun....Mr Rob knows him well, from all of those nights of bible study at our house when the kids would all come downstairs with some kind of weapon!

The kids all draw names for a gift exchange and here they're ripping into them.

The adults play white elephant gift exchange...this is Rob with his coat they had unwrapped. Sarah had brought it wrapped up as a gift, he had left it at their house. It was so funny.

The boys working on more Christmas gifts.

Jalyn using some of the paint that came in his art toolbox.

This is the picture he's working on...can you tell what it is? Its HURRICANE IKE hitting our house with a lightening bolt!!!!! I'm not kidding, thats exactly what he told me when I asked. Maybe he was working thru some issues he still has left from the storm...I know I am...seriously, I don't sleep when it rains now...that's a whole 'nother story.

And this is Samson during the blizzard and cold weather warning...such a hard life!!!!

Ok, we'll have more later as the business continues!

Holiday Time = Busy But Good Time

2009-11-29T14:16:00.000-08:00

Yeah! The holidays are here in full swing! Its a busy time but its also a great time. Below are tons of pictures of all the things we've had going on.

The boys have been wanting roller blades for a long time but I told them I wouldn't buy them new ones b/c they might not like it once they got them and I wanted them to fall and scratch up used ones first. So I found them some at Goodwill for $6.99 and $4.99...within one day they had mastered skating and on this day I found Jalyn asleep with his on!

Up at the school parking lot learning some more.

Jon Michael loves his, I'm constantly picking them up out of the floor. It was so funny watching Samson pulling him like a sled dog.

Jalyn had his Thanksgiving play. (you can't see him behind the little girl)

Doing some motions to a song.

The boys made turkeys and sent them to all the grandparents. They LOVED getting their hands covered in paint.

A rare quiet moment when I wasn't the one with the camera.

We had a craft night at my house with some of my friends from church...it was great! We all worked on different things, getting a headstart on Christmas crafts. Chrisitine brought her sewing machine and some super yummy cupcakes.

You can't have a craft night w/o lots of snacks, so we had cookies, pumpkin bread, homemade salsa, stuffed jalapeno's....so yummy! You have to have something to do while all the paint and glue is drying!

Sarah caught up on her daughters kinder. pictures in her scrapbook.

Look at that skinny girl!!!!!!! Tammi and her super cute fleece blanket.

I couldn't post pictures of the crafts that Connie and I worked on b/c that would give away our Christmas gift ideas!

The boys wrestling with Daddy...they still can't team up on him and win...one day...

This is Thanksgiving Day, on our drive to C.S.....eatting donuts for breakfast.

You would think it was a long haul trip or something!

Its my tradition to decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving dinner. I really wanted to go with a new Christmas color this year around the house but I didn't think Jesus would to happy with debt just to decorate for his birthday!!!!

The boys always love decorating their mini trees, every morning the ornaments are in a new spot. They can't seem to keep their hands off since they're allowed to actually touch them.

This is the first year I've brined our turkey....SUPER SUPER SUPER YUMMY!!!! Jonathan said the white meat was juicier than the dark meat...it really was the best turkey and leftovers we've ever had...I'll always use a brine now.

Jalyn LOVES his elf hat. It was the first thing he wanted out of the Christmas boxes when I got them out of the attic.

Jon Michael has really been into making paper snowflakes...so everyday we get to vacuum up "snow" pieces...but he's loving it.

This is what the boys were doing while I was decorating the porch the day after Thanksgiving.

The boys and a neighbor took turns doing dangerous but fun things together....I kept the front door open while I was working in the front room and I kept going out to check b/c they were just laughing hysterically from all the fun the were having.

It seems from here until Christmas we have some activity every single week. I love it!

This holiday season has already been so much fun and I loved hearing the boys conversations turning to deeper things this year. At church they are saving their change to help give Christmas to 100 families and they are really into it. Jon Michaels heart is really understanding more this year, its great to see him grow and have loving thoughts of his own, not ones we've just put in his head.

Ok, we'll post more soon, have a great time celebrating OUR SAVIORS birth!!!!!

Smarty Pants!

2009-11-06T16:43:00.001-08:00

Jon Michael brought home two awards last week. One for not missing any school and another for the honor roll. We're super proud of him!

He has his daddy's sleepy eyes when its time for a picture!

Showing off his "wavy" tongue and awards.

Good job Jon Michael! Keep up the good work.

Celebrating!

2009-11-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

Its midnight and I'm tired BUT I can't sleep, I'm blaming the awful daylight savings time aristocrats for it. Anyways, it provides the perfect time for me to blog (except for trying to not disturb my sleeping husband with my typing!).

I've struggled a lot in the past with the celebration of halloween and being a christian...a few years ago Jonathan had me listen to some ladies who say that since God has tons of celebrations in the bible that we should take advantage of a worldly thing and turn it into another time to thank God and just enjoy celebrating...celebrating what? Anything, everything, God is good.

So we don't celebrate halloween and we don't trick or treat but we CELEBRATE in other ways. The boys have always loved costumes so its the time they get a new dress up outfit and they have so much fun being in character with their costume the rest of the year. One of my favorite things is finding the boys all decked out in super hero or pirate costumes out of the dress up basket, just pretending and playing. Since we don't trick or treat we do lots of treats of our own. We have in the past done trunk or treat, which is what the boys call halloween, and gone by a couple of friends houses to check out costumes, this year the mosquitos were just to bad to be out, the few treats we handed out at our door resulted in huge bites that I got in our own house.

I'm trying to figure out another way to word our celebration but not say happy halloween...This year I said Happy Orange Day....I know stupid but I couldn't think of anything else and I had a whole theme going all day so it works for now. Luckily I have awhile to think this through for next years celebration.

Ok, enough jabbering, enjoy the pictures, like I said, its late, I'm tired, they are not in order, as usual just check out the captions!

Daddy and Samson playing superheros, mixed with castle and dungeon...the boy has an imagination! I love seeing Jonathan spending time with the boys in the ways that mean the most to each of them. He had spent time playing with Jon Michaels checkers treat so this was his time with Jalyn.

Since we don't trick or treat and load up on pounds of candy, I took the boys to the store and they got to pick out a toy and some candy of their choice. They both got color changing cars.

Jon Michael working on the stripes for his car.

You know those sticky hands? (I really want to call it a booger hand, b/c of the texture, but Jonathan thinks I've lost all sense of propriety when it comes to snot and boogers...the boys have been a bad influence on me!!!) Yep, one stuck to my ceiling...I don't have a picture of the marshmallows stuck to the front room ceiling from the marsh. gun last year....life in a house of boys...such fun!

This was Jon Michaels candy choice, candy eyeball checkers!!!

Told you these weren't in order, this is our pumpkin cake to go with our orange day theme.

( I was just looking at the picture and thinking how funny it is that I'm going darker and darker with my hair as most are going lighter and lighter...just a random thought...its pretty funny when I run into people back home (College Station) and they are shocked b/c they still think of me as my natural blonde...)

Kissy Face Black Ninja and Pirate...

Jalyn coveting pumpkin cake!

Jalyn practicing his sword skills with Daddy b/f getting into his pirate costume....this isn't an unusual sight at our house...when we have bible study all the kids, little girls included, have some kind of sword or weapon!

Happy Orange Day breakfast....orange iced cin. rolls, and egg and sausage scramblers with cheese (the cheese made it orange), and of course orange juice to drink later.

Ok, that was our fun weekend with the boys. It just happened that it was Jonathan's weekend off from work so it truly was good family time, all spent together...good times and good memories.

2009-10-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

I've been debating for days on whether I was gonna post these pictures or not, but they are a big milestone for Jalyn, and super cute. I promise he's not naked, he'd just gotten home from taekwondo as soon as he'd hung up his clothes I told him to come and read, so he was in his cute little undies.

This is the first book that Jalyn has read by himself! He was so proud. Jon Michael has been reading chapter books for so long and Jalyn has wanted to read but now he really can say that he can do it. We're so proud of him. He was NEVER interested in learning while he was home with me. Jon Michael loved to do workbooks and I can totally see how homeschooling would work with him, but Jalyn, no way, not interested....BUT in school in a classroom setting he has just taken off and is doing so well (a relief to this mommy!).

He was attempting to be modest and cover his "undies" but I think that might have backfired since he looks naked.

And speaking of Jalyn.....we found this lost dog on the way home from school yesterday. Jalyn LOVES animals, he keeps asking,"If we can't find the owner can we keep him?" I said,"I don't know someone else might want him". Oh my goodness, you would have thought we were gonna be sending the dog to a death squad or something! He was so sad and tears started forming...it was cute. So for now we've got two dogs and the boys are LOVING it.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

2009-10-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall Everyone! Its been a busy one for us. This post has a lot of pictures, I thought I'd just put it all into one instead of multiple posts.

This is the front porch decorated for the fall. The door banner I've had for a long time, it says, "Give Thanks". God has been showing me so many things that I'm truly grateful for. Don't get me wrong, I'm always thankful but it usually the typical, "I'm thankful my family is healthy, I'm thankful we live in America", etc....But He's really been impressing true thankfulness on me lately and really feeling it not just thinking it.

I had a garage sale a few weeks ago and a neighbor thought these were fake on the porch....I cringed when she asked! That's one of my biggest pet peeves...DON'T PUT FAKE PLANTS IN YOUR YARD!!!! I told her no they weren't fake but took it as a compliment.

I saw Jon Michael on the couch and wondered when I got old enough to have a kid who could just hang out on the computer!!!!

The boys wanted to play in the front yard the other day. I went out later to check on them and this is what I found....them playing with "creatures". (Notice Jalyn's pal, Samson, in the mix?)

YES, creatures meant SLUGS!!! Such little boys! I was gonna say, only little boys, but I know some girls who would think this was cool also.

We went to a tailgate party at a church down the road from us last Sunday. The boys had a great time. Jalyn liked "banging" the frogs with the big hammer.

Jon Michael waited in line for over an hour to do this! He loved it, can you see his smile? I kept asking him if he'd rather go do something else and he said no and then when he was done he said it was worth the wait.

Doing some flips on the bungee thing.

Saturday Jon Michael had his last taekwondo tournament of the year. Jalyn is standing and doing the student oath.

Jalyn keeping busy doing his "art". (Yes, it is a dinosaur! Good job!)

Doing a pattern.

And another pattern.

He had just put his mouth piece in getting ready to spar and I told him to turn around and smile...so funny.

Jon Michael and Christian posing for a picture...I told Christian he should have sparred so he could beat up Jon Michael.

The Winner..(yes, that's Jon Michael).

Again, The Winner.

Final Match.

Final Winner.

He got a bronze in patterns.

Gold in sparring.

He loves tournaments, we've thrown around the idea of traveling next year for him to go to tournaments out of our area. He always leaves meeting a new friend, he says that's one of his favorite parts. I think he likes the sparring just as much though! ( I didn't get a picture but his eye was pretty red after the 3 matches, I asked him if he got punched in the eye, he said, yep...then just walked away like it was all no big deal! I think he even enjoyed that!)

Ok, that's all for now, of course we're busy with school and church and family stuff but this was the biggest stuff at the moment.

Have a great FALL!!!!

Cutie Patooties!

2009-10-08T06:52:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of the boys this week....they are so cute...and the older they get so much more enjoyable and fun to watch.

Sunday afternoon they were just playing around and decided to be a human burrito....they laughed and laughed while they tried to roll into the blanket.

Jalyn's trying to kiss Jon Michael, which he was only trying to do so that the wrestling would continue...they love to wrestle...I usually have to leave the room b/c they get so rough but at the same time they're screaming they're laughing hysterically.

Such cuties...

Today kinder. dressed up as their favorite character from their rhyming section...Jalyn wanted to be Jack from Jack and Jill....he wouldn't let me wrap the bandage around his head...

This is his Jack face...he's pretending to be hurt from falling down the hill....he did let me put a bandaid on his head, and he told me to fix his hair "flat" b/c Jack wouldn't have worn spikey hair...so cute.

Typical Evening in Our Home

2009-10-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

(Ok, so this picture totally goes with the stuff at the bottom of this post but I can't get it to move its just stuck right here!!! Its Jalyn exercising with me while Jon Michael is building with blocks in the background.)

Yesterday I loved how our evening went after school. Just thought I'd share a few pictures. I was folding clothes on the love seat and looked across the living room and the boys were each doing their own thing and it was nice to see them settling into our evening routine.

Jon Michael doing homework.

Daddy and Jalyn reading his library book.

Then after Jonathan left for bible study I took a break from housework and did my P90X workout. I haven't done it in awhile b/c I've been plagued with bladder infections again and its impossible to do jumping and all the things required...goodness, I can't even walk or sit sometimes when I'm having bladder issues, so P90X is totally out during those times. Anyways, I've really wanted to get back into working out and just got over my latest infection so I decided I better jump on it while I could even though my body is still so worn out from being sick.

Jalyn LOVES to workout! He has his own dumbbells and he uses the bands when he can't do the exercises with the weights, its so cute! Here's a few pictures from that.

This really is one of the exercises, you put your feet in a chair and do incline pushups...he loves it and always asks if he's doing it right.

(This is where the picture at the top was supposed to go....Jalyn was doing another weight lifting exercise and he said, "Momma, I can feel the burn a comin'!" Really that's how he said it, "a comin"....it was so funny!!!!!!!)

This is Samson while I workout....a dogs life....so sweet....

You know you're getting old when....

2009-09-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

Interesting title, huh? Well, it's official, Jonathan and I are getting old...how do I know?

We BOTH forgot our anniversary yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We knew it was coming up and even talked about the fact that we only had today to go to lunch b/c Jonathan is working everyday this week. We just didn't realize the actual date was yesterday.

I mentioned it to Jon Michael this morning that Daddy and I had forgotten our anniversary...he was so mad at us!!! He loves birthdays and anniversarys. He told us that we need to go to a movie or dinner or on a date....I love that! Then he said we needed to b/c then he could have a babysitter and that's always fun...selfish motives, of course!

SO, we've now been married 13 years (that in itself says we're old)!!!

Jonathan paid me a huge compliment last week, he said he couldn't ever marry anyone else b/c no one would take care of him like I do and it wouldn't ever be the same.

I love him.

Can I say that again? I love him. I love that he loves me and our family. I love him.

We've been through a lot in the past 13 years, good and bad, but it has all made us stronger and more grounded in our marriage. There is no one I'd rather go through life with, he really is my best friend.

I love him.

Busy Boys

2009-09-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Things are busy around our house...as they are at yours I'm sure. Jalyn was home sick last week (you won't be able to tell from the pictures!) so housework was put on hold, as it should have been, and some close and personal time was spent together. We had a garage sale this past weekend and that kept us busy preparing and actually holding it...the kids had a great time hanging out during the sale though.

He had a temperature but with the new swine flu rules he has to be fever free w/o med's for 24 hours and it had only been 12 so he got to hang out at home with me. Since he was feeling fine we did our own school work. He loved making his own letter book.
Sitting on the coffee table putting his book together.

This is his new smile...as tight as he can get his lips...so funny....

Practicing his letters...apparently proud and clapping for himself!

He had a few moments he didn't feel 100% so that required VERY close contact, sitting on the couch while he played super hero's on my leg.

These are my friend Genelle's boys...we did the garage sale together. Even the youngest boys are facinated with weapons!

And he's pretty good at defending himself! The boys thought it was so funny that Giani wanted to play with them.

Jonathan started the motorcycle and it startled the little man.

He loved pushing all the buttons...such a boy.

Testing Time

2009-09-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Jon Michael belt tested again this past Saturday. He is now a red tab. To get to black belt he has red belt, black tab, and then black belt. So he's getting close.

Patterns.

The front row and back rows started in different positions so during their patterns it was like a choreographed dance...very cool.

Jalyn playing with a super hero during testing.

Doing kicks...double front kick....seriously I don't know what its called but that's what it looks like to me!!!

This is the only clear self defense picture I could get b/c when he was taking them down or punching they were just a blur.

Two on one sparring, Jon Michaels the one in the middle. He had so much fun, he kept talking about when he got one of the others cornered and he kept hitting their head.....such a boy.

Getting ready to break....two solid boards...

Finished breaking...two broken boards...

Mr. Webre signing his boards.

Mr. Dillan signing his boards. You should see the stack of broken boards he's got in his bedroom!

They are here!!! They are here!!!

2009-09-14T09:44:00.002-07:00

HONEY CRISP APPLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ran to HEB for some fruit and meat this morning and almost walked right past them. I know a lot of you tried them for the first time last year and fell in love, not with the price but the taste is so worth it!! Most of you know I'm SUPER cheap but this is one thing that is 100% worth the cost. I seriously plan on having one for lunch...yep, only one b/c they are so huge. They did have "normal" size ones this time along with the normal HUGE size.

Ok, I know wierd random post but this was to important, I had to share!!!

Hurry, hurry, go get your apples!!!

New News

2009-09-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Lots of new things happening in Jalyns little life. Its been very neat to watch both boys since school has started. Jalyn getting to try and learn new things. The more I watch Jon Michael I'm impressed with the different facets of his personality...he's a lot like me...he's kind of a loner, thats why I don't get many pictures of him b/c he's doing things on his own, he enjoys reading, he loves science this year, he likes to play computer games and board games and figure out brain teasers, and he also loves being active in taekwondo, trying to skateboard, playing basketball...he's a good mix. Jalyn is our social one, it might take him a little bit to warm up to you but when he does you can't stop him from talking to you and telling you about things in his life.

Ok, enjoy the pictures below...all of Jalyn...it seems I can only catch Jon Michael at taekwondo...

Jalyn trying cookies and milk for the first time....he didn't like the milk but he enjoyed the experience of dunking cookies.

Jonathan taught him to ride his bike w/o training wheels b/f I could even get the camera out.

Learning to turn.

So cute watching him pedal like crazy.

Jalyn has LOVED art class. Any free time that he has at home he's either drawing or cutting or taping paper...he told me this morning he needed glue, so I'm sure he's thinking of some art project in his mind.

See the construction paper all over the living room? I'm constantly either picking it up or telling him to pick it up b/c like I said he's always "doing art" now. Such a good daddy to lay in the floor and show him how to draw things.

I wish I had a picture of Jonathan and Jon Michael on the computer the other night....Jon Michael was playing a hunting game but the deer was hunting the hunter, he loved it.

"Oklahoma O.K."

2009-09-03T07:06:00.001-07:00

If you're not from Oklahoma or into old musicals you didn't get the title of this post...its from the song Oklahoma...

Anyways!!! A few weekends ago we went to Oklahoma for Jonathan's family reunion. It was held near Broken Bow, Oklahoma, in Beavers Bend State Park. It was lots of fun and the weather was AWESOME! Sitting by the pool the second night I actually got a chill from the wind! Don't misunderstand me, I LOVE Texas but a break from the sticky hot weather was great. There's lots of pictures below of the trip. We all had such a great time we want to go back and just spend some time hiking and stuff.

I knew there was a Braum's in Idabel so we stopped there for dinner and Jalyn got his first "real icecream" (sherbert), cherry limeaide flavor....yuck, but he loved it!

First cool picture at the visitors center.

This is a creek that comes right off the river...we explored it the next day with the cousins.

There was a nature center with birds and inside a collection of snakes and bones and stuff, fun for the kids.

Jalyn was nervous the hawk would attack if he turned his back!

Silly cousin picture....Jalyn not participating!

Part of the creek we explored...it was so much fun with the kids. I told them this is the kind of thing that I used to love to do when I was a kid in Oklahoma.

Another part of the creek....the kiddos did really good for awhile, figuring out the best way to stay dry then they just gave up and started sloshing thru the water wherever they wanted.

Hanging out at the campground. Jonathans dad, Jonathan, Justin, Ana, and walking by in the back is the guys 1/2 sister.

Praying b/f lunch.

The boys brought almost every toy that they owned but the hotwheels were the biggest hit. They weren't sure what to do when we got there and I told them to grab their cars and go make roads in the dirt and bridges and stuff...they loved it and it was so much fun to see them just hanging out with cousins and playing and getting dirty from head to toe! I love it when kids can just be kids.

Uncle Jonathan playing with Milliana....why didn't we get to do this with our own babies?!?!

Snow cone time.

That night after the reunion was over and we had eatten dinner we went back to the creek for one last time, the boys found little bitty fish living in a pool in the rocks. I love seeing my boys being boys!

Walking back from the creek, Jalyn brought back this "walking stick" that he found and many rocks!

We had such a good time. It was very cool to sit there Saturday afternoon and listen to the family go over their ancestory and how they had come from Mississippi (Choctaws are one of the tribes that were moved along the trail of tears from their homeland) to Lousianna and then on to Oklahoma and how some of the family left on their own b/f the trail of tears b/c they wanted to go on their own not be forced by the government.

It was a great little get away b/f school started.

"We know we belong to the land

And the land we belong to is grand"

A line from Oklahoma, it really felt true while we were out with the kids in the woods and being in nature. Very much a reminder of how amazing this world is that God created.

Back to School

2009-08-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well, today was back to school for Jon Michael and the first day ever for Jalyn. Jalyn told me this morning while he was getting ready that he was so excited. I love that our boys have transitioned so well into big kids.

We just got back from Oklahoma last night (pictures and new post later) so the boys schedule was really off. Jon Michael couldn't go to sleep and after Jonathan went to work at 11pm he got in bed with me....then in the middle of the night Jalyn was totally awake so he climbed into my bed...then around 5am fell out of the bed! So it was a restless night but they were up and ready to go this morning, with no complaining.

The boys weren't cooperating with pictures this morning! But this one really does show their personalities!

Big boys walking to school.

I tried to get a good picture b/f they went into the school and as you can see they were hot and miserable from our one block walk so it didn't happen. (We got spoiled in two days of Oklahoma weather!!! I love Texas but a break from the coastal heat was WONDERFUL!!!!)

The first day of the rest of his life!!! Jalyn's backpack is as big as he is....

We met their teachers on Friday, Jalyn got Jon Michaels kinder. teacher so he was ready to go and very comfortable. We visited Jon Michaels new teacher and room and felt very good about it. I'm so excited for them! It was awful to see all the crying kids, and mommies, this morning! I wished all kids could be as excited as the boys were.

We'll keep you posted on the exciting things going on with the boys and their school lives.

Little Ninja

2009-08-15T00:13:00.001-07:00

I heard Jalyn playing in the front room the other day and when I went to see what he was doing he took off running. Here's the chase in pictures....

Uh, oh, he caught me looking...so up the stairs he went.

He's laughing as he's running away from me.

Cornered in the office! But he's off again...

The chase ends in his bedroom with him drawing his sword on me!

Thanks Mr. Dobson! You've created a monster....Oh sorry, I mean NINJA!!!

Camping Trip

2009-08-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

Jonathan's been wanting me to post something new for awhile. Its 2 am on Saturday, I just went grocery shopping at Kroger (they were doubling coupons up to $1!!!!!!!!!!!! I saved $45!!!!) and now I can't sleep so I figured now was a good time to go thru the pictures and post what we've been up to.

Last Tuesday Jonathan took the boys to Lake Bryan to go camping. Here's some pictures from their trip.

This was Jalyns "prize" he brought back..."police sunglasses", they found on the beach. He loves those things.

Why does this hug look like a headlock?!?!

Two brothers fishing.

Jalyn caught his own fish, did it all by himself, casting, and everything.

There was a burn ban and they couldn't cook the hotdogs, so Jalyn got to have his ideal dinner....bbq chips, cin. roll, and gatorade!

I love this picture...two brothers just hanging out in the water, talking.

Jon Michael helping set up the tent.

The boys had a good time. Jonathan said when it was time to go to bed in the tent Jalyn looked at him and asked, "Is it safe in there for me?" So funny...

Thanks Aunt Tab!

2009-07-23T15:50:00.001-07:00

Thank you Aunt Tab...and Uncle Brent, and Kiersten, and Aubrey! Jalyn loves his army gear.

Thank you to everyone who sent birthday money. We went in with him and he got his own Nintendo DS. The boys love being able to play together now....and there's much less fighting over the one DS.....so thank you from me!

Taekwondo Testing for Two

2009-07-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

Today, Saturday, was belt testing for both of the boys. It was SUPER long day, Jalyn tested from 10-12 and then Jon Michael until 2:30, but the boys did great, check out the fun pictures.

This was last night, I walked downstairs to tell them they needed to go to bed and they were already out.

Jalyn doing punches and kicks.

Jalyn sparring.

He broke his board! He was so excited it was on the first try.

Mr. Dobson giving him his new green stripe belt. He skipped a stripe belt today.

Mr. Webre signing boards.

Mr. Dobson signing his board.

Jon Michael doing a pattern.

Only four testing in his rank..the higher he gets the smaller the group.

Stick self defense....taking down his attacker.

Jon Michael was the attacker and Jason is disarming him...and readjusting his spine!

Jon Michael sparring with Mr. Dillon.

Jon Michael breaking his board.....first try also!

Mr. Roy signing his board....Jon Michael has been with Mr. Roy since he was in the preschool class, they love their instructors.

New belts and broken boards...what a great day!

Happy Happy Birthday!

2009-07-16T16:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Jalyns birthday. We had a Pirate/Snake party (try finding invitations for that) at our house. Here's lots of pictures of the party....you know me, I'd love to be a perfectionist with this whole blog thing but to keep from becoming that I didn't put the pictures in order, just check out the captions.

How old are you? 5!

Samson getting some love.

Mr. Dobson, Jalyn's taekwondo instructor, showing him how to use his gift. We think Mr. Dobson should do his own tkd birthday parties!

Genelle and Baby G enjoying the cupcakes!

Showing off his gift.

Mr. Dobson showing off...oh sorry, giving a demonstration! It was very cool to watch.

Opening Mr. Dobsons gift....can you tell from all the gift pictures which was his favorite gift?

Blowing out the candle. We had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with pirate treasure (gold choc. coins) to top them off.

So calm and collected...with a python on his neck!!

Easton showing off!

Genelle not to sure of the whole snake thing.

Comparing the snakes length to Jalyns height.

One of many snakes.

Mr. Dobson checking out a snake.

The first snake....he loves this stuff!!!

Checking out Mr. Clints snake bite....YES, I said snake bite!!!! Great! Just as we're about to show and handle snakes!!!!

This was late last night, I looked over and Jalyn was hanging out, watching tv, eating some birthday candy. The relaxing end to a great day!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for his birthday or sent cards and gifts. We are so very thankful for the friends and family that God has brought into our lives. Thank you for being a part of great memories with our family.

Look, Look!!!

2009-07-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

After the hurricane people were putting all kinds of things out on the curb. Sometimes they had just a very little amount of water damage. We "picked up" 3 dressers, 2 headboards, and a footboard. We took the dresser drawers off for me to use in a craft I've got planned for later. Today we got around to the headboard and footboard craft I've had in my mind for months.

I love working with Jonathan on this kind of stuff!

Jalyn cleaning off sheetrock dust on a board.

Our makeshift sawhorse! A lawn chair and car jack!

Here's the backside of the headboard. The boys always love to "help" in anyway they can.

LOOK a bench!

It's a full size headboard and we thought about making it into a daybed but we thought we'd practice with a bench first.

Staining the night away!

Ta Da!!!!!!

I LOVE IT!!!!

I've always wanted a pew (I know kinda strange) and this thing is as heavy and almost as long as one. We're already planning our next project when we come across another headboard.

Fantastic 4th!

2009-07-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July. It all started July 1st, we had a church picnic and celebration at our church office/house. (It is a house that's been converted to office space across the street from our actual building.) The boys had so much fun. There were right at 90 people there, a great turn out. Jonathan worked on the 4th but when he got home we went for a walk and then did a few fireworks. You could only buy the little ones b/c our area is so dry right now but it was still lots of fun for the boys.

Jon Michael and Matthew playing volleyball.

Kids water balloon toss.

Adult water balloon toss. Pastor Mike and his son won...think that was rigged?

Since we couldn't do fireworks, the kids popped packing bubbles. It was crazy how much it sounded like black cats being set off.

Tammi getting in on the "firework" action!

Jon Michael loves smoke bombs, especially since Daddy lets him light them himself now.

A tank face off.

Getting ready to do battle with the tanks.

A firefight!

About 11pm, we could hear big fireworks going off in some of the neighborhoods, so Jonathan took the boys outside to sit on top of the expedition and watch them....such a good daddy.

We hope your 4th was great, I was reminded over the holiday how amazingly blessed we are to live in the United States and thanked God for that.

Family Frenzy

2009-07-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, Bob and his family came down for the weekend. It was a busy weekend with lots of things going on...car show, duck pond, birthday party, etc...

Here's a few pictures, enjoy!

Bethen and her birthday gift from the boys, twirling in her ballerina costume.

Her birthday cake.
We did a tropical pool party and Court did this awesome cake in a sand pail, so cute!!!!

All the kiddos.

Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Court "raining" the kids with water.

Ha, Ha, Carlos!!!!! Court got a duck!!!

Oh wait! She got TWO ducks!!!!

Zeke fixin' to feed the ducks.

The girls keeping their distance from the ducks.

So cute! The boys have another boy to play with in the family!

Court doing her "wifely duty"....helping load up the precious motorcycle!!!

The kids had a great time. After church on Sunday they were loading up to go and Emma Leigh lost it! She was shaking she was crying so hard! It was good to know she had a good time though. Court said when they got home she was already asking to come back.

Ok, I'll try to get back into the habit of posting. Stay tuned!

Just Foolin' Around...

2009-06-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Just a few random pictures of the boys I've been meaning to post...enjoy!

Jonathan grilled some t-bone steaks a couple of weeks ago.

This is Jon Michael enjoying his steak!

Yes, this is steak night...and Jalyn eatting strawberries instead...each of the boys have a touch of my "food issues"...Jalyn doesn't like meat very much and Jon Michael enjoys the same kind of spicy food and NO RANCH, like me.

Jon Michael was just hanging out on the back porch by himself, when we checked on him Samson had decided to join him....super cute, I think Samson was wondering just like we were what Jon Michael was out there thinking about!

This is Jalyn climbing his doorway like Spider Man...yes, his older brother showed him how...AND he told Daddy he needed help to get down.

He's grown so much he can now touch the bottom of the spa and the shallow end of the pool and keep his nose above the water.

Its all about Grayson!

2009-06-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful friends Brad and Haley got to come and spend a night with us over Memorial Day Weekend. It was such a sweet time of hanging out....we were able to just pick up where we'd left off.

Now on to the really important part...GRAYSON!!!! Of course, he's the only one we got pictures of...b/c once you have kids nothing is about you anymore...sorry Haley!

Brad and Haley are such good parents, it was fun to see them interacting with Gray and how they let him be the little boy that he is. Speaking of being a little boy, I didn't get any pictures of him snacking on Samson's dog food!

Jalyn entertaining Grayson with a paper plate puppet.

Grayson amazed with Jon Michael.

Grayson feeding Jonathan cheerios.

I love this one...

Thank you Brad and Haley for driving the extra way to visit us, it was the best visit we've had in such a long time.

Baking the Day Away...

2009-06-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was our last womens bible study in the series we've been doing. To have a fun ending we all brought dessert to share. I had found a new cupcake recipe a few weeks ago and Jonathan wanted to try them so this was the perfect opportunity to give them a try.

Jalyn and I spent most of the day baking and then letting them cool so that we could ice them.

I can't remember their official name but they were white cupcakes with choc. truffles baked in the middle. Then we made homemade lemon honey icing.

THEY WERE YUMMY!!!

Jalyn putting the truffles into the middle b/f we baked them.

The final product....the recipe called for coconut to top them but since so many people don't like it we did half and half.

They were so good Jonathan had me make another round on Sunday!

Tournament Time Again...Yes, Again!

2009-06-02T15:17:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday was our local TKD tournament. I was having a garage sale (trying to help put a dent into the hurricane debt) and missed the tournament but Jonathan got some good pictures.

Jon Michael medaled in patterns, sparring, and breaking.

Doing his pattern.

Getting his medal for patterns.

Sparring...I hope the other boys is blocking well here!!!

Breaking the board with his kick.

He loves competing in tournaments, its his favorite part of TKD. I really like that when he goes to tournaments he's so good at meeting other kids in his bracket and getting to know them.

We're Still Here!!!

2009-06-02T15:07:00.001-07:00

For those of you who've been wondering, we are still here! Its just been incredibly busy lately. The end of the school year stuff, teaching womens bible study, friends visiting from out of town, parenting class, learning how to be a couponaholic (totally a word I just made up!), and STILL trying to catch up on all the work around the house from the hurricane.....so keep checking I have quite a bit to post to catch everyone up on whats been going on down here. (The only reason I'm finally taking the chance to post now is that Jonathan is at home resting and I'm at TKD with Jon Michael so I have a break from things at home and can just sit and blog.)

Here's just a couple of pictures of the boys, including Samson, eating watermelon last night.

Like I said keep checking back as I try to catch up on the blog!

Another New Baby!!!

2009-05-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Tab's new baby girl.

Newest Williams!

2009-05-03T19:43:00.001-07:00

Here's a few pictures of the newest addition to the Williams family. We went up this past Friday and got some pictures for ya'll to check out.

Poor Milliana, Jalyns squashing her face!

Look at his smile...he loves babies.

Having some kind of serious discussion with Papa John.

Wrestle time with Uncle Jonathan...it can't all be about the baby!

Papa John holding Milliana...I think Ana said that she weighed 5 lbs 12 oz that day.

Jalyn wanted to take her picture when they got home and she was sleeping...so itty bitty in that huge car seat, huh?

H.I.T.T.

2009-04-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was HITT, Houston International Taekwondo Tournament. Jon Micheal competed in sparring, patterns, and breaking (plastic boards). Here's some pictures from the tournament...you know me, I'm to busy to actually get them all in order so just read the captions and you'll get it!!! Some of the pictures are very dark, it was very strange lighting and I tried using and not using the flash but they still are weird, sorry!

Second round of sparring.

Gold Medal in sparring! Can you tell the other kids are kinda disappointed?!?! So sad!

The winner....first round of sparring.

Silver medal in patterns.

Getting ready to perform his pattern, second round, competing for first place.

Jalyn doing his thing to keep busy. We usually find an out of the way corner and plop down the backpack and toys and try to stay busy. Its a very long day for him (me too), we got there at 8:30am and left at 2:30pm.

This was this afternoon (Sunday), the boys swim while I work in the yard and mow. Its the first real swim day they've had this year.

Samson was worried about Jon Michael. When he dives and swims from one end to the other, Samson runs along the side of the pool and whines until he comes up...sometimes he even nips at him when he grabs the side of the pool.

Ok, that was our busy weekend! Hope everyone else's was good, even if it was busy like ours.

My Manly Men!

2009-04-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Here's just a few pictures I had filed away of my "manly men"...enjoy!

Jonathan benchpressing Jalyn...(can you tell he dressed himself?)

Of course you can't do one and not the other!

Jon Michael trying to benchpress Jalyn. Jalyn's so trusting....I'm sure that'll get him in trouble later as they get older!

Now trying to lift Daddy.

Poor Samson...he's not as trusting but he has no choice!

The boys love learning to work on things and build. He was so proud that Daddy let him do all the work installing his new kickstand. He found the right socket all by himself and everything.

See that man right there? The handsome one... That's a good daddy...

Busy Weekend

2009-04-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

It was a crazy busy time for us this past weekend. I left Friday morning and headed to Carthage to pick up Court and the kids. Then we headed to Durant for Tab's baby shower on Saturday morning. Then we headed right back to Carthage after the shower and then I headed home to Houston after dropping them off!!! Then we got home and had a busy Easter Sunday but it was all great. Here's a few pictures from the weekend.

Jonathan says its so sad that I'm the tallest one in the picture!!

Easter egg hunt at our Baptism and Party Sunday night.

This is Karen, such a wonderful example of God moving...what a blessing she is to me.

We had a great Easter. There was some HARD rain but by the afternoon it was sunny and great. That morning we had so many at church we had to add chairs in the back. God is bringing visitors to our new building, its an exciting time. We had 5 people baptized that night, just another example of Him moving in people's lives.

We hope your weekend was great and you got to celebrate Easter in a wonderful way!!!

We're In Our New Church Building!!!

2009-03-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

Two Sundays ago we finally got into our new church building! Its been a long process b/c it was on a piece of land that had nothing and had to have all the huge city water lines and everything brought to it. Of course lots of issues with permits and inspections and stuff as usual. The delays though allowed us to be able to afford to pave the parking lot b/c the price of oil went down during the process! This was something that wasn't in the budget before but it is SO NICE to be able to have it paved b/c the rock and dirt that was there b/f was awful when it rained. We had 195 people there for the first service, it was amazing. Because we have this location we are now able to have more bible studies take place, this week we are starting mens and womens bible studies, and the response for the women has blown us away! Over 30 women have signed up! I even had a lady ask if all that signed up were actually from our church! God is moving, its great! Here's a few pictures of the "Homecoming Day"...

Pastor Mike, reading scripture and praying b/f the ribbon cutting

Church leadership team and Pastor's family getting ready to cut the ribbon

This is our baby room, its where I serve in the nursery

The boys looking at the mural in the elemen. room

The foyer, guest desk and nursery check in station

The sanctuary, you can't tell but there are two sections this size of seating, with an aisle in the middle of the two

Mr. Buddy having a ribbon cutting into the childrens hallway of classes

In the corner of the property is a little garden

So if you're in our area we'd love for you to join us! We're a small but growing church body that loves the Lord and each other.

Spring Break Pictures

2009-03-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

We had a long and busy spring break but a very good one also. We visited all the grandparents on my side of the family and traveled through 7 states! I didn't get a picture of it but in Missouri as I was driving down the road (it was night and dark) I saw a little flashing light on the shoulder ahead of us....as I got closer I realized it was a buggy!!! I'm assuming Amish, there were lots of signs to watch out for buggies on the road...so cool, I felt so bad for them though b/c they don't have headlights and the highway we were on didn't have streetlights so if a car wasn't driving by it was pitch dark!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We made it home with my great grandmothers antique sewing machine and an uncles and my grandpa's carpentry tools and cases that were handmade...very cool....can't wait to be able to get to work restoring the sewing machine.

My turn! I've been tagged!

2009-03-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Carissa tagged me....here's the forth picture in the forth folder on my computer...not very exciting, huh?

My friend from church and I saw this cross at a craft show this past December. I always take pictures of crafts ideas that I'm "stealing"!!!!

Not sure how many I'm supposed to tag so I'm gonna tag:

Ana Williams

Kaylene Carpio

Same thing, post the forth picture in the forth folder in your computer.

(Stay tuned, soon I'll post pictures from our spring break across 7 states and of our new church building, we had our first service this last Sunday.)

Testing Time Again...

2009-03-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

No, not belt testing, allergy testing!!!! I've been putting it off but I really needed to get it done, Jalyn's eczema acts up more now like when he was a baby so I wanted to see what was going on.

This time was MUCH better than the other times we've had it done. Neither of them used numbing cream and until the blood work part there were no tears. Now the blood work part was pretty rough but at least it was the shortest part of the whole day.

I PROMISE we feed the boy!!!

This is first time w/o the numbing cream, he was AWESOME!

This is Jon Michael's itchy dance.
They each had their moment they thought they just wouldn't be able to handle it anymore!

Poor Jalyn, laying on his arms so he wouldn't be tempted to scratch.

We won't have any definite results for a week, after the blood work comes back. Jalyn still tested positive for milk, and a LOTS of what I call "hay fever" allergens...he basically looks like my test results, high on trees, grass, pollen, dust mites, weeds, etc.... Although Jon Michael is the one who they always see his eyes and say, "Look at this text book case of allergic signs", tested positive to nothing on his back as far as "hay fever" allergens. He had a few little reactions to some foods but not milk, but the blood work will tell us if that's true or not and what others reacted this time. Its always an interesting day when its time to test but its so much better knowing whats going on with their bodies!!! Let you know what happens with the blood work in a week or so.

My WONDERFUL Husband!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ya'll, I've got a WONDERFUL husband!!! I could go on and on about how hard he works for our family, how he allows me to stay and home and actually believes that it is a job and a calling for his wife to be at home, how he loves our boys, etc... The last few days he's absolutely reminded me how proud of him that I am, so I thought I'd brag on him!

This is the boys at the school book fair, Jonathan LOVES that his boys love books. Don't get me wrong he loves that they like taekwondo and basketball and fishing but he is so impressed that they love to read books and he loves to buy them for him, sometimes when the boys are gonna get a prize for doing something that's what he'll buy them, books.

This is my WONDERFUL husband who knows nothing about appliances but will dig into a problem and figure it out. He doesn't automatically call the repair man, he gets his tools out and gets to work himself. This is what happened in our house just a little bit ago, my dishwasher wasn't working, so he FIXED IT!!! He looked at the electric stuff, looked at the motor, figured out where the problem was and fixed it!!!!

It was not an easy job to even get started with! The wonderful builder layed the tile and grout right up to the bottom of the dishwasher, so he had to bust the grout out b/f he could even pull the washer itself out. Jalyn loves to "work" with his daddy...so cute.

Working away...

This is the car he traded his truck for. His truck was at the point of fixing to need some major repairs to keep it running correctly. A friend of his in Bryan has always been interested in his truck so he ended up trading vehicles...Jonathan says he got the way better end of that deal but such a blessing that we won't have those truck repairs coming!

What else? My throttle body on my expedition was going out and kept randomly dying on me when I was driving and he got another one for $80 compared to $300!!!!!!!! He not only will do the work himself he will do his best to research and find a great deal.

Have I said how WONDERFUL he is?!?!

Here's the real kicker......his ankle area has been hurting him for about 3 weeks now, well there's no telling how he hurt it...banged it on some stacks of trays, jumped out wrong of the diesel, etc....We've still been working out while he's been saying how much its bothering him, he's been going to work, basically going on with life. Well he decided since it was still hurting him and he's on vacation next week he'd get it checked out and if he needed something for it he could rest it and take the med's all next week while he's not having to miss work. He went into the doctor and get this....his leg has a HAIR LINE FRACTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The doctor said he would usually put a boot on it for about 3 weeks to let it heal BUT since its already been about that amount of time he's just gonna let him rest it next week and check it in 2 more weeks. (I seriously wonder sometimes if our high pain tolerances sometimes do more harm to us than good!!!) So my WONDERFUL husband has been working not only his regular days but some extra ones with a fractured bone!!!!!! He's such a great husband, I'm so proud that he's mine!!!

Taekwondo Testing Time!

2009-03-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

Today was Jon Michael's testing for blue tab (he has a green belt with a blue tab, which means his next belt is all blue). Here's pictures from his testing.

This is what Jalyn does for the hour and a half during testing...McDonalds, toys, nintendo ds game, etc....

Sparring was done with their hands tied behind their backs..very fun to watch.

This is his self-defense...do you see him tripping that girl?!?!

And now taking her down?!?!

It's all good...she got him back!!!

What a sweet gentle smile on her face while she takes him down!!! I love it! Is it ok to enjoy watching your son being wiped out by a little girl?!?! Maybe that'll keep him in line as he grows up!!!!!!

Kicks...

Doing his break...got it on the first try!

Getting his board signed by the owner of Cypress Taekwondo.

Mr. Roy signing his board, this was one of his preschool teachers when he first started taekwondo.

Big smiles with his broken board!

A Boy and His Dog...

2009-03-02T15:47:00.001-08:00

A Boy and His Dog,Edgar Guest

A boy and his dog make a glorious pair:No better friendship is found anywhere,For they talk and they walk and they run and they play,And they have their deep secrets for many a day;And that boy has a comrade who thinks and who feels,Who walks down the road with a dog at his heels.He may go where he will and his dog will be there,May revel in mud and his dog will not care;Faithful he'll stay for the slightest commandAnd bark with delight at the touch of his hand;Oh, he owns a treasure which nobody steals,Who walks down the road with a dog at his heels.No other can lure him away from his side;He's proof against riches and station and pride;Fine dress does not charm him, and flattery's breathIs lost on the dog, for he's faithful to death;He sees the great soul which the body conceals--Oh, it's great to be young with a dog at your heels!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Sometimes You Just Need A Good Laugh!!!

2009-02-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post these pictures for awhile but this week I decided I really needed a good laugh....I thought some of you might also!

This is a card that Jon Michael got at his birthday party....I think it'll be a keeper...something I pull out when I need to forget myself and laugh it up.

Just in case you couldn't read that, here's a larger picture!

Yep,...it says "poop"!!! Did you see that the card was from a family with only boys, imagine that, huh?!?!
Love it!!!! Smile so big every time I read it!!! Thanks for the laugh, Crumptons!!!!

What a Wonderful Dad!!!

2009-02-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

My husband is a great dad! He does things for my boys that I would automatically say no to without even thinking. He totally understands the concept that they're boys and sometimes they need to do fun boy things.

Football practice with Dad.

Fencing practice with Dad.

"Camping in the living room!"

The tent is big enough for us all to sleep in OUTDOORS...not meant to be used indoors...in fact that was probably printed somewhere on a tag that started with the words, "IMPORTANT, CAUTION, OR SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS"...followed by instructions that said to not set the tent up in your living room....but whatever, who needs to read crazy instructions, when the boys want to have fun and camp inside!!!

Like I said, he's a great dad, he makes the boys smile and me too when I can stand back and watch the fun things he's doing with the boys that they are thoroughly enjoying.

Pick Your Battle...

2009-02-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

For those of you that are parents....you know the saying, "You have to pick or choose your battles." with your kids?

This was one of those days! Jalyn was so excited he figured out how to wear his rockets "uniform" while wearing "warm" clothes!

Believe me I did try to get him to change the pants at least but I could tell it was going to become a battle so I let it go and right now he's in the front room playing and having a great time!

We'll see what happens when we go out in public later!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

2009-01-29T12:50:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I know some of you have been wondering where we are! I haven't posted anything new in so long! Well, I thought I'd show you just a few of the things that have been keeping me away from the computer lately.

Here's few things that have been keeping me busy...1. Medicine-muscle relaxer for my neck and back, antibiotic for bladder infection, others for other things! 2. All the supplements bottles in the back (NO we are not taking all those, just pulled them out to see what we had) represent the new workout program that Jonathan and I are doing together 3.The basket of invitations is for our womens ministry retreat that we're busy with at church

This is the stack of boxes and "stuff" waiting to go up the stairs into the attic...we can't do that yet b/c we still need to arrange the insulation that got moved while trying to catch water in buckets during Ike.

This is the hallway leading to the office, which you can't get into b/c it is our storage unit right now.....when I can get the rest of the house in order and painted I'll be able to unpack boxes and get the office back in order.

Not sure why this picture is up and down but whatever! This is the other thing that I've rearranged my days for......getting back into a routine of reading the bible and loving it....I know "quiet time" looks different to different people and I had to find another way for it to work for me....mornings don't and evening's don't so I've found the time that works for me right now.....Right after lunch! Since I'm so blessed to be a stay at home mom, I can fix lunch for Jalyn then put on cartoons and I retreat to my bedroom and read. I've been amazed at the things that God has already taught me during this time! I don't know if its b/c I'm awake, not thinking about the things I need to get done b/c I've already been working on that list, or what but its a time that I've found that I can really focus and its been great!!!!!!!! He's taught me things that are going on in my life that I haven't been particularly searching for scripture for, its shown me how God can use whatever you're reading in scripture to apply.

SO, we are still around, things are just busy and don't look like they'll slow down for awhile but that's ok. Its a busy time but a great time also.

Black Belt Testing

2009-01-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

Today was black belt testing for the Phoenix Group, the group that our Taekwondo school is a part of. The boys had a great time watching their friends and instructors testing.

Watching this guy jump over the group of men and break his board was pretty cool.

This is Mr Webre, our schools owner and the boys instructor. He was testing for his IV degree black belt. He's getting his boards set up for his special break.

And now he's breaking!

This was a break we hadn't seen before.

Mr. Howard putting on Mr. Webre's new IV degree black belt, jacket, and pants.

Very cool day for the boys. Of course when we got home they super hyped up so there was lots of "breaking" and "fighting" going on.

Another Eventful Week at the Williams House!!!

2009-01-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

Does that picture scare you?!?! It should!!!! This is what happens if you live at the Williams house!!! Just kidding....its a long story and just another sad thing in a long line of sad things that have happened to our household lately!!!!

On New Years Day we were getting out of the car at Walmart and as I was unloading Jalyn, Jon Michael let out a blood curling scream....I thought he'd been hit by a car...so I dropped Jalyn and ran around to the other side...I saw Jon Michael ripping his thumb out of the closed car door!!!!!!!!! We went inside and I got ice from McDonalds. I wasn't to worried b/c kids slam their fingers in car doors all the time...well by the time Saturday rolled around his thumb was bigger than Jonathans but it was his birthday party and our family was in town and he said it wasn't bothering him that much. Sunday it wasn't any better so Monday I sent him to school and told him that I would pick him up later to go and see the doctor.

Well, the doctor was concerned it was so big and it was almost 5 days after the actual incident so he took x-rays.....the result....OUR FIRST BROKEN BONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its just a fracture, the tip of the bone is fractured probably from when he slammed it and then pulled it out w/o opening the door. Then the fun part!!!!!!!!!! The doctor proceeded to tell us that he would have to drain the blood that was pooled in his thumb...Jon Michael is paying very close attention but it wasn't sinking in yet...I said, "So you'll need to make an incision?" (Trying to use big words that J.M. wouldn't catch on to.) He said actually we'll go thru the finger nail....then he looks at J.M. (if I'd known I was gonna blog when he was born I might have thought of a shorter name to type!!! Not really.) He told J.M. there's a lot of blood in your finger that has to come out...he's ok at this point....if we don't get it out it can't get better and you could get sick....he's ok still....so we're put a needle....DIDN'T EVEN GET THE REST OF THE SENTENCE OUT!!!! Jon Michael is now in full out sobs.....so sad!!!! So Jonathan and I had to hold him down while they drained the blood...that makes it sound like it just flowed out on its own..some of it did but some didn't so that meant the doctor had to squeeze the thumb...if there was any new patients in the office I'm sure that J.M.'s screams sent them running!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our boys have been poked so much with their allergy testing and blood work that needles terrify them! So we reverted to the bribery tactic!!! If he would calm down we'd go and buy him the game he's been wanting.....I seriously wouldn't let him walk out until he calmed down b/c the people in the waiting area were looking to see what was going on....he did let loose again in the car though....thats the picture above!!!

The game that got him to calm down long enough to walk through the waiting room.

Can you tell he's still in shock?!?!

This is the other event....our dryer has been taking longer and longer to dry...if you know us we're all about being hands on and not paying for something we don't need to so Jonathan is back behind the dryer taking it apart and I'm on the phone with my dad getting tips on things to check!!! We actually had planned on buying a new dryer soon but with the computer, stove, and garage door that all died on us the last few weeks that will just have to wait a little longer!

Man it's been busy since Ike hit!!!!! We just keep getting slammed!!!! I will say that there have been days that I've been extremely angry...as sad as it is that's my default mode when I'm stressed - Anger....BUT I haven't gotten down and depressed, Gods showing me how strong Jonathan and I are together and how weak we would be w/o Him.

So that's our update! Jon Michaels on antibiotic to keep infection away b/c he has a hole in his thumb nail and we've gotten the dryer to dry in 2 cycles instead of 3! Progress!!!

Family Fun!

2009-01-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

Justin and Ana and Carlos and Kaylene came down yesterday and spent the night so that they would be here for Jon Michaels birthday party today. After we worked on the cake this morning we went for a walk to the pond.

Looks like a mini family reunion.

Rolling down the hill.

Lots of fun rolling.

This is the "setup" picture...Justin rounding up the ducks....Carlos preparing to pounce...

This is the result....Carlos looking silly trying to catch a duck!

"The Duck Whisperer"....trying a different approach to catching a duck.

Anika and Samson out for a stroll.
We haven't been together as a family in months, since b/f the hurricane so it was a great time.

A very sweet time with our family...and friends that count as family....so sweet to hear our boys calling Carlos, Uncle Carlos and loving their time with the cousins, including Easton. These are the kind of days that good family memories are made of.

Party On!

2009-01-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today was Jon Michael's birthday party....his first real one...it was great!

Jalyn enjoying the snake....do the words enjoy and snake even belong in the same sentence?
The birthday boy got to get the snakes out of each of the bags.

Ariana wasn't to sure about things.

Anika and Easton enjoying the snake.

Jalyn really had a good time holding the snakes.

Jon Michael holding the star of the show...an albino python!

The guys holding the big one!!!

Aunt Ana being adventurous!

The snake cake that Ana and I worked on this morning.

He had a great time.....all the kids did. Even his friend that was scared would touch the snakes with her finger and did help hold the big python for a picture. I would recommend Clint The Snake Man to anyone, he did a great job teaching the kids about snakes and safety while being fun. Don't think we'll ever be able to top this party for him.

(Hey Nick V., you weren't here for us to get a picture with the python!!!!)

Birthday Cake

2008-12-29T20:12:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I was just complaining about how much a store bought cake costs....it tasted GREAT!!! We let him pick what he wanted and he picked a specialty cake, not the kiddy birthday cakes (which I don't think are worth the price), he picked AWESOME!!!! Jonathan and I both agree that it tasted better than cakes you get at a restaurant for dessert.

So little but so much flavor!!!!!

He didn't understand us...we said to eat it with his mouth....he thought we meant to put his face in it!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't think he was to upset about the misunderstanding!

YUMMY!!!!!!!!

Ok, just wanted ya'll to see he actually had a birthday cake!

Happy Birthday to You!

2008-12-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

Jon Michael turned 7 years old today! Here's some of his day....

This is what he woke up to this morning....I got up last night and put up the streamers and balloons. It was pretty funny to lay in bed this morning hearing him and Jalyn trying to figure out who had done it and when.
I also put balloons all in his room while he slept....that was the sound I woke up to....balloons be "vollied" all around his room.

We ate at Texas Roadhouse for dinner...he's still loving the cheese but he does have allergic symptoms.

He was so worried I would forget to let him ride the saddle for his birthday.

Trying to catch peanuts in his mouth.

He's busy playing the Wii with his dad right now so we haven't done the birthday cake. I'll post those pictures later. I had to buy a store bought cake b/c we haven't gotten our new stove yet...it about killed me to pay that much!!!! Its just a simple one, I'm making a snake cake for his birthday party this weekend.

Christmas Happenings

2008-12-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures of this years Christmas celebrations. Once again I've had a horrible headache all day, just like at Thanksgiving, which turned out to be a sinus infection, so we didn't "celebrate" as much as usual but we had a great relaxing day basically took it easy and laid around in lounge clothes all day....it was nice.

Yesterday we went to Bryan so the cousins could open gifts together.

Jalyn playing with the game Aunt Ana got him.

The boys excited about the workbooks Papa and Grandma got them.

Tearing in to the new punching bag.

Jalyn posing in his Kung Fu Panda sleeping bag.

Jon Michael's new i-dog, dancing to music.

We decided to take a Christmas morning walk to the ponds....the boys wanted to ride.

Feeding the ducks.

Samson on guard for ducks.

Jalyn trying Jon Michaels "moon shoes"...they're like mini trampolines.

Like I said it was a great lazy day for us, we weren't able to do our birthday cake for Jesus since the oven isn't working but the boys loved seeing themselves in the mirror for What God Wants For Christmas devotional. We hope everyone had a great day....

Merry Christ-mas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!