I know this girl...

She drives me C-R-A-Z-Y!!!!! One minute she's an angel, the next minute...well I won't call her Satan, or Lucifer or anything like that but OH MY GOODNESS! "Take me here, can I go there?, Mom this, Mom that", an eye roll here, an attitude there. She wants to stay up late yet she can't quite seem to get up in the mornings for school. She is so freaking smart, gifted actually, not just in my opinion...it's a fact, but sometimes doesn't apply herself. Her room stays messy, she leaves her dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, bickers with her siblings...cooks things on high so all the liquid in the pan boils over and makes a gigantic mess that causes the smoke alarm to go off continuously.

This girl (the one who drives me crazy)...woke me up last night with all the noise she was making, it was 1:45 a.m. to be exact. I walked to her room to get onto her and what did my ears hear? The very girl who drives me crazy witnessing to her friend...talking to her about God and telling her friend how she can just let everything go and hand it all over to Him.

I turn around and quietly walked back to my room. I then offered up a prayer of thanksgiving, thanking Him for this girl who drives me crazy.

OH! Happy! Day!

I can't believe my eyes...it's really here!!!
Now I just have to take a fabulous picture to attach to it~

Happy Birthday Mom!

I consider myself very blessed to have a mom that's almost always been my best friend. More times that I could ever count you have been there for me, physically, emotionally, financially and (dare I say it) even mentally! As mother and daughter we've had our trying times but I have always known that I could come to you and tell you or ask you ANYTHING and you would share your heart.

Thank you for turning up the music and dancing around the house when we would clean when I was a little girl. You truly made cleaning a fun experience.

Thank you for the many hours we spent at the pool when I was growing up...it was the most fun and it didn't cost us alot of money...thank you for continuing to love it so we can lay out together on our days off.

Thank you for always working so hard for your family, you sacrificed so much for us and had to miss out on some of our activities so we could have a house to live in and food on our table.

Thank you for writing me the little note you wrote me when I was 15 the day of my homecoming pep rally at school. You told me how proud of me your were and how you thought I looked beautiful that day, it mean so much to me. I still have that note.

Thank you for sending me roses on Valentine's Day when I was 19 and single...I didn't have a valentine that year so you stepped in and brought a smile to my face that day!

Thank you for your courage and your will to live when you were 38 and diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember it like it was yesterday, the doctor coming in to tell us that it was cancer and how devastated we all were. You fought so hard to live and here you are almost 15 years later, almost like it all never happened except the scars left behind as reminders.

Thank you for being so calm the day you found out I was pregnant with Chayce...I don't remember much about that day, just that you were completely there for me and you never raised your voice or told me what you thought I should do.

Thank you for giving Chayce her first bath because I was too scared I was going to drown her, you did it with a smile on your face and showed me that it wasn't so scary after all.

Thank you for all the diapers you gave me for Chayce, especially the first year of her life when I was getting no child support. You helped me out so much!

Thank you for being the woman behind the camera with the birth of each of my kids. Without you, I wouldn't be able to re-live those memories any time I want on our television.

Thank you for witnessing the birth of all my kids, it meant so much more having you in the room with me.

Thank you for being such a great Mimi, mine and Chris' kids are so blessed to have such a hands-on 'grandma' who takes them to feed the ducks, buys 'poppers' and goes outside to pop them in freezing weather, clothes them on a regular basis, buys coloring books of your own so you can color with them. You are always spending time with them or taking them to do things and that's why the have a bond with you like no other. You give yourself to them so unselfishly, always.

Thank you for being one of many who encouraged me to go to cosmetology school and for sacrificing two years of your life watching my kids so I could follow my dream.

Thanks for all you are, all you do and for always being there.

I love you so much Mom.

It's 2010 and changes are a-comin'

Well, New Years Eve consisted of us staying home and letting Chayce have some friends over. The kids all sang karaoke on Channing's new microphone she got for Christmas. Camden was in his element...he didn't care who was watching, he was belting out the tunes...actually he sang "Can't Get Away" by Rush of Fools three times in it's entirety. I think we may have the next American Idol living under our roof. I had a glass of wine and James and I stayed up until about 1:45...till we just couldn't keep our eyes open anymore!

Thanks to our pastor, we are encouraged each year to 'fast' for 21 days beginning with the new year. Last year he asked the whole church to do a sugar fast, no refined sugar, only fruits and fruit juices. James even participated which made my heart so happy. This year Pastor Brad left it up for us to decide. I have chosen to refrain from Facebook and sugar (again). I asked James what he was going to fast and he couldn't really think of anything until Monday morning, I got a text from him asking if I thought fast food would be a good one. I was thrilled, it's quite a sacrifice because that's basically what he has for lunch everyday at work, not to mention alot of our money gets blown on it as well. We are constantly picking up something here and there, I told him I would join him in his decision as well. I was telling the kids that he and I had decided not to eat fast food for three weeks and they thought that was a pretty neat idea so Chayce and Channing agreed to give it up as well. I told them I thought this was very big of them and I talked to them about how much money we'd be saving over the next three weeks since we would be eating at home. I am excited to see how much our health, our wallets and our spirits will benefit from this!

I cut up my credit cards yesterday...I should have done it sooner, but hey...better late than never right?!? We are really going to focus on doing the debt snowball that we learned in our Dave Ramsey class at church. We've already started saving for Christmas of 2010, our goal is to also start saving for a yearly family vacation ...if it doesn't happen this year, there's always next year, the goal is to start saving for it. Chayce needs braces and I am hoping to get into a salon sometimes SOON so I can help knock out our debt...ahhh 2010, I foresee you being a year of triumphs and victories...better marriage, more family time, more God time, and making better choices with our money.

3 new pairs of jeans + me = HAPPINESS

I just have to say Thank you Jesus for giving someone at Levi's the common sense to create the PERFECT jeans for someone with a curvy body such as myself!!!! From as far back as I can remember I have always had trouble getting jeans to fit me...I have curvy hips, a larger than normal fanny (even before I had kids) and a small waist. I had to get jeans that would fit over my hips but then I couldn't get them to fit my waist, there would always be this big huge gap at the back of the waist. I have always dreaded buying jeans and most of the time I avoid buying them altogether, it is a very stressful and depressing experience.

After MANY months of complaining throughout our marriage, my sweet husband took me out yesterday in search of the perfect jeans...perfect meaning, reasonably priced, cute and actually fit. We ventured out to the mall...I went to American Eagle and tried on four pairs of pants...all with the lovely gaping back that I am so used to and I came out with this look on my face. James asked me if I was about to cry, I told him not yet. I was about to go ahead and purchase them when he asked if I wanted to go look somewhere else so I mentioned Express. There I tried on 3 pairs of jeans ranging from $60 to $98, still none of them fit 'right'. We went into JC Penney's originally looking for some boots but we passed by some jeans on the way in so I decided to look through them. James and I went through and found my size and I took a few pairs back into the dressing room. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!! They actually fit!!!!!!!!! On the tags of two pairs it read "Curvy" and it literally had a picture of what my butt looks like on the illustration!! The jeans are part of a line called "Figure Enhancers" and BOY ARE THEY!?!?!? It also states on the tag "No gap in back! Fits a fuller shape."

Levi's Curvy Bootcut 529's, where have you been all my life??? I am forever a fan, so much so that I may just write Levi's a letter and tell them how great their jeans fit me and I may have to send a picture of my butt in their jeans so they can see the evidence, so they can know that I TRULY am a believer in their product. I got 3 pairs, they were on sale for $29.99 each. This was the best $90.00 I have ever spent.

My dear husband, thank you for taking me on a quest to find the perfect jeans. Thank you for listening to me cry and complain over the last 8 years when I attempted to buy jeans. Thank you for encouraging me to go yesterday, thank you for your patience and for wanting me to model the jeans for you when I got home. For once, I didn't mind! I love you honey!

Another Christmas gone

They said we haven't had a white Christmas is 83 years. I don't know of anyone who was alive the last time that happened, with the exception of my Great Granny, whom we just recently lost or rather whom Heaven just gained. I told my dad that I bet she would've remembered...if she were here I'm sure she would have told us that she was a little girl and she got to go out and play in it. It made me happy to think of her and at the thought of her probably being able to remember that. She remembered EVERYTHING, yes she did.

We had a nice relaxing Christmas Eve, heading out to church in what I deemed "A Texas blizzard"...it was so exciting to be driving in the snow. I love our Christmas Eve service, this was Channing's second year to sing in the children's choir. She has a beautiful voice and did such a great job!! When we got home, the kids opened their gifts from us and then off to bed they went anxiously awaiting Santa to drop by.










Channing came and woke us up around 7-ish, which is 'late' when considering my brothers and I would get up at 5-ish or even earlier sometimes to see what Santa brought us. I went and got Camden out of bed, although he was already awake. They had a great time looking at and picking through all the goodies that they received. It was a morning filled with noise, music, cooking and of course, picture taking! My brothers came over with their families around 2:00 for a Mexican feast...fajitas, grilled chicken, duck, homemade salsas and sangria! It's always a good time when we all get together, it just doesn't happen often enough.

Light of the world

Today, and the days leading up to Christmas, I reflect on what Christmas really means to me. It is a celebration of joy, peace, the birth of our amazing Savior. His birth means more to me now than it ever has because I have strengthened my walk in Christ over the last two years. Still I am far from who He wants me to be, I strive to welcome Him into our home on a daily basis.

I think about Mary, the mother...how she must have felt carrying the Son of God. Did she feel inadequate, was she scared half to death with the responsibility she had growing in her womb? Was she more confident than the rest of us knowing that she was chosen specifically to carry the Holy One? And Joseph, what a man of God, to trust that the woman he was going to marry was carrying a child that was not his. His faith and trust in God carried him in a world that would have never accepted a pregnant, unwed woman. The looks and whispers he must have received. Together they eagerly awaited the birth of their son, only to be turned away and forced to bring their child into the world surrounded by hay and animals...such a lowly birth for a king.


It is this story that fills my heart with joy and it saddens me to know that there are still people who don't believe this happened. To those of you I ask, why do you celebrate Christmas, or for what reason? What is your definition of Christmas or what definition do you go by? Do you just ignore that the first five letters in the word spell Christ? What songs do you sing at Christmastime? Help me to understand because even though we didn't attend church regularly when I was little, my mom always helped us to remember that it was Christ's birth that we were really celebrating. I can't imagine celebrating a holiday without going by the true meaning of the reason it's on the calendar.