While you were out II

A week or so ago, Logan picked me up for school and Maddy was not wearing pants. Since 3 or 4 months, we've worn pants so I knew something was up. He immediately showed me pictures of her covered in baby powder he had taken with his phone. Apparently, the little one was "quietly playing in her room" while Daddy was "cleaning/watching TV" (which one of those was actually happening, I'm not sure) and then Maddy was a little too quiet. So he went back to check on her.

And when I got home, this is what I found...



That is what happened when Logan tried to clean her up, but she ran away. And here is what I saw next in her room.




So she reinacted it for me...for the full effect.




True creativity at work.





Not a day goes by now that Maddy doesn't try to steal the baby powder bottle from one of us and reattempt her masterpiece. What a little stinker!

Thanksgiving visits

We were super busy over the last two weeks. Vicki and Terry came to help us work on the house from Wednesday to Sunday. Logan and Terry installed new 5 new doors and painted the hallway and front living room. (pictures to come soon!)



After we took Vicki and Terry to the airport, we headed north for a visit with Scott and Jane. (no pictures...what was I thinking?) We celebrated Erin and Billy's birthday and got to see lots of TCU friends.

Marme and Maddy made a gingerbread house on Thanksgiving after everyone got back from hunting. Jimbo skinned his deer and Logan went back and forth between football and deer trimming.



Maddy's favorite part was the icing and candy-eating. Cari told us the secret is hot glue for next year.



The family came to celebrate Thanksgiving on Black Friday so we could all be together. The little kids rode horses after we ate and I got on with Maddy. Dancer is such a great horse for the little kids. Dena and I even galloped around the house and did the pattern I rode for competition years ago. After a LONG time of not being on a horse, it was nice to see I could still hang on and hold my own. We had a great thanksgiving and have much to be thankful for.

I have so many post to catch up on. They are coming soon. I promise.

This is it!

You asked for pictures. So here they are. The whole ugly naked truth of just moving into a house and pretending to have a place for everything is knocked out of the water here. We are a mess right now, but we're hoping not for long. Here goes:


Master bed: needs paint, blinds, curtains, new bedding, the list goes on...




The dining room: needs organization, deocoration, paint, no panelling, more paint


The kitchen: needs new lighting, paint, new countertops, organization, and child locks on the cabinets


The family room: needs paint, curtains, blinds, more paint, wall mounting for TV, furniture


Guest bath: needs NEW TILE! NOW!, new curtains, blinds, remove old wall heater, a clue as to what century this is. (I was too embarrassed (which is saying a lot compared to the bedroom pic) to put the actual pic I took a few hours ago. This is a shot I got when we did our final walk-through of the house. This is the much nicer, neater picture.)



More to come later: Living room, guest room, Maddy's room, outside, garage, laundry room.

Not Me Monday

I did not eat after my daughter on Friday the day after she had just gotten over a 24-hour virus. No, that would be absurd. Which means, I did not end up getting sick all weekend and thinking to myself, "Why did I eat after her? It was only applesauce."

I did not just pack a large majority of our belongings in grocery bags, stollen newspapers from Trinity University, and a somewhat racy (but still free) periodical I snatched from Chipotle. Nope, not me.

I did not cheer for joy when the TV left tonight to go to the new house.


And I did not buy two pumpkins and make my husband take them to the new house just so I would see the said pumpkins on my doorstep when I first pull up tomorrow. That is so silly.

Enough

This is what I have been looking at everyday for the past few months.



First: A good home must be made, not bought...





I pulled this out of a magazine in June when we were a little depressed at the way things were going for our house-buying situation. In my mind, I pictured that a cute little curly-headed girl was wildly painting her room a vivacious shade of blush (or bashful) while her mother stood back and captured the scene with a snapshot. For a while this summer, I stopped making really doing much that incorporated our apartment: inviting people over, chatting with the neighbors, etc. I just so badly wanted to be away from here. All the while, I wasn't recognizing that no matter where we live, our home will always be where we make it. If we're an "09-er" or in a homeless shelter, "home" must be made not bought.


Second: "Are you here to use God to get a bigger god? Or are you here to enjoy God because He is enough!" - Marc Driscoll




This spoke to me when I found myself praying every day for a house. Somewhere along the way I just realized that praying for the house was not the answer, but praying for peace with whatever was God's plan was. The idea of a house had become more important than simply waiting for the plan he had created for us. No matter what the circumstance, He is enough. No matter where you live, or where you work, or who is next to you, He is enough. He is!

Tomorrow we are going to our new home. Thank you Lord for giving us a roof over our head and a place to call "home" for the past year. You are enough.

It's Moving Time

Can you tell we're packing? Maddy wants everyone to know that Mommy normally has a really clean living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc., but with all of the boxes it's been a little tough lately. This is what used to be the office/playroom/small corner of our living room.



Here is what is left of our dining room. Now her high chair won't even fit in there so she has to eat in the living room.



To get away from the boxes, Maddy and I took a walk down to the church gardens. Maddy played in the fountains, picked up lots of rocks, and pointed to all the pretty flowers. The mosquitoes were out so we didn't get to stay after the red bumps started appearing on her face. Does she look like Logan or what?



She's saying "ti" for cheese here.



Maddy has also been working on her spoon skills. It's hard work, but she's getting pretty close. She's still not sure what hand she likes better, but in this shot it's the right....we'll see. Today she colored with both.



So did I mention we're moving? We closed on our house on Thursday and will move in on Tuesday. I can't believe it's finally here. I still need to take a picture of us standing in front of the house, but that will come on Tuesday. The top thing on our priority list when we move in...paint and smoke detectors. We will definitely be painting very soon and adding in a few smoke detectors to make things a little safer.

Summing up September

I used to blog to procrastinate and lately I have been procrastinating to blog. September has flown by and now my favorite month of the year is upon us. Where does the time go? I have no idea. Besides being crazy busy with starting the new job, getting more involved with the student and college ministry, and soaking up the spare minutes with our growing girl....we've been packing. Boxes are stacked up almost to the ceiling on my right as I sit in the dining room. I'm imagining what our new dining room will look like. It's been so long since I've seen the house, I've almost forgotten. In almost two weeks we will close on our first house. It's been a long road full of ups and downs, but I finally feel comfortable talking about it now. Last time I jumped in right away talking about what I thought would be our new home and was heartbroken to make another post saying nevermind. Weeks after we've been through appraisals and inspections and loan agreements....we're almost there.....so I think it's ok now.

So here is a short summary of September for the sake of brevity:

9/4 - first tailgate with Sr. High students at AHHS football game
9/6 - Cici sliced her finger open in MW and gets 3 stitches (the video has a short shot of the damage)


9/8 - Logan meets with missionaries in Austin for CollegeLife mission trip to Costa Rica this Spring Break
9/14 - Stitches out (thumb is a little mishaped now, but healing nontheless)
9/18 - LAUNCH Fall Retreat for student ministry....awesome turnout. And we got to see Jane & Scott, Jane's parents, and Andrew. We missed you Becca!



9/22 - Maddy's first picture day at school and first day of Fall
9/27 - First bible study for Cici with Jr. and Sr. girls

Looking forward to:
- getting rid of lots of junk while packing (my favorite thing about moving!)
- seeing Maddy in her bumblebee costume for Halloween
- moving into our house!
- blogging a little more in October...I promise!

Maddy is getting bigger, faster, and smarter before our eyes. Yesterday she rediscovered her Easter basket and has started "shopping" around the apartment. She picked up my contact case, a necklace, some pens, and one of Daddy's socks. (Someone, who shall remain nameless, leaves their socks on the floor a lot so Maddy has a tendency of picking them up and playing with them.)



She is also trying her best to run. She will take a few quick steps and then will stumble and fall. We had a scary fall yesterday in the bathtub. I tear up just writing about it, but Maddy stood up in the bathtub to get out and hit the side of the tub. I swooped her up quickly and heard an awful cry with intermittent sniffles to catch her breath as she finally settled down about 30 minutes later. We are all well tonight and just catching up on life.

Celebrations

We celebrated our birthday and anniversary two weeks ago. Logan planned a fabulous weekend at La Mansion del Rio on the Riverwalk. We had lots of yummy food and then he took me shopping the next day!







On my actual birthday Logan made me a chocolate cake! It was an excellent week of celebrations!

Working it

Well, working life has changed a lot lately. I was working here, but then started working here...and now I'm working here. The long story short is that when my internship ended in June, I accepted a job, but now I am working for a school again so I can spend more time with my family.

That's the short of it so if you want more info...I'm sure I'll see you soon enough to tell.

P.S. I have my own office and name plate on the door. In need of some business cards!

Lifestyles of the somewhat rich and famous

We know we are not rich by any means (our wealth is in Him, of course) and famous would be a stretch for any description of our family. But lately....

Maddy has been accessorizing like she is going to a gala at least every day for the past week. She found my baubly beeds a while ago and I finally just let her pull them out and continue to play with them since I never wear them anymore. (Sigh, I want some new accessories!)



The rich a famous also get to jet off to the beach at a moments notice and talk to rock stars..just like we did last night!





We decided around 3:00 pm to head to Corpus Christi to see some camp friends and watch Paul Eason (camp friend now country singer (not rock star, but close)). I didn't get any pictures of Paul, but he stopped by our table for a bit and Maddy flirted with him, of course. Maddy enjoyed all the attention from the girls and even got to see the water. We made plans to go back in September to actually enjoy the beach and not just take a picture from the pier. We made it back home around 1:00 am. It was a fun night.



So if good friends are part of the lifestyle, I'll take it.

A very special uncle!

Happy Birthday Uncle Andy!

We love you Uncle Andy and want you to know how great we think you are. You are super smart, have funny pets, like to tell stories, talk in silly voices, and make me laugh. You are a great brother, son, grandson, great-grandson, husband, friend, and a VERY special uncle.










Hope you have a VERY special day today! We love you THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS MUCH!

Little gym and little steps

We've been busy this weekend! It started with the Little Gym. I was so excited to find this place. We went to our first class and loved it! Maddy was very independent and wanted to explore everything in the gym...as you can see. She loved "climbing wall" and the bars. She made friends with a few other little kiddos and she can't wait to see them next Saturday!






Then we went swimming at a friend's pool since ours was locked for cleaning. Logan thought this shirt was the perfect cover up for Maddy. GOOOOOO FROGS!



Last, but not least we finally got some "good" shots of Maddy walking. We have more, but the camera is the easiest, fastest way to load them on the blog...so here is what we have right now! She is still "toddling" (of course), but is very busy!



She is in bed now and I might be soon too! Good night!

The boy was away, so the girls must play

This is a backtrack post, but I had to write about our fun weekend up north from a week ago. After we dropped Logan off for the mission trip, Maddy and I drove up to see Jane (and Juno and Stewie.)

Marme and Jimbo came to Aunt Jane's house on their way into town. We stayed with them the next night at the ranch.



Maddy had lots of fun playing with Juno through the window and chewing on her toys when I wasn't looking. She loved chasing Stewie, although he really wasn't a huge fan of it.



After a trip to TCBC we made the grandparents tour. Walker? Check! Stanton? Check! Taylor? Check! We saw them all!

At Granny and Grandad's Ruby helped Maddy play with baby dolls and Granny's horse collection. She "arranged" all of the magazines on the coffee table and helped Grandad throw away a few magazines he had in mind for Jimbo.

We had a hard time getting everyone to smile at once.



Speaking of Ruby...hasn't she just turned into such a little lady. She is going to hit double digits in September! Can you believe it?! I love this shot I got of her.



Maddy, again, had lots of fun chasing Grandpa's puppy, Sammie, all of over the kitchen. Sammie likes to howl (like all Beagles do), but Maddy wasn't too fond of that. So she admired her from the window some more.





Grandpa also had some pretty green grass that we just couldn't pass up. Maddy was ready for a nap, so the pictures weren't that great, but oh well!



Then, last but not least, we got to see Mama Joyce. (What a beauty she is! There is a reason I kept that J. in my name and she is it! I sign my name at least 8-10 times a day for patient reports and such and each time I do, I get to think of the amazing woman whose name I get to carry on!) Maddy likes to "tidy" up Mama Joyce's papers on her foot rest. She puts things on the floor, picks them up, and then does it all over again. What a good little helper.



Back at the ranch...Maddy got to swing with Jimbo...of course.



We made it back to SA just in time to start my first full week of work. Now, Daddy is home and we're pretty excited to have him here, healthy, and happy.