Conversations with Amy

Holiday Pictures from Matt's Ipod

2012-01-09T23:20:00.009-06:00

More Photos From Christmas

2012-01-09T16:10:00.024-06:00

Simon getting ready to leave for school on his first day back (after Winter Break)

To me, he looks a little British with his longer hair.

Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to school I go!

Simon was SO EXCITED to return to school.

Evie posing for a picture next to the creek behind the McDaniel's cabin.

Legos!

The picture is a little blurry but the sign says, Lego Show Admission $1

The older cousins entertained themselves with making creations, and they learned a little bit about business.

You can see Frank enjoying the Lego show.

What a bargain.

Matt's mom told me that when Alex asked for a dollar she said she might not have a dollar.

Alex said it was okay, that she could just write a check.

Later that night he asked her if she'd written the check yet :)

Simon learned a bit about business, too.

My mom reported to me that Simon told her she only had to pay 50 cents since she helped make the signs.

A View from the historic Grove Park Inn in Asheville

Simon and Matt looking out

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday.

Simon wanted to know how many years were between 33 and 100 so that he could go ahead and make me a birthday card for each year.

The kids and Nana and Papa checking out some of the gingerbread houses at The Grove Park Inn which hosted the national Gingerbread competition.

Nana and the kids making their own gingerbread house.

Simon and Papa exploring outside.

A 4 hour mountain hike and exploration with Papa was the highlight of Simon's Christmas.

I think he'll always remember getting to the big rock and eating 3 oranges with his grandfather.

This picture needs a frame!

Winter Angel!

Last night Evie asked what Jesus was doing in heaven.

Did He sleep? I told her that God never sleeps

(hasn't she been listening as I've said Psalm 121 over her since she was born?)

Anyway, Evie is now worried that Jesus doesn't sleep because He doesn't have pajamas.

But, we sleep because we do have pajamas.

But Jesus needs pajamas. Momma, can we get Him some pajamas?

Matt and the three redhead boys set up a target practice.

These next pic are in the home that my parents rented just outside of Asheville.

It was a nice year to do something different as a family since it was the first Christmas without my dad's parents.

Intimidating

Scott and Tania

Christmas Eve Photo Ops

2011-12-24T21:09:00.011-06:00

With downtown Ringgold behind us

Come on in!

Dreamy-eyed child on Christmas Eve

We went to a candlelight service, and we took photos on the way to church - at the Depot - and afterwards I had a little photoshoot with Evie and her doll.

I hope Evie grows out out her parenting skills.

It looks like she is poking her doll in the eye ...

Now here's something you don't see every day ...

A family photo shoot around a cannon.

Here Evie is putting her doll into the cannon.

Looks like the baby didn't fit.

Oh, no, we've been shot!

"Let's get-em!"

Matt's parents and brother Ollie

Looks like they are working on the same team, at least.

Shazaam, it's a cannon!

Handsome!

Outside Nana's house before we left for church.

Stolen photo op outside Nana's house.

Simon looks so much like photos of Matt at this age.

This reminds me of a picture I have seen of Matt, as well.

Downtown Grapevine and North Pole Trainride

2011-12-21T17:28:00.005-06:00

Yesterday we had a nice holiday and kid-appropriate outing.

We saw a 30 min Garfield Christmas Special and the classic Frosty cartoon at an old restored theatre in downtown Grapevine.

Downtown Grapevine looked picturesque, but somehow I neglected to snap a picture.

My sister Kellie and her daughter Mylie.

Evie and myself

Evie enjoying her popcorn.

Then we saw boarded the North Pole Express

(after a fun pre-show that included Simon getting up and singing in a microphone!)

The inside of our train car.

It was decorated very classic and traditional.

Remind me, "I'll ride the boat, but I won't ring the bell!" :)

Simon and Alex participated in a little song and dance.

Striking an end-pose

The kids received a nice bell keepsake.

Here I am securing Blaize's inside a hidden pocket.

Gigi and Evie

Alex and our in-car entertainer

All of us outside the Depot

You can see what Evie thought of Santa.

She's quite scared of Santa.

Earlier this season we heard, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on the radio.

Evie asked me if the Santa man was really coming to get her.

And "he sees you when you're sleeping" ... well, she's scared he is looking into her window at night.

Santa giving the kids a bell if they gave him a smile.

I was relieved Simon didn't yell out, "I know you aren't real!"

Or, "You sit on a throne of lies." :)

Evie's School Program and Simon's Sleepover

2011-12-12T22:06:00.006-06:00

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

So, I realize we just skipped from August 4th to the end of November.

I'll fill in the gaps sometime.

There are some cute pic somewhere of Simon's first day of First Grade, and some cute pic of the fall festival, and of Evie on her birthday.

Of course, since they are my kids, they are all cute photos.

Evie took to a creative spot for her afternoon silent reading time!

She doesn't actually read yet, but don't tell her that!

Simon had an entire week off of school.

He had a friend sleepover one night, and they had a great time together.

Thankfully, they did not stay up UNTIL PAST TWO like they did on Simon's birthday!

Just two little guys in stealth mode armed with a single lamp, a few legos, and endless supplies of knock knock jokes. It was actually a funny story, because Matt and I were asleep by 10, and we thought the boys were asleep. Around 2 I checked on them when I happened to wake up, and they were huddled around the lamp in Simon's room with legos.

I asked how they had stayed up so long, and they said they'd been telling knock knock jokes.

My only regret is that I didn't video tape them. It could have gone viral on youtube. They were so delirious and quite entertaining.

There's my handsome kid!

Every kid needs a loyal friend!

Simon and Timmy are actually in the same class this year.

So far, so good.

This kid was a trip. He is in third grade, and he had Evie wrapped around his finger!

They played restaurant for the longest time. Then, he recruited Simon and Timmy to join him, and he made himself manager! Good business brains ...

Evie in her pilgrim garb after her program at school.

We had an hour to kill before her dr's appt for her allergies, so we stopped at one of my favorite places - a thrift store!

The secret to thrift stores is that you have to go as much as you can. Even if you only have a few minutes between errands (it helps that one opened a mile from me).

Stopping in frequently means you get a good handle on prices, store policies, store layout, and, of course, better dibs on "new" merchandise.

I took these pic of Evie because she was so cute. She kept picking up things and telling me who we should buy them for. Apparently she thought Uncle Scott would like these flowers and the pillow in the previous pic!

The Thanksgiving Program at Evie's school was a riot.

Can you see Evie? Middle row and fully in character as a solemn pilgrim.

She didn't move a muscle the entire time - through all the action songs!

And you can see she is sitting between two boys were were crying THE WHOLE TIME.

I loved how the school had the kids make placemats ahead of time!

And having the kids plates already made with such kid-friendly foods was genius!

Simon's Birthday - Aug 4th

2011-12-04T21:14:00.005-06:00

Wow, I am so behind on posts!

Simon turned 7 in August!

Seven seems so big to me!

Simon is full of creativity, questions, introspections, interesting point of views, hilarious comments, and energy!

(speaking of energy, his eye was almost swollen shut the week of his birthday from a literal run-in he had with a corner

Here is Simon putting together a Lego set that his grandparents in Georgia sent him.

Simon is officially Lego-Crazy!

And I am always on the lookout for a good deal on Legos!

We scored a great one on Black Friday, but that is skipping ahead three months :)

Simon's first toy-love, though is Army Men.

All kinds - the cheap ones at Dollar Tree, though I despise those!

They are always breaking apart, and it looks like we have an army of zombies.

And we have enough zombie talk in our house without those ...

My favorite Army Men that we have are his Toy Story Men. We purchased them at Target in a cute white tub and they are very stable, have interesting poses, remind me of Toy Story, and most importantly, they do not become zombies after a few minutes of play!

For Simon's Birthday, we bought him a WWII set of Army Men. Their are four armies with four different colors of soldiers. Each army has a flag, and Simon really enjoys this set.

Pretty much any toy of Simon's becomes an 'army man' of sorts.

He can play for hours with Lincoln Logs and Blocks, but his is mostly using them to represent men, tanks, castles, snipers, fortresses, etc.

Here two armies are about to collide at the "Battle of the Oatmeal Bowl"

Evie at swimming lessons in August.

Whew, remind me NEVER to sign up for outside lessons in August again!

Where have I been?

2011-07-24T16:24:00.013-05:00

If you wondering at our absence lately, from blogging and social circulation, wonder no more!

We are simply trapped in our house.

Here is Matt trying to work on a project - doesn't it look like an ideal workspace?

Now, before you call the show Hoarders, let us explain.

Also, you can put away your kleenexes as we are not moving.

The explanation for this chaos is some foundation work that had to be done INSIDE OUR HOME. We had approximately 9 huge holes dug under our slab foundation so we had to basically pack and move our three bedrooms and half of the living room into the kitchen area.

It has been lovely.

And, we had to have all the floors removed.

This is our hall.

This is our hall with a man's head poking through.

They jack-hammered to break the concrete; then they used shovels to dig the holes. We had wheelbarrows going out of our house to the front yard where they dumped the dirt.

It was LOUD when they were using the jack-hammer!

I had planned to be gone with the kids this day, but they were over an hour early.

We were all in the kitchen, in our pjs, finding an empty place amidst the boxes to eat our oatmeal, when they came driving up.

We couldn't get dressed fast enough!

They were covering up closets, etc, with tarp even when we still needed simple things like clothes from them ....

A sight I never imagined.

You can see three holes in this picture.

The generalization of the work is that we needed to lift the mid-interior of our home.

Our front had been raised years ago, by a previous owner. So, the front of the house is much higher than the middle. The back soil of our house is heavy in water, so the back of our house is higher than the middle. With the back and front elevated, and with the weight of the fireplace, the middle of our house was sinking.

There were gaps between our baseboards and floors where you could put your fist, and there were gaps at the wall/roof joints where you could put a fist.

Here is our yard with all the dirt outside.

Believe it or not, the foundation work was a one day job.

Getting ready for the foundation work and recovering from it HAS NOT been a one day or easy job.

And it's been dusty. With all the tiredness and dust, our allergies were suffering greatly.

Here we are putting our house back together.

To save money, Matt and I had pulled up the laminate ourselves and planned to put it back down. There was some water damage in the hall and by the back door, so before we pulled up the laminate we had walked around with a blue sharpie to label the bad pieces. This way we hoped that no warped pieces would get put back done in the living room. To make up for the pieces we lost, we used the laminate that had been in our bedroom, and we planned to go ahead and carpet the back bedroom since we were carpeting the hall and two kid's rooms.

We're in a fight for health, and we thought new carpet might help with allergies. Now that I see how great the carpet looks, I wish we'd done it sooner.

But, now that I think about it the timing is perfect since it is just in the last few months that Evie is fully potty-trained.

The green stuff is moisture barrier between the concrete and laminate.

One Saturday Matt and I lined up all the laminate by size.

Putting the floor together was like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

We actually had fun working together and completing a project.

Very fulfilling.

Cleaning our butcher top counters so Matt could treat them.

Sunflower seedlings

Our hall-bathroom was a workstation while they laid carpet.

Just in case you forgot, this was our only living space for days.

Oh wait, I forgot that the kids found a way to live in the living room, too! Here is Evie enjoying the trail made by our king-size bed that was in the living room.

Our front door. I'm sure the mail carrier thought we were moving.

Here is Simon watching who-knows-what on netflix. There were a couple of survivor-mode days. Especially the days I was also trying to unpack the boxes enough to pack for an unplanned road trip. (As my grandmother passed away ... but that deserves its own post in the future)

Notice Evie crawling THROUGH the entertainment center to watch the movie.

We escaped at one point to my mom's for a couple of days.

My dad had gone to South Carolina to be with his mom after her stroke, so the kids and I kept mom company. Here are some French Pastry Puffs that I made one day for breakfast.

Sitting outside watching fireworks on the 4th of July.

My sweet Simon.

The other day I told him to wash his hands before dinner, because all kings and princes would want their hands clean to rule their kingdom. (Evie responds well to the reminder that all princesses keep their hands clean.)

And here is Simon's response, when we tried our castle-charm on him,

"Mom, I don't want to be a king. I just want to be one of the poor, normal people that live outside the castle. So, I don't need to wash my hands."

Evie, clapping as we bowled one day.

Yes, Evie's bowling shoes might be the cutest things you've ever seen.

Simon's room with new carpet.

Yay!

I'm sooooo thankful.

And I'm so thankful for walls and floors that meet.

We'll have more pictures once we finish redecorating and hanging pictures.

We are going for an army-theme and old-school charm.

He has an antique school desk, lockers, military chest, camoflauge sheets, and a basic bed.

The bed we bought him could also be a bunkbed. But, we realized that with our mattresses he would have very little head clearance, so we just assembled it as a twin instead.

So, we have an extra twin bed in our garage if someone is in need of one.

Evie in her new bed!

Only $119 on Craigslist - and it is a honey pine, with trundle, from Pottery Barn.

She loves climbing up into it.

Simon smiling and overjoyed to have a room again.

The kids have been sharing a room since Thanksgiving, and overall have really loved it and have been very flexible. But, we are ready for Simon to have his own space as he goes into first grade. He has been tolerant of Evie, and tolerancy was quite needed!

And, this is what the kitchen still looked like!

My mission this last week has been to slowly unpack this.

From Matt's Camera

2011-05-25T20:44:00.015-05:00

More of Life in April

2011-04-30T21:05:00.005-05:00

After a fun lunch on Friday with Kellie

We ate at Rock n' Taco on McKinney Avenue

It was really close to Scottish Rite Hospital, and it worked out as a nice meeting place after Simon's appointment.

This week Simon gave the best description of someone,

"Of all the friends I have found, he is the best. Because he is just so kind."

Simon took this picture.

Simon took A LOT of pictures, but some are a little invasive of other people's privacy.

Ya'll might enjoy this conversation I just had with Simon as I prepared his shower:

Me: Simon, that's too much toilet paper.

Simon: Mom, stop worrying about toilet paper and think about God.

Me: What are you talking about?

Simon: I know that verse about not making anything your idol, and it's like toilet paper is your idol because you are thinking about it more than God.

While Scottish Rite Children's Hospital is amazing, and it feels like they should charge admission for all of the displays ..... it was such a long morning waiting to see both doctors and getting all of the lab work done.

Kids and I were going a little stir crazy behind closed doors.

The park for Scottish Rite.

We might be going there for a picnic in a couple of weeks.

The arthritic team thinks Simon's arthritis is definitely viral-onset arthritis. Which is good news because it will eventually go away. It was probably brought on by mono. From what we understand, if it was juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, it would probably be something he has forever.

This week I had to break down and take both kids to dr, since their coughs (mostly Evies) sound like pneumonia. Their other 'main' symptom was sick breath, and it was what put me in motion for the dr's visit.

Simon has strep, and Evie has an infection so they are both on meds this week.

Simon and Evie - Sweet Sayings

2011-04-14T12:39:00.003-05:00

You can probably tell from the presence of teeth in Simon's mouth that these are old photos.

I have to find our camera.

Simon is one of the sweetest and kindest children I know, especially to his sister and mother!

Simon recently requested to take me out on a date and we had such a nice time together. He held the door open for me (and then all the other ladies .... but then there were none so I had to tell him it would be polite to shut the door).

We've been on a couple of other dates before, now that I think about it. Once we played checkers at Borders and once we played Rummikub at Starbucks. We've also done Chuck E. Cheese for the games. But this time was different because Simon initiated it, tried to pay for it from his bank (I had to slip in a card to help pay for it), and he also initiated a lot of conversation. For the first time, it felt like quality time with me vs. playing games was the priority. He was so pleasant and full of conversation. We'll have to do that more often!

He is planning to sell some water bottles in our front yard to the exercise enthusiasts to make money for another date! Quite the entrepreneur.

He was very thoughtful when I mentioned that his dad would like the maple scone that Simon chose to eat.

Simon was sure to save part of it for Matt.

We were driving to school the other day, and Simon pointed out some knockout roses in someone's yard. I'm sure his Nana had previously informed him of the type of roses that they were, and as he told me, that they were called knockout roses because they were so beautiful they knocked you over.

He said some people are so pretty that they are 'knock outs,' too.

I asked if he knew any knock-out beauties.

At first he didn't.

After pointedly asking again, while batting my eyes, Simon gushed,

"Well, mom, of course you are very beautiful, but I don't think people actually fall over.

Maybe if you hit them a little ... :) "

Evie is often heard with sweet delight,

"Simon loves me. He loves me. Simon loves me. He loves me."

Over and over and over

I asked yesterday if Simon was her brother.

She said, "No, he is my friend."

One day last week I disciplined her, and her response was,

"Where's Simon? He loves me. Simon loves me. He loves me."

I told her I love her, too, and that if I didn't love her I wouldn't discipline her.

That was over her sweet curly head.

She is so affectionate and loves to crawl over people, nuzzle/cuddle, depending ...

nuzzle (she often pretends to be a dog or cat) cuddle (she sometimes forgets to role-play and is actually a little girl)

Early April 2011

2011-04-11T21:08:00.013-05:00

Snaggle-Tooth Pirate

....Arrrrr!

Apologies for the delay in a new post.

These new pictures are from Matt's parents recent visit.

Pirate Princess

Runaway Pirates

Joyful Pirates

Scott and Tania

Pops and Papa

Walking into church this Sunday

(It used to be a grocery store.)

Evie after church.

Watching race cars at the Texas Motor Speedway on Fan (free) day

We're not really fans, but it was interesting to peek into a subculture.

Simon LOVED watching the cars FLY by, and it was quite a sight.

Fort Worth after dinner

We ate at Riscky's per Kellie's suggestion .... thanks, Kellie!

Patiently awaiting barbeque

Arrr!

Nana and Simon

Matt's parents with David Platt and his wife Heather

David shared an encouraging message with the staff at Gospel for Asia last week.

The week before we were also encouraged by Francis Chan. With special teachers like Platt and Chan and with the 'regulars' of Bro.K.P. and Matt Chandler, I realize there is a danger in either taking the sound coaching for granted, or there is a danger of being a bit of a spiritual glutton. And a danger of elevating man, but that's another story, and one that I was REALLY convicted of when reading Daniel last year -- that any wisdom comes from God and we should praise Him for it, and that it is a sin to elevate any man or give glory to a man that is not due him. Now, see, there I went chasing a rabbit.

"This is my prayer in the harvest, when favor and providence flow. I know I'm filled to be emptied again; the seed I received I will sow." (Desert Song by Hillsong United)

Matt's parents home in Ringgold

(I am stealing all pictures from their camera)

Simon is losing teeth weekly it seems

More Pictures!

2011-02-05T10:50:00.007-06:00

Last Sunday after sharing in a local church about Gospel for Asia.

We were passing out free books and materials.

Simon and Evie outside yesterday enjoying 6 inches of snow.

It seemed like a good part of Carrollton was outside our house enjoying the steep hill on the greenbelt. People were sliding on everything!

Examples of makeshifts "sled" were ironing board frames, cardboard, plastic lids, plastic boxes, laundry baskets, trashbags, DISH Network satellite dish, sandbox covers, skateboard decks, plastic children's swimming pools.

Examples of the authentic sporting gear that we saw: snowboards, innertubes, skis, and sleds.

Evie pretening to be a dog or "ruffy" before dance class

One lone pumpkin ravioli - we made 38 of these!

Yummy!

The filling was made from pumpkin, garlic, ricotta cheese, and a can of white beans

From a Cookbook - Doubly Delicious that Tania and Scott gave me for my birthday!

We love the book!

With the recent ice and snow storm, we have been cooking more.

One morning Matt made these whole wheat pancakes with greek yogurt and blueberries

Pumpkin pie with homemade whole wheat crust and praline topping

After sweeping

With children, you never know what you will find

Evie waiting for ballet class to begin.

Simon was home from school sick that day.

He has been sick A LOT lately.

We're thankful in a way for the 4 days this week that the school was closed with ice/snow conditions, as Simon would have missed 2-3 of those days anyway because of a fever.

He missed last Friday, Monday, and then the school was closed Tu-Friday.

So, he is REALLY ready to go back.

And we are REALLY ready, too :)

Simon's leftover pretzel from lunch one day

He labeled the bag "Simon" then decided he wanted to write "from Simon"

and have us mail it to our Bridge of Hope child Lalita in Nepal.

He wanted me to make sure I cut off the edges where he ate,

since he has been sick, and he didn't want Lalita to get sick.

It was a sweet thought, but it went in the trash later when he wasn't around.

Evie in the kitchen, after helping with laundry.

I'm not sure if they were really playing chess or not.

Simon received a "No Stress" Chess set from Nana and Papa.

It helps beginners learn the moves and rules.

Sharing a Room, Garage Sales, and Costumes

2011-02-05T10:10:00.004-06:00

The princess awakes

Simon and Evie with their cousins Blaize and Alex

Chaos before our garage sale

Not everything in the pic was for sale

We made over $2300 in the sale, with enough left over for another sale!

That's not because of our great pricing or marketing, if anything we were in way over our heads and didn't know what we were doing. The only explanation is that God blessed the sale.

And I learned that I love garage sale - we had so much fun interacting with our neighbors and customers.

Sweet curls

Matt reading Simon's Bible to him one night

Evie tucking herself and Dora in for a good night's sleep.

Simon and Evie are sharing a room!

They love it and think it is the greatest thing.

It freed up Simon's former room to be used as a temporary living room while our living room is still "garage sale organization central," and Matt uses the room as an office as well.

One Day at the Park last September

2011-01-16T18:41:00.003-06:00

I love this sequence of pictures taken at the park!

This was a separate day at a different park - Arbor Hills.

We went here after school one day.

Evie's Birthday - October 2010

2011-01-16T18:21:00.006-06:00

Nana and Papa gave Evie this life-size Dora doll, and she loved it!

Evie wasn't feeling so good that day, actually, come to think of it, neither was Matt.

The kids and Matt had taken turns being VERY sick during mid-late October.

Matt told me at several times during the party and later at a fall-festival that he felt like he was going to pass out. He was also taking antibiotics which usually make him feel like that.

Here's a cute picture of Evie on a day when she felt better!

Wait, I know that isn't a yawn coming from Sally.

Surely this three-year old's celebration was riveting.

The fare was perfect.

Matt's homemade kettlecorn in the big white stockpot.

Bags of the same kettle corn for favors.

Peanuts.

Chocolate pumpkin muffins,

and, to make it extra special, Scott and Tania brought a Starbucks box o' coffee with enough coffee for everyone - it was wonderful to be outside and have it smell and taste like a coffee shop!

Asheville, NC - last November with Evie

2011-01-13T20:27:00.006-06:00

Combined with the trip to Pendleton, Evie

and I spent a few days in Asheville, NC with Matt's parents.

This picture always makes me smile and/or laugh.

They had a new neighbor move in next door.

He wasn't much of a conversationalist.

Black Mountain, NC

Pendleton, SC last November with Evie

2011-01-13T20:07:00.008-06:00

In November Evie and went to spend some time with my grandmother in Pendleton, South Carolina. When my grandfather passed away last August, I made plans with my grandma to come spend time with her that fall.

It worked out that my sister and her three children came for part of the time.

Evie and her boy cousins had a blast, and we took cute pictures of Mylie.

Evie and Blaize

Just months apart

Evie on the plane.

She was more fascinated with having her own seatbelt than with flying.

Evie and Mylie

Evie, Alex, Blaize

Love those curls!

On both of them!

Adorable!

Look at her beautiful hands!

Do not mess with this kid!

That's all folks!

New Year Picture Updates

2011-01-01T20:03:00.004-06:00

Pictures of Our House this Christmas

Not very many pic - shame on me

Check out Matt's beautiful job with our backsplash

Simon filling out his Operation Child shoebox

And shopping in Gospel for Asia's gift catalog

The best part of Christmas

Contrary to Simon's expression

Our tree was right in the middle of our kitchen,

since our livingroom was garage-sale central.

We have been 'living' in the kitchen more than ever!

It's really nice since that is where I spend so much time anyway.

Our tv is back in our 'den' - we didn't have room for it anymore in the kitchen once we put the Christmas tree up.

Simon's former room is our new living room.

I don't have a picture of it, but it's a very cozy space easy to keep

clean and clutter free.

Here's hoping we find some other Christmas pictures - maybe on grandparent's cameras or aunt and uncle's cameras ....

In the Last Month or So ....

2010-09-25T13:33:00.012-05:00

On a road trip we stopped off the highway in Kennesaw, Georgia and saw my cousin Sarah right before one of her classes.

I don't think Sarah and I had seen each other since our adventures last summer in England, Germany, and that long-road trip to Venice!

This year, we are bringing international to us ... at least as far as cuisine goes.

My New Year's Resolution - one of them - was to learn how to make stir-fry.

Matt and I like to cook together, and I definitely play the role of the sous-chef because he is really good with the wok (and the oil which I am too timid with.)

Our recent attempt is Pad-Kee-Mow (spelling?)

A thai dish with rice noodles, basil, bell peppers, tomatoes, iceburg lettuce, garlic, fish oil

If we've had you over for dinner lately, that's probably what we've served!

And our stir-fry nights are usually a community affair with everyone helping.

In this picture, you can kind of see Tania and her mom Sohelia in the background chopping some pineapple, which is also my 'go to' side dish for stir-fry.

I will be so sad when winter comes and pineapples aren't in season.

Sally took this picture.

Yes that's kale.

No I had never used kale before.

And I probably won't again, unless it is to try the pesto recipe I heard about.

Sally and I went all Betty-Crocker one night.

Sally and Alex introduced us to The Egg and I - a fun breakfast place over near Prestonwood.

Next time I am trying their hot chocolate.

Since I haven't had caffeine this month to speak of (yes you read that right) I am realizing I don't always have to order coffee (decaf or whatever.)

The problem will be that the other drinks have calories - and lots of them.

My black coffee at least didn't come with lots of calories!

Since labor day the only caffeine I have had is a cup of coffee at church once - but I don't think church coffee counts b/c it is so weak, a glass of iced tea one day, and a cup of Cracker Barrel coffee which is also weak and annulled.

Sally and I made pickles!

I'm not sure if we ever posted a picture of our tv center in the center of our kitchen.

Sometimes I'm not crazy with how it looks, but we love how it has worked out in purpose.

It helps make the kitchen even more the center of hubbub in the home, and it helps to be with the children if they are able to watch a movie - and I can clean or cook at the same time!

I'm thankful for the kitchen remodel Matt overtook last year!

By the way, I am in love with the house in the old movie, "Born Free" that is set in Africa!

I love the yellow and blues!

I kind of love everything about it, except the bathroom.

Simon hosted his first sleepover at our house with four friends.

Whew.

We had the evening packed with activities, I can't imagine what would have happened if we hadn't had a plan!

Post-Pizza Dinner the children had water gun fights outside then Matt rigged up this sprinkler and plastic slip-n-side creation and the boys had a great time.

There's a video of their fun at the end of this post.

This picture was snapped Post-Pizza Dinner, Post Water Fun and Pre-Road Trip to Braum's for Ice-Cream.

Overheard the other day ....

Simon: Dad, when I grow up do you think I could be one of those people that throw newspapers at houses?

Oh, the dreams!

P.S. Not related to newspaper delivery personnel, but what did Post Office Personnel do before cell phones? I rarely see ours without their hands-free device and just talking away ....

I can't believe Simon chose this neon blue icecream - he usually gets vanilla or strawberry.

Simon is quite the entrepreneur.

He had a great idea the other day that we should make a big sign that said:

"DANCE PARTY"

"GIVE ME MONEY"

~ he explained to me that he would be break-dancing for money

I get to carpool with Caedon and his sister Gabby.

Carpooling has made me feel very mature.

More mature than my first gray hair.

I feel very grown up and like I am officially, officially an adult.

I also think its really cool to be able to be apart of these kids lives on a regular Tuesday-Thursday schedule!

Josiah has a sister named Harmony, and one day recently, Simon was telling me how we could fit Josiah and Harmony in our car. He showed me where Josiah could sit, then he said, "And Narnia could sit next to Evie."

It won't be long before someone is named Narnia. Actually, someone probably is.

Overheard by Simon:

When I grow up, I want to live in Colorado where there is snow. I'm going to have snowball fights with my wife until she gets a kids.

After the Pizza, Water Games, and Ice-Cream cones, we headed back to the house to pull set up their sleeping bags and convince them all to put on pajamas and brush their teeth.

Then, we turned on the old Willy Wonka video and hoped they would fall asleep. I think they stayed up for the whole movie ... it was kind of a late night, in retrospect.

The next morning after breakfast and after the children were picked up, we took Simon to see Toy Story 3 in 3d.

Before the movie started, Simon told me, "Mom, I know you are going to cry in this movie."

(He had already seen it with his Gigi and Pops)

I told Simon I was sure I would cry, too, I mean, really, I am pretty ridiculous and tear up for the sentimental party in Leave it to Beaver.

The movie started, and low and behold, I couldn't get past the first 10 minutes without crying ... the video montage of Andy growing up ... I am tearing up now so I must change the subject.

Overheard by Simon when he was looking thru a book:

Simon: "Look, Dad, there's naughty soldiers."

Matt: Naughty?

Amy: Nazi, Simon.

Pizza Dinner.

Yes those are whole carrots on their trays.

I took Simon to school on the first day of school since Matt was leading worship that morning at GFA and had left the house earlier. I didn't even walk inside with Simon, even though it was a 'new' school, Simon felt more than confident since he had gone to VBS and Summer Camp there at the church. He said, "Just let me out mom, I know where to go."

It works out that Matt can take him most mornings, which is a huge blessing to me to not get Evie and and around, plus it gives Matt and Simon a little time together in the morning.

The other morning when they were driving to school, Matt told me that Simon said, "Dad, I think the Ten Commandments are for all people." "But why do some people steal?"

Simon's First Day of School was perfected when that morning, his dad surprised him with a gecko he'd found in the house that morning.

Of course, we couldn't feed him, so Simon had to let him go back to the wild that afternoon, but he had fun nevertheless.

This chalkboard had not been washed since last year's First Day of Kindergarten.

So, I added the arrow and the "2nd" and we were good to go!

Simon is growing up, but he is still a huge sweetie pie to his mommy.

At school they can earn "Scholar Dollars" for rewards like good behavior.

Once a 6 Weeks, they have Academic Day where they can 'spend' their dollars.

Other students set up tables where you can spend your dollars - there might be a student who sets up a 'Garage Sale' with toys they are selling or you can buy time to play basketball in the gym or their might be a table set up where a student is painting fingernails.

Simon told me to put it on my calendar, because he wanted to take me and pay to have my nails painted.

That would be the sweetest manicure I ever receive.

Best little dessert ever.

Lemon Wafers from Sprouts Farmers Market

BlueBell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Delicious.

Evie has been having some crazy hair days lately.

We had her hair cut substantially last week which I think will help it out some.

I'm always pushing hats if its not a good hair day for Evie, and I was surprised the other day to hear Matt say, "Evie, would you like to wear a hat?"

A couple of months ago I had an epic doctor's visit with Simon and Evie.

One morning in June he was really complaining about his knee that morning (he had been complaining for weeks) and then I was dropping Simon off at VBS that morning, and a friend noticed Evie's eye - and asked what was wrong with it. I looked at Evie's eye from the viewpoint of someone seeing it for the first time, and it did look horrible!

Evie had a bug bit a couple of weeks prior that seemed to be infected, but we had all just gotten accustomed to it and didn't pay it much attention. Even though the weekend before her eye had almost been swollen shut from the bite (that was right under her eye)

On a whim, and because it was a Friday and the weekend was looming before us, I called their pediatrician and made an appointment for both of the children, for Simon's knee and Evie's eye. I really thought it wasn't necessary, and I thought Dr.Bill may think I was silly, but it turned out quite differently.

The pediatrician was really worried about both children. He said that Evie had a staff infection and it was getting dangerously close to spreading into her eye and the orbit area. He prescribed some heavy-duty antibiotic (no typical amoxicillian for this thing) and gave me instructions on when I should go to the Emergency Room that weekend if the antibiotics didn't kick in.

Then, he looked at Simon's knee which was visibly swollen and had been for some time.

We couldn't remember any physical trauma, and for some reason Dr.Parulo was really worried about it, and he sent us downstairs for x-rays.

It was the middle of the afternoon and we were all tired. Especially Evie.

We had to fill out lots of paperwork down stairs and somehow in the midst of paperwork, I lost my driver's license. I had it one minute, and it was gone the next. I was sure Evie had put it somewhere since she was 'helping' me, but we were being hurried in for x-rays and I only had a little time to scour the waiting room.

The attendant, whom we've visited with before a couple of years ago is a very sweet Christian lady and offered to help look for my license while we went back upstairs with out xrays.

Up the elevator.

Back in the pediatric examining room. Dr.Paruolo looked at the x-ray and everything looked great, but then there was the swelling (which had been there a few weeks) and the fact that every morning Simon complained that his knee hurt - and he would physically limp in the mornings - sometimes into the day -- and a couple of morning he crawled instead of walking to help the pain. Which I don't understand b/c to me crawling would hurt a knee more .... maybe that's why he only tried it a couple of times.

Well, the pediatrician decides they need to draw blood to do some blood tests. He send for the nurses. Simon become hysteric and he had blood taken when he had mono and he didn't handle it well.

Someone knocks at the door and it is the receptionist from downstairs, and she had found my drivers license --- bent up and IN THE TRASH CAN of the lobby room.

Thanks, Evie. I agree that my picture isn't great, but I kind of need my license.

Then, they come in to draw blood and I help hold Simon down -- imagine the worst pleading, crying, screaming, that you can think would be appropriate and then multiply that a few times b/c it wasn't appropriate. Surely Simon's red-faced and almost - throwing up from hysteria wasn't proportionate to any pain ... but it was proportionate to his fear, so I had lots of grace and mercy.

Evie meanwhile is not sitting demurely in a chair with her legs crossed.

Why, oh, why, didn't I ask if Matt could meet us at the doctors?

Oh, yes, because I didn't think we needed to go.

We leave the dr's office like a circus leaving town, and it is so hot outside and I just want to go home, but I forgot that at some point in Simon's hysterics I offered a milkshake so we had to stop by Sonic and get a milk shake which I split between two cups for the kids.

And, yes, somehow both of them managed to either wear their milkshake on themselves and their clothes (Evie) or drop the milkshake accidentally and have it get all over the car (Simon.)

********

end of story

actually based on blood tests and Simon's symptoms, they thought Simon might have rheumatoid arthritis which mysteriously enough could be onset by the mono last spring.

We have had a follow up eye appointment (which didn't show swelling around the pupil which could have helped in securing the arthritis diagnosis) and he had taken medicine for a couple of months. This Wednesday Simon has an appointment at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital with the Arthritis Board and Evaluation Team, so hopefully we'll have some closure and answers!

good hair day :)

I am in love with Evie's sweet curls!

time away

2010-08-23T14:35:00.006-05:00

Matt and I took one of his two weeks of vacation time and spent it on ourselves - no children!

I felt guilty, but the time together is definitely a gift to our children, too.

Simon just explained to everyone that we were on a really long date to.

We brought our bikes with us which was a lot of fun - and lots of fun to be in Matt's fun red car and not the minivan!

We bought the bikes on our second anniversary - and this year was our tenth!

We were blessed with the chance to spend a week in St.Petersburg and a lovely and clean place.

You'd have to know me well to know how much it meant to me to feel 'safe' as far as clean and organized. As I age, I am becoming more aware that I might have a disorder of some sorts -- maybe o.c.d. but really I hear everyone has a little o.c.d.

the view from the breakfast table!

garden area one tenant created

throughout the week, I kept telling Matt that St.Petersburg was reminding me of India.

Then I realized why - plastic chairs!

I had never seen so many plastic chairs as when we were in India!

Here is Matt trying to decide on a movie to watch -

We applied ourselves and watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies while we were there.

Exploring Carrollton's Rainforest Pool

2010-07-26T20:24:00.002-05:00

The kids and I had a great time last friday at the public pool in Carrollton.

It was our first time to go and having friends to meet there made it all the more fun.

There's Simon exploring the lazy river - a couple of time he went around in an intertube.

He was a little timid at first, but by the time we left (and with no encouragement on my part - I was too busy socializing) he was a pro at the lazy river and had even gone down the slide a couple of times.

I'm thankful I put a sunshirt on him - it was overcast so I forewent the sunscreen and Simon fared fine w/ his sunshirt and baseball hat BUT I had a borderline tan/burn and Evie officially has her first tan line!

So cute - but we'll try to stay away from those!

That is the slide Simon went down AND..... EVIE!

I couldn't believe she went down it - I was at the bottom to quickly get her out since she landed face down in several inches of water .... but she loved it, I think!

Oh, on Saturday night, I saved a child's life.

Just a normal day in the life of an every day citizen.

Well, I'm not sure if I am over-dramatizing the story or not ... the details get foggy with time but I did jump (okay, step) into the pool (not in a swimsuit) to get little three year old Andrew who had slipped out of his floatie and was struggling. My friend Maray has given me permission to exaggerate the story with time :)

I did have to spend the rest of the evening wrapped in a towel while my skirt dried in the Brewer's dryer ... and I did reach Andrew about the same time Chris did, so it's a little blurry as to who gets the lifeguard medal :)

Jenna coaxing Evie to the water - before Evie went wild with confidence!

Library WiFi

2010-07-19T20:33:00.006-05:00

Warning: these pictures are disjointed and I only have 20 minutes before the library and its free wifi closes!

We had a super fun weekend. The picture above is from Saturday night - Simon made placecards and set the table outside for the children's table - and us parents all ate inside!

I wish I had taken pictures of the slide and sprinkler set up and our hand crafted slip n slide, or a picture of Matt and John grilling the turkey burgers and veggies for salsa.

Saturday morning the porch was home to candles in mason jars, music from a record player, sweet breads, sweet tea,, and several ladies celebrating the birthday of one of our favorite southern ladies :)

Today (Monday) I took Simon and Evie and some friends to the Arboretum.

This month on Mondays they had free face painting, a small petting zoo, and of course the sprinklers are always a favorite with the older children.

Doesn't Andrew look like he is having a blast?

That's Simon w/out a shirt on and no sunscreen - I didn't win any parenting awards in regards to sun protection today!

That's Peter Rabbit in the background.

Before Nap: I had to take a picture of Evie's face painted - so cute with all of the other fabrics and prints.

After Nap: Well, I didn't take a picture and her face looked great but somehow it was a health dept disaster as she had a dirty diaper and took it off and tried to change her own diaper in her bed ... well, you can imagine.

Our living room now has an exercise/dance studio!

So fun for the kids and so practical for me!

Simon riding a fourwheeler with Mr.Eddie in Mississippi!

Simon so excited about the road trip to Mississippi that he was ready and by the back door when I woke up that morning!

He has all his necessities!

Fast Road to Sanctification - Being a Parent!

2010-06-20T16:46:00.005-05:00

Happy Father's Day!

These first two pictures are courtesy of the Rizzos.

I am currently loving the old show Leave it to Beaver.

I'm almost done with the first season (I get a disc at a time thru NetFlix.)

Formerly, I had no real opinion about the show,

but as Simon is getting older I am finding Wally and the Beaver cute, funny, and charming.

I literally laugh aloud SO MUCH during most episodes.

And, I can clean the kitchen while I 'watch' them!

Our kitchen has never been cleaner.

Here is Evie playing with her shadow at the Rizzos.

Evie has charmed us, for sure~!

Matt and Simon surprised me with this white coffee table and plant one day.

I was trying to refinish and then paint an old coffee table white.

Matt and Simon saw my distress and completely surprised and blessed me when I came in one Saturday. They'd been to IKEA and Simon loved surprising me .... and Simon got to ride in the front seat since that the only way they could get the box into Matt's little red car was to have Simon sitting in the front seat.

Our little container garden area

We're going on almost a month without internet at our home.

It is nice to have more time for other things and to weed out so many of the other voices and distractions.

We think it's probably just for a season (at least two months for sure to recoup the cancellation fee). We've definitely had more of an appetite for things we'd rather have an appetite for as of late, and we've been surprised at how easy some things have been.

We're going on almost two months for (basically) no tv/games for Simon. Simon says he loves not having the tv and video games, and he is so much more creative and interactive. Discipline is easier b/c I'm not timing the tv or video game for thirty minutes and then having to discipline if the kids weren't 'happy and obedient' when we turned it off.

The tv is in our kitchen now, which sounds weird, but it fits in there better for us because if the children are allowed to watch something, I'm right there cooking or cleaning or folding laundry.

The kitchen table is uncomfortable for becoming a 'couch potato' and if we do watch something, we can multitask so much easier than just plopping on the couch!

It seems like we all have been convicted/led/impressed upon to give up something lately - Matt the xbox, Me facebook, and Simon tv/game time.

Okay, Simon wasn't really 'led' but he followed well.

I love how God knows what is best for us in each season and how He is faithful to work in us both to will and to do what pleases Him.

Internet has definitely been the hardest to let go of, but when we both felt it was the obedient thing to do for the time at hand, it was easy to let go and to call Verizon.

And what's funny about it is that what we thought would be so hard is actually so nice!

summer snapshots

2010-06-13T09:25:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Matt and I tried out the newest yogurt place in Carrollton. (These places must be making a killing since everyone is trying it.)

We took a picture worthy of the FAIL blog (the dumpster smelled like rotten fish b/c of a sushi place next door.)

BUT, actually, unbeknownst to us, this was the back door that we walked into.

The front of the store was quite charming ...

I was treated to a girls evening and sleepover at my friend Kellie's house last night.

Evie liked having her toenails and nails painted.

On Simon's list of things to do this summer was to plan a video game party/playdate.

He made invitations and planned a video game playdate at Chuck E. Cheese.

It's a great inexpensive and cool (temperature) playdate - they open at 9 or 9:30 and all the games are one token (plus there are great online coupons for token deals) AND if you pack a picnic lunch and a promise to stop at a park, lunch is at virtually no cost as well!

I didn't get any cute pic of Evie (this is Eva - not confusing at all, right? You should be there when Evie, Eva, and Ava are all together.) Evie LOVED it though ... the kid section has lots of fun rides her style as well. Mostly she loved sitting in the Bob the Builder car and every once in a while I would pop a token in there for her.

Simon really wants a pet. He has cried for a dog and it almost breaks my heart, but we are holding strong so far.

He currently has several roly-poly(ies) in his bedroom in a glass container. They die rather quickly.

He told me one day that the roly-polies think that he is their Daddy. And, at bedtime, he'll ask me if we want to go check in on them together.

Since they are usually dead, he is prompted to think critically regarding their care.

"I don't understand, Momma. I gave them everything they need. Maybe I accidentally gave them poisonous leaves? Maybe they didn't like the bread .... or the raisins."

Simon has also been more aware that his red hair is different than most children.

He explained to us regarding the Kinder program at his school that some children get to stand and talk ... he didn't.... BUT he "thought they would want me to because of my red hair."

Also, Matt took him to the dentist (I know my limits) and Matt said it was really funny that in the middle of his cleaning he asked the hygienist, "Do you like my red hair?"

Staycation Weekend

2010-06-07T13:09:00.010-05:00

We were spoiled this weekend by housesitting for some friends of ours who have a pool.

And, with record breaking heat for June, the timing was perfect!

I love this little suit on Evie - reminds me of pictures I've seen from the 1950s and 60s!

And, only $1 at a garage sale!

Evie is pretty timid around water, like her big brother who only last year braved sitting on the steps inside a pool.

She was happy just standing around, and that was fine with me!

Evie's a lot like me, and I am very timid with new things, and I am the kind of person whose favorite thing at Six Flags is waiting in line -- for the conversations with friends ... the kind of friends who don't care if I don't ride the roller-coaster at the end of the line.

Simon is starting the summer by sitting on steps; so, who knows, he might progress if we put him around pools more!

On Saturday night we were really spoiled because we were going to Ava's 2nd birthday party that involved grilling out ... so we didn't even have to cook!

Here's a funny conversation when we came home that night.

Simon: Mom, will you read me my bible tonight?

Me: Yes, just a sec.

Simon: OR, did you actually give Ava my Bible, mom?

Me: We gave Ava a Bible like yours, but you still have yours.

Simon: (wistfully) Maybe they are enjoying the Bible right now....

Parenting was easy with Si staying on the steps or the little attached pool, and Evie barely emerging from the screened porch.

Third day : Evie wanting to get in the float that otherwise we'd force her to get into.

My 'spa' moment with a homemade yogurt and tumeric mask .... and I ate a grapefruit while it set.

And we discovered Evie loves sprinklers!

Happy to spectate

Evie, you really don't need the float if you're not getting in the water.

We went bowling one night.

Last week I bought Simon and I bowling shoes at Academy Sports for only $19.99 each!

They pay for themselves in only 4-5 bowling visits and we are signed up this summer for the Kids Bowl Free program - so any weekday Simon can play two games free. The catch would be shoe rental prices so I went ahead and bought us some upfront. I also paid $25 which gives four adult family members the same two-game a day privileges. Any weekday until mid September I believe. The con is that it is from 9-6 so Matt can't normally go with us even though he was able to go w/ us this last Friday.

This is from the weekend before .... Simon still has his Spiderman face paint on ...

Simon had two miss two days of school last week w/ a mysterious rash and fever... the pediatrician says it was just a virus but that we can expect things like this for another 6 months or so since mono is still affecting Si and weakening his immune system.

He was not moving much for about two days and would fall asleep many times throughout the day ..., once at the kitchen table!

The Arboretum on Memorial Day weekend

Children's concert at the Arboretum

I am excited to have a summer that I hope will be slow enough that I can enjoy my family, patiently train my children and find ways to be a blessing to others!

Evie's Culinary Genius

2010-05-31T16:14:00.002-05:00

Evie was so cute as she meticulously approached her 'job' which was to transfer the oatmeal to the bowl .... and then back to the jar.

May 2010

2010-05-31T07:26:00.021-05:00

A Game Night at our House one Night

Some GFA Volunteers from PA were staying with us that week.

Simon taking his project at Lowes very seriously.

I'm glad Hudson (age 7) was there.

He helped us figure out the directions.

I am NOT a visual learner.

Simon reading a 'clue' outside on the porch from his treasure hunt.

This was his last clue which was supposed to lead him to the lamp in his room where a dollar bill was taped.

Simon, however, was convinced this clue would lead to an ipod or to speakers ....

Cutie Patootie!

Little Miss Evie in the Kitchen!

Simon home sick one day. Since Simon has had mono, he has missed almost a day of school a week, plus the initial two weeks he was supposed to stay home at the beginning. Thankfully one of those was Spring Break.

When the H1N1, Mono, and its recurring sicknesses, it's a good thing we had already decided to let Simon have a second year in Kindergarten!

Simon's Easter Basket.

I always fall for making a basket, and then Simon rarely like the candy anyway.

Best daddy ever

At prayer meeting one Tuesday night, someone pointed out that Matt looked like the English actor Michael Cain. Then, they had Matt pose for a picture while they googled an image of Michael Cain. It's Matt's celebrity look-alike!

Matt's appearances have changed lately with longer hair and he now wears glasses instead of contacts. Recently, one Tuesday night, one of the staff at GFA who recently returned from India saw Matt and was wondering who the new guy was.

We do hope to get him some contacts later this summer before we go to the beach.

Easter Morning. Matt's parents.

Evie will be a well-rounded little girl.

LOVE the tutu in the kitchen!

Her feet are almost in the ballet position.

Probably calling Emma - Evie's first friend that she calls on the phone!

It's so cute how she elongates Eem-maa ....

This reminds me of black and white pictures I've seen of my mother growing up.

Kellie and I have discovered a park about half-way between us at Webb Chapel and 635.

I seriously feel spoiled having my best friend move to Dallas!

I don't know how I got to be God's favorite ;)

Evie's 'job' was to transfer the oatmeal back and forth between the containers.

Evie's gap between her teeth has become the cutest and most enduring feature to me!

sweet smile!

Simon playing some drums Matt bought street-side in Delhi.

Kellie and I were looking through magazines, and were sad to see Real Simple digressing.

They have a great sections - New Uses for Old Things, but they must have been skimming the bottom of their creative repurposing when they came up w/ the idea to use old Crocs as a planter .... really?

Evie Dancing

Kellie's Guest Room - we bought this fabric at IKEA for an amazing price!

Picture to prove it!

Also, there's an interesting story about how God put this chair in her path.

First Day of Potty Training

Simon and Emma parceled out treats - I think I was too generous for treats just for sitting ...

We put the diapers outside for the 'babies' to come and get.

No more diapers.

Well.....

pullups really are diapers but whatever

Two is better than one

Evie, do n't get too attached to Simon's Lamby .... You are not going to win that battle.

Matt fixed our washing machine!

He is amazing!

He took it apart, found the part that was broken, contacted a place in Dallas that sold that part (no shipping costs!), replaced the part, and voila! Let the agitating and spinning begin!

We took the potty everywhere -- outside and even to the park.

Kind of to no avail.

This girl has an amazing bladder and can go from the am. to 4:30 p.m. (and one night 7:30 p.m.!) without using the bathroom :(

I guess she is scared or just timid.

She's only gone once in the potty and 3 or 4 time in the 'big' potty since we started training a few weeks ago.

Life just hasn't slowed down enough for me to stay home as much as I'd like.

But she'll sit on the potty all day.

Evie and Josiah

But, to us LOST fans, it looks like Evie is hanging out with an Other ...

I put these pictures in the wrong order.

These are AFTER pictures.

AFTER

BEFORE

One of my Mother's Day surprises that came in the mail!

Walking home from school

Writing an apology note to a classmate

My ballerina

Kids are so much fun!

Simon's Big News

2010-04-21T13:45:00.003-05:00

Here is Simon's testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ! We have prayed for Simon since before he was born that he would come to believe in Jesus personally, and we always wondered how and what it would look like ..... We wanted to preserve his testimony somehow (hence video) since so many people who trust in Christ at an early age sometimes have a hard time remembering it or questioning it. Simon had the idea that we could "write it down," but then he wanted to make a video so that the whole world could see and know how good God is (his words). Simon was articulating how good God is, how Jesus is God and never sinned and how he needed to be forgiven and ask Jesus to be King of his life. We told Simon later that night that even the fact he was able to realize that he is not good and not king is God's grace because some people never believe and surrender. So, even the fact that you CAN believe is God's grace ..... It's all about God and what he has done, and it's not about us.

Dancing with my Stars

2010-04-07T17:37:00.002-05:00

Here is another one of Evie's outfits that makes me laugh ...

I'm so thankful that Simon and Evie get along for the most part!

February-March Pictures

2010-03-21T10:14:00.010-05:00

I should save up enough pictures for a post called,

"Evie, You have NO sense of style."

Featured here is a jacket ON TOP of another jacket

This is pretty bad - Evie pulled tights from our give-away box (too small) and put them OVER her clothes and wanted to wear a reindeer bib all day.

Two wonderful familes at our home.

On the left are Shane and Trina Eia from PA.

They are volunteers for GFA, and Shane was on the same India trip we were on.

We told our new friends that we met on the trip that they were welcome at our home anytime they were in TX, and they thankfully took us up on our offer!

They stayed with us for a week in February, took a week of their vacation time, and volunteered in the offices at GFA.

The Poweziaks are the other family, Cari and Joe. Pictured is their daughter Harmony. Their son Josiah immediately hit it off with Simon and they were probably playing in Simon's room when we took this picture.

They are former GFA volunteers from Chicago, but now they are on staff and have moved to Carrollton!

One huge blessing about the delayed timing (swine flu) of our India trip was getting to go with the Volunteer Team. They were just as amazing to us as the brothers and sisters on the field. God's given us great grace to know so many 'heroes' in the faith.

Sharing some gluten-free love for Valentine's Day!

Simon organizing his cars and army men per vehicle quota.

Nacho Libre (Simon) and Superman (Timmy) chaperoned my little butterfly's (Evie) trip to the park.

I knew Home Depot hosted free children/parent workshops, but I just found out that Lowe's did, too.

One Saturday I took Simon and his friend Hudson (7) to Lowe's to build a robot that also turned into a car.

I am so thankful Hudson was with us!

I incorrectly thought that the Lowe's personnel would be taking us through it step by step, and it was more of a do-it-yourself workshop.

I am NOT a visual person and it was actually HUDSON who figured most of it out and helped Simon and I!

Evie's benefactor Emma (hand me downs) came over one day!

That night, her whole wonderful family came over for dinner.

We're experimenting with stir-fry on our Thursday 'company' nights.

The Buscemis are a FUN family to have over!

We love them!

One of Simon's clues for a treasure hunt we did one day after school.

Simon was so convinced this clue led to a cd player or mp3 player or other music device ... but it was actually a clue to his lamp, where his 'treasure', a one dollar bill, was taped.

The other night Simon was drawing a picture of his plan to build a table and put it in our yard to sell beverages for money.

He wanted to sell milk and his plan was to ask $5 for a glass of milk.

Here is that conversation.

Simon: I'm going to ask for $5.

Matt: For a glass of milk?

Simon: Yes.

Matt: Simon, no one is going to pay that much for milk.

Simon: How about $10?

Matt: Maybe you could ask for fifty cents.

Simon: How much is that?

Matt: Two quarters.

Simon: Whoo-hoo! Do you mean I could get TWO QUARTERS?????

Evie wearing a Snoopy Hat from Matt's childhood dress-up Snoopy collection.

She really is fashion sense-less.

But, at least she is gutsy.

Simon loved the goggles that they gave him at Lowe's.

As you can see from this picture, BOTH of our children are fashion-challenged.

Oh, no, what does this same about US?....

Letting my little mono-sick boy play outside and paint one day, using an IKEA's drain platter as a palette.

Simon and I made some signs for our yard.

Game night one night with some dear friends at the ministry.

I love Evie's pose here.

Evie loved Regina who just sat and read books with her, and Evie also really took to Troy (far right). It cracked all of us up that she would bring baby wipes into the living room and try and wipe off his tatoos.

Simon trying to read his clue by himself.

Great motivation for reading!

Simon's friend Caedon was so sweet to invite him to Medieval Times for Caedon's 6th birthday.

The Johnsons are another wonderful family that we've recently gotten to know who are new here at GFA. We'd love to get to know them better. One night, Caedon went with Simon to Karate on 'bring a buddy' night, and Caedon was so sweet and so serious about karate (Matt and Caedon's dad, Mike chauffered the boys to class one night while Jessi and I stayed at our house and enjoyed some fellowship with just the girls.)

The other day our neighbor who is in 5th grade came over. She is so sweet and delightful. And I"m not just saying that b/c she helped us clean out the garage.

Anyway, she was thirsty, so I sent Simon in the house to get her a bottle of water from the pantry. He is the conversation that followed.

Simon: Here you go.

Jazelle: Thank you.

Simon: I was hoping you'd say that, because I wanted to say, "You're welcome."

Thanks to my industrious and productive friend Kellie, I grew some cilantro and parsley from my kitchen window (from seeds!)

I transplanted them on Thursday afternoon.

But now, I fear they may be dead as it snowed 4-6 inches last night!

On the first night of SPRING!

Videos

2010-03-16T12:20:00.002-05:00

Simon shows our appreciation for Matt!

Evie wants to get in on the demonstrative love.

Our g-rated version

Simon did another version that I can't put on the internet.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:32:00.002-06:00

Simon loves the bucket of Toy Story Army Men! This is the Valentine's gift we gave him. I actually had to have Matt hide it from me when I bought it to keep me from giving it to Simon beforehand. I KNEW he would LOVE it and it went against every grain in me to wait to give it to him.

So ..... Simon seems to have morphed into this incredibly sentimental and affectionate little boy. He can hardly function in the morning unless he's given and received lots of hugs and kisses from me. He comes up to me spontaneously during the day with hugs and kisses and refrains of "I love you, Mama, I love you Mama." Car rides are also times for these new and frequent declarations of affection. If I go on an errand, I come home, and you would think I'd been gone for weeks based upon Simon's excitement.

It's nice and a little weird - mostly because it was sudden and unprecedented.

Tonight after we read his Bible story, Simon kept saying, "I love you mom, I love you mom, I'm so happy, I just love you, mom." I said, "Simon, it's like someone has slipped you some sort of love bug ... what is going on? Did someone slip you something?" He said, "Someone did." I said, "Who?" He said, "God." I asked, "What did He give you?" Simon said, "Love."

Our yummy and scrumptious cinnamon rolls this morning.

Evie's Valentine's gift was a new dvd, "God Made Babies."

Both kids still like the simple puppets and hymns.

Record Snow in Dallas Texas!

2010-02-12T14:32:00.011-06:00