Let the updates begin...My 33rd Bday!

I celebrated my 33rd birthday in late June. I kicked off the day by running 4 miles with my Team in Training buds at 6:30 am. Then, the kiddos greeted me when I got home and gave me my gift...a print out describing the new iPhone coming out July 11th! I cannot wait to get a hold of that...Erick has had one for awhile and it is absolutely awesome!

Then, the five of us went to brunch at Breadwinners and sat out on the patio. It is amazing how much better our kids act when we are outside. If it wasn't so dang hot here in the summers, we'd sit outside at every restaurant that had a patio!

I spent the afternoon getting a massage and then Erick and I had a date night at a great new restaurant around here...Loft 610. Fabulous food, fabulous atmosphere and great service!

It was a fun birthday made so special by my family!

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours!

Deep Thoughts with Natalie

As I was putting Nat to bed last night, she asked me this question:

"Does God love Satan?"

Oh my! Any takers on that one? Please comment if you have a suggestion on how to handle that one. I told Natalie it was tabled for discussion later.

It amazes me how her young mind works!

My New Love...

This is my new love...

I had been wanting a Dyson for so long, and now my dreams have finally come true!
It actually makes vacuuming a pleasure! : )

I will admit, though, that the first time I used it I was shocked by how much dust and stuff it picked up out of my carpet. I had just vacuumed a day or two before and thought the carpet looked clean. Oh my...it wasn't!
Amazing what great suction that thing has!!!

Conversation of the day....

The following conversation happened tonight at dinner with me, Natalie and Will (to preface this, you need to know that the kiddos had been calling each other names for about an hour before this conversation occurred)...

Momma: Y'all stop calling each other names! Do you think Jesus called his family or friends names?

Will: No

Natalie: No

Momma: Y'all need to try and be like Jesus. Why are y'all calling each other names if you know Jesus wouldn't have done that?

Natalie (with a super "duh mom" tone to her voice): Uhhh, cuz I'm not Jesus!

Not quite the way I wanted this "learning moment" to end, but I had to laugh! Kids are so blunt and literal!

Giddy Up!

Natalie has decided to try a new "sport." She has signed up to take horseback riding lessons this summer and today was her first one. She rode a horse named Emma and did just wonderful! This may turn out to be her thing...she seems like a natural out there! She wasn't fazed at all by the 90 degree heat, the smell of poop and the countless flies everywhere (but her momma and Will sure were!!). She was SO excited that she came downstairs this a.m. in her boots and jeans and she even wore them to VBS! Here are a few shots I took...

I have been tagged by Jill

Getting to Know You....

1. What time did you get up this morning? around 6:30 a.m.

2. Diamonds or Pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Can't remember...how sad is that???

4. What is your favorite TV show? American Idol, Grey's Anatomy, Oprah, So You Think You Can Dance, love all the Dateline or 20/20 shows, Law & Order SVU, I am a Game Show Network junkie : )

5. What did you eat for breakfast? granola bar and three cups of coffee

6. What foods do you dislike? sushi; liver; venison; tuna; cottage cheese; beets

7. Your favorite potato chip? Baked Lay's

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Don't really have fave CD...Favorite songs are Mercy by Duffy and Song of Hope by Robbie Seay Band. I also really like Our Song by Taylor Swift.

9. What kind of car do you drive? 2002 Ford Explorer

10. Favorite sandwich? A Schlotzsky's original is the best!

11. What characteristics do you despise? laziness; negativity; deceptiveness

12. What are your favorite clothes? summery dresses; jeans with tees/sweatshirts

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Ireland, England, back to Italy or Maui

14. What color is your bathroom? Dark green faux paint on walls

15. Favorite brand of clothing? Nordstrom, Talbot's Petites, Old Navy, Target

16. Favorite time of day? Evening...when my three munchkins are in bed for the night!

17. Where would you want to retire to? close to my kiddos...hopefully somewhere around here

18. Favorite sports to watch? NFL football; tennis; olympics

19. Coke or Pepsi? Diet Coke

20. Are you a morning person or night owl? Night Owl

21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Can't think of any

22. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher and then a stay-at-home mom...done both

23. What is your best childhood memory? Going to the mountains of New Mexico with my aunt, uncle, cousins and grandparents every summer...such fun!

24. Nicknames? Leli, Babe, Hon


25. Piercings? just my ears...too much of a chicken for the other piercings


26. Eye Color? Brown


27. Favorite day of the week? Saturday


28. Favorite restaurant? too hard to have just one...Jasper's, Del Frisco's, Taco Bueno, Fireside Pies, Fearing's, Original Pancake House, etc.


29. Favorite ice cream? Bluebell homemade peach or Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia


30. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? SUPER TARGET!!!!


31. Bedtime? I’m trying to fall asleep around 11:00 or 11:30


32. What are you listening to right now? The news; baby monitor, clothes drying in the dryer


33. How many tattoos do you have? Not a single one!!!


34. Next film you'll see? Indiana Jones???

35. Tag anyone? Yes…Kate, Christy , Stephanie & JB

Random Pictures

Just a few random pics I thought were worth sharing...

Natalie and Will enjoying a backyard picnic complete with hotdogs and smores (they built up an appetite after playing at a local water park all day)!

Natalie's bedroom door...the other day I went upstairs and noticed she had put a star on her door under her name...she has also told me she wants to be in movies and be famous...the star would seem appropriate then! Heaven help me!

Flexible sleeper!
Erick went to check on Spencer yesterday and this is what he found.
It's as if Spence was so tired he just fell forward from sitting up and crashed!
His feet were right by his ears...glad it was him sleeping that way and not me!

My second sleepyhead!
I went to check on Will today during their rest time and this is what I found...he wore those goggles to swim lessons today, to his naptime and in the bath!

And finally just a shot of my love-dove! I believe this was at her last-day-of-school party! I love her so very much!

RANT!

Today our neighborhood pool was closed AGAIN for FECAL CONTAMINATION!!! This is the 4th time this has happened since the pool opened less than a month ago! Get a freakin' swim diaper...double up on them if you need to!!! The pool has to close for the day every time this happens and it costs our HOA over $350 to clean it up! Ridiculous!!!

CELEBRATION!!!!

Last night we CELEBRATED big time with the Mida and Dunn families. We went to Fearing's restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas. We have always loved Dean Fearing's food and we were so excited to try out his new place! He actually came out and we got to meet him and chat with him for a few minutes...I think my chef-husband was in culinary heaven! The food was FABULOUS!!!

Anyways, here's a brief list of what we celebrated last night...

Father's Day for Erick, Harry & Ron
My parents' 40th anniversary (was April 27th)
Erick's parents' 35th anniversary (will be August 3rd)
Our 10th anniversary (was March 7th)
Janet's new job
Dad's successful surgery/recovery & being cancer-free

Those are just a few of the recent blessings we celebrated last night.

God is so very good!

Father, Dad, Dada, Daddy, Poppa, etc.

Happy Father's Day 2008
to the wonderful fathers in our lives!
We honor you today for all the ways you have blessed us!

Opening gifts this morning before church...

Erick, Will, Spencer and Natalie at lunch after church...here's to the BEST DAD ever!!!

Me and my Daddy!

Erick and his Dad, Harry

Erick's other Father's Day gift...he walked in to get Spencer from his nap this afternoon and this is what he found....Spencer sitting up all by himself!!
What a big boy! Time to lower the crib!

Tiffany's Wedding

One of my best friends, Tiffany, got married Memorial Day weekend at the Four Seasons in Las Colinas. I was a bridesmaid and Natalie was the flower girl. We had the weekend of a lifetime! It was so special to spend that time with Tiffany and the other bridesmaids celebrating Tiffany and Brandon. Below are just a few pictures...I think between the 5 bridesmaids, we took several thousand pictures!!!

Tiffany was one of the most beautiful brides ever! She looked like she should be modeling! What a joyous day...a day we have prayed about for quite a while! Brandon is an answered prayer!

Natalie was absolutely beaming all day long! She thought she was HOT STUFF!

The wedding party goofing off...what a fun group!

This is when the reception really got fun...first, the groom and groomsmen all jumped in the pool (in their tuxes) at the Four Seasons! At this point, the gals were just thinking we'd put our feet in and this would be a great photo-op...

...and then, we decided to jump on in too!! Great action shot (and it was captured on video)!! It was a fun ending to a wonderful day!

At the reception with my two sweeties.
We danced, ate cake and had a great time!

8 Months Old Today!!

My sweet baby boy, Spencer, is 8 months old today! He is looking like such a big boy. He has five teeth (and a 6th is about to poke through), he is getting some thick hair (light brown), he is trying to crawl (but he can quickly roll wherever he wants), he can sit up pretty well (with a little support), he LOVES every food he's been given (except peaches) and he is demanding table food when he sees older brother and sissy eating it (he had some lasagna noodles tonight).

This first year of his life is flying by....I can't believe we're four months away from his first birthday! He has a very pleasant demeanor (except when he's teething) and he sure loves his momma (he's started reaching for me and he cries when I walk out of the room)! He squeals all the time and enjoys baths and gnawing on anything and everything he can get into his mouth!

I took this picture after we ALL had a rest today (including momma)!

Doesn't he look so "big boy?!" He loves just lounging in his diaper.

Here are the five teeth I mentioned earlier (3 on the bottom and 2 on top)...he wasn't too keen on me pushing up his nose and upper lip to get a good shot! He has five teeth before his sister or brother ever got any (Nat didn't get any till she was almost a year and Will got his first at 8 months).

My handsome blue-eyed boy after his bath tonight...I could eat him up!!

PRAISES!

Just got to give a couple of "shout outs" for some awesome PRAISES this week!

• PRAISE for my friend Kate and her family...for knowing where God wants them to be!! And DOUBLE-PRAISE that God wants them to stay here right now!!

• PRAISE for my good friend Jessica in TN...she had her third baby girl on June 10th...welcome, Anna-Leigh! I'm sure she'll be posting pics on her blog soon...check it out...Jessica's Blog

Where does the time go?

I have been a bad, bad blogger lately. We have had quite a full plate with end-of-school activities, Tiffany's wedding, Dad's surgery/recovery and just normal everyday life with an active family of five! I am going to try and do a few posts tonight to catch up. This first one is just some random pics from the past few weeks. I promise to do better at being a more regular blogger this summer...pinky swear!!

Sweet brothers having fun!

Natalie getting an award at her school.
She received the award for OBEDIENCE in her class...I'm framing that sucker!!
It's funny how kiddos can be so different at school than they are at home!?!

Last day of school...June 6th.
Will and Mrs. D...we love her!
Will had a fabulous year in PK3!
On to PK4...

Nat's last day of kinder.
I CANNOT believe I have a FIRST GRADER!?!
Mrs. H was an absolute blessing for Nat this year...we love her so much!

Field day at school!
My friend captured this picture of Natalie...looks like she's getting ready to cheer!
She had a blast!