Labor Day Weekend!

During the Labor Day weekend, Steve's family from Los Angeles came to visit us. We had such a fun time seeing , Nana, Auntie Dawn, Cousins' Parker and Spencer. Every day was an adventure.
* They arrived on Wed, August 27 around 6pm. We came home, relaxed and ate dinner.
* The next day, we headed to North Dallas and had lunch at this really cool McDonald's off of Monfort and IH635E. It's in the shape of a huge happy meal and inside is the one of the funnest play areas for the kiddos. Plus when you walk in it is so "elegant". I'm being totally serious. I should have taken photos of this one cuz I'd not been to a McDonald's like this before. Ok, that's probably enough about McD. I'm getting hungry. Oh, and yes, their french fries are still the best and probably the least healthiest ever but hey family was visiting and how often do ya get to splurge...lol! After McDonald's we headed down the street to Crate & Barrel to show Dawn the furniture at that store. She's interviewing with Crate & Barrel and may be employed with them soon and working in their furniture department. She liked what she saw and is excited! Finally, we ended our day at the Container Store buying, well, a few containers!

* On Saturday, we all piled in to our minivan and headed to Austin for our good friend, Caleb Little's 4th Birthday party. It was at Chuck E Cheese. Need I say more...the kids had fun while Dawn and I enjoyed the Pizza and salad bar, oh, and cake. Yum... Yes, I was sitting there thinking, "man, how many more miles on the treadmill is this going to cost me?" But, hey, we had family in town and how often do ya get to splurge...(wink)!

* Sunday was a slow day. Poor Spencer had a rough night and woke up with a high fever and made a few trips to the potty during the night. He spent the next 2 days in bed fighting the flu bug. It was a miserable time for him but he handled it like a champ and ended up taking Tamaflu and was better by Monday afternoon. Amazing. His fever broke and he was doing great.

* Monday afternoon we all piled into our minivan and headed over to Chick-fil-a in Grand Prairie to enjoy free chicken strips. They had a promo on Labor Day. If you wore you're favorite sports team clothing item, you received free chicken strips. The strips were great and we saved so much money. Then, we headed to the Parks Mall to visit Build-A-Bear and Roman was blessed for his birthday with a new stuffed dog, named Puppy. All the boys got bears and had so much fun. We quickly came home and they dropped Ethan and I off, and the rest of the gang went to a Texas Ranger game. What a night for all. Parker was featured on the jumbotron for hitting a home run in the kiddie area. They even set the fireworks off. So cool!!

* Tuesday was packing day since they were going to be leaving on Wednesday. But, we didn't let the day go by without doing something, so, we went to the Boy Scouts Museum, and spent the afternoon there. The boys had a great time and when I say boys, that also includes Steve. He's such a kid at heart. Then we headed back to the unique McDonald's off of Montfort & 635 and enjoyed a yummy, unhealthy, fattening, mouthwatering Quarter Pounders & french fries ... yikes! Ok now, how many miles is that going to cost me on the treadmill? I'm definitely not looking to my annual physical next week. We ended our day with haircuts at Cool Cuts 4 Kids. This was Ethan's 1st haircut so it was special. Probably not so for me cuz I wasn't ready to let go of our little boy's baby look. The moment his hair was cut he had become our little man. He looked so handsome.

Their trip had finally come to an end. It was so sad to see them leave the next morning but we all had such a wonderful time. Spencer and Parker even missed their first few days from school to spend time with us in Texas. We will miss them so much and can't wait to see them again soon.

Mommy, You Passed the Piggy Bank!

Isn't it amazing the words that come out of our little ones. The boys and I started our day with a few errands to run. Roman loves it when we run errands. I think he loves just saying the word "errands". It's so adorable when he says it. He'll ask me, "Mommy, are we going to run errands today?" Usually it's not but, today was the day, and he was so excited!

Before we left the house, I explained to him the different stops we'd be making. As I left CVS pharmacy, I was making my way to Chase bank and realized I had missed our turn. Instantly, the following words came out of Roman saying, "Mommy, mommy, you missed the Piggy Bank!" I sat there for a moment and thought piggy bank....and fell out laughing. It was one of those moments I had to cherish. From Roman's perspective he probably sees the bank as just one big piggy bank. Well, I guess it really is! So, we proceeded to the piggy bank to make our deposit. Roman was so happy.

Happy Birthday, Roman!

This past weekend, we celebrated Roman turning 3. It's amazing all the things he can do now. Here are a few that I was just thinking about the other day! I am so proud of our little guy.

- he can pitch a baseball to daddy and can hit the ball with flying colors; we love watching him run from base to base.

- can say all his ABC's

- can count to 10 and working on getting to 20

- knows all his primary colors

- loves to draw on his chalkboard especially pics of mommy, daddy and ethan

- potty training, finally!!!

- says thank you, you are welcome, and please almost always

- loves story time every night and before naptime

- likes to step in and discipline his little brother Ethan when mommy steps away, of course!

- attends Wycliffe International childcare (bible translators) twice a week and loves it; he just moved up to the 3 yr old class with Ms. Sherry;

- loves to play in the backyard with his toys and of course with brother Ethan

- helps mommy around the house

- will clear his plate from dinner table, place in kitchen and scoot his chair in

- learning quiet time and self-control time through GKGW (Growing Kids)

- his favorite movies are Toy Story, Monsters, and Curious George...

Roman, you are growing up so fast right before our eyes. We love you so much and we are so proud of you!!! Thank you for making our world so complete!

Here are a few pics from his special day:

I'm 3, yay!!

Happy Birthday, Roman...

Roman looks pooped, huh?

Opening gifts...such fun!

The Disney bounce house...

At the Ballpark, the next day...

A view from the stadium...

In the batting gage with Benjamin and Mr. Mark...

Visit to Waco Zoo

Last Tuesday, the boys and I headed to Waco, Texas to meet up with our close friends, The Little's (Aunt Sylvia, Alexis and Caleb), who live just north of Austin. We made a day of it by spending the morning at the Waco Zoo! Of course, the "wait to last minute to prepare" person that I am on most days, forgot my camera. I didn't get any of my own pics but Alexis was busy snapping away with her new little camera. I was able to pack most of our lunch and snacks. This was the first trek I had made with the boys without Steve.

We arrived around 10:45am. I think it took us about 1.5 hrs from Cedar Hill. Not bad! It was a nice zoo; quiet with very little traffic. It was extremely hot and HUMID. OK, I'm not talking 90% humidity; it's was way over 100% and then sum. We were drenched by the time we walked up to the gate. We were able to use our Dallas Zoo membership and we didn't have to pay any admission fees. Plus parking was free too! I thought the landscaping was very pretty and definitely a well kept. The zoo is small which is perfect for toddler age kiddos. In my opinion, the best part of the zoo was the Brazos River County exhibit area. We enjoyed the spanish and indian exhibits throughout. But, the kids loved the otters. This exhibit has a clear slide that is built within the water container so when the kids slide through, the otters are swimming right by them. Too cool!! I think it took us about 2 hrs to tour the entire zoo. Not bad especially when you've got toddler age kids.

After the zoo, we headed to Subway and had lunch. It was great to spend time with the Littles and just catch up with each other. After lunch, we parted ways and headed back to Cedar Hill and they back to Hutto. Of course, on the way back, I had to stop in Hillsboro and visit the Carter and Gymboree outlets. Yay!! I was able to get some great bargains for the boys. The boys did great, we were all safe and home by 5pm.

I can't wait to do something like this again. It really was an enjoyable time and well worth the trip. It's not very often we get to do something like this with great friends so I treasure these moments.

Nashville Bound!

We just returned from a week long trip to Nashville. We decided to tag along with Steve as he was attending his Boy Scouts of America National Leadership Conference which was being held at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee. I was really skeptical about making the trek since it was about a 12 to 13 hour drive especially with 2 little ones, a 3 year old and 1 year old. So, yes, I complained about it before hand and much to my surprise, we really had a wonderful time. The boys did great on the drive to and from Nashville with little to no crying. It was a huge blessing.

Our adventure began leaving on Thursday evening and driving into Little Rock getting in at midnight. We slept the next morning till about 9am, ate breakfast at Mimi's Cafe (yum, yum) and then stopped at Walmart to buy a few things for the road. We arrived into Memphis around noonish and headed straight to the famous Peabody Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel located downtown in the heart of Memphis. The Peabody itself is also one of Memphis' most popular attractions. The Peabody Ducks march to and from the Grand Lobby twice daily in a time-honored tradition dating back to the 1930s. At 11 AM and again at 5 PM, the red carpet is rolled out and The Peabody Ducks march to the tune of John Philip Sousa's “King Cotton March” before a crowd of amazed and delighted guests. Unfortunately we missed the march but we got to see the ducks wading in the hotel lobby pond and took a few photos. We ate lunch at TGIFriday's since it was Friday and then headed in to Nashville.


When we arrived to the Gaylord Opryland, I was taken back by the size of this hotel or should I say resort. It really is gorgeous and breathtaking inside with all the gardens and waterfalls. Our room was in the conference area called the Magnolia. Much to my surprise the room was not as big as I had hoped but it really didn't matter because we were still able to fit two port-a-cribs one for Ethan and one for Roman. Hubby and I got the king size bed! We were busy throughout the next few days especially with Steve attending many of the seminars and workshops. I got to attend the opening night dinner where Josh Turner was the featured music artist, the receptions the following night with three other perfomances and the spouses brunch where Dr. Kevin Leman was the guest speaker. I was so blessed to be a part of that event. Dr. Leman is incredibly funny and is the author of the Birth Order Book and many, many more books. What was even better was that BSA made baby sitting services available so Ethan and Roman were well taken care of when Steve and I attended any of the events. While in Nashville, we also had a chance to worship at the Oasis Worship Center on Sunday which was so awesome. The moment we walked in we were welcomed by so many friendly members. The boys went to the childcare area and had a great time. The worship and the message brought forth by Pastor Danny was great! We also had a chance to meet the Pastor and he prayed a blessing over us. Oh, and can't forgot a wonderful lunch we had at a little cafe in Brentwood called Puffy Muffin. The lemon poppy sead bread was out of this world.

The BSA conference ended Tuesday night and so we decided to head back to Texas on Wednesday. We checked out of the Gaylord around noon and headed to Memphis. When we arrived we decided to take a tour of Graceland since neither one of us had visited before. I am not an Elvis fan so I had never really kept up with his life. I am so glad we stayed for the tour because it was worth the hour and half we were there. We purchased the self-guided package using head sets that would play a narration about Graceland and Elvis. We were allowed to take many pictures. I never knew that the 2nd floor of Graceland was NOT opened to the public. From what I understand, it was Elvis' private area (his sanctuary) and since Graceland opened to the public, no one is allowed to tour that area of the house.

After Graceland, we left Memphis and headed back down to Little Rock where we stayed at the Doubletree Hotel for the night. We used Priceline.com and got a really good deal on the hotel. Then on Thursday morning, we finally made our way back into Dallas and it was great to finally be home. We are so thankful that God kept us safe during our travels and that we were able to have an enjoyable time.

Ethan turns One!

This past weekend our little man Ethan celebrated his 1st Birthday. He was born on July 26 around 8am at Medical City of Dallas. He weighed 6lbs 9 oz and was 19 inches in length. At his wellness visit today, he weighed in at 21.8oz and 30" in length. He's not walking but getting so close.

To celebrate,we had a small backyard bash with a few friends and family. Grandma and Grandpa visited from McAllen. They stayed for a week and Great Aunt & Uncle, Mary and Robert also came for the day all the way from Copperas Cove. With the Texas heat, I wasn't sure how long we would all last outside but the water slide bounce house kept all the kiddos occupied. There were a few friends and family that couldn't join us for his celebration and they were missed especially our dear friends Logan and Landon who moved to Conneticut in June.

There were moments during his little party that I would glance over at our little boy and just be in awe of God's amazing love and faithfulness. Ethan is our 2nd miracle baby as so was our first, Roman. We stood on faith (and sometimes it was very little) and trusted that God would bless us with another healthy beautiful baby. It seems like the past 12 months have flown by so quickly and it was yesterday that we were at the hospital holding him in our arms for the very first time. Thank you, Lord, for allowing us an opportunity to raise our two precious sons. They take our breath away and every time we look into their eyes we are reminded of how much you love us!

Thank you to all for sharing in our joy and for keeping our little boys in your prayers!!

Reuniting!

Over Memorial Day weekend, we took a quick trip to visit my family in Mcallen. The big event was my sister, Sondra and her daughter, Mariam (my neice) were being reunited after being apart for over 18 years. I know it has been a tough journey for both and it was such a blessing to see them come together with so much joy and love especially after so many tears had been shed over the years.

Mariam was born in Dallas, Texas but moved to Morocco, Africa with her parents when she was about 6 years old. A few years later, her parent's divorced and Mariam's mom decided to return to the US. Unfortunately, Mariam did not return with her and was raised by her father's grandparents in Morocco and is Muslim. Her father remarried and had 3 more children. She became fluent in Arabic and French and knows a little Spanish and English. She went on to study at a culinary school in Morocco and is now a pastry chef. She recently married before coming to the US and is now waiting for her husband to join her. She is living with her mom and stepfather, Mazen. Mazen is Lebanese so he speaks a little arabic and can be a translator. Mariam is adjusting very well and is starting to bake pastries with the hopes of owning her own business one day.

Here we are waiting at the airport for Mariam to arrive.

Mom and daughter seeing each other for the first time!

Mom and grandparents with Mariam!

Mariam at home!

Spring time in Texas!

It seems like forever that I took the time to post to our blog. It has been a busy couple of months but we've been able to capture a few photos of Ethan and Roman despite some of the spring showers that bring some crazy weather during this time of year. Roman is over 2 1/2 years old and Ethan is now 9 months, who has just started crawling. He's a little late bloomer than his big brother who was walking by 10 mos but he is so adorable when he gets to moving. I think he's just a little smarter in realizing that mommy or daddy can pick him up at any time and give him a quick ride from point a to point b.

We couldn't get any good pictures of Ethan and Roman sitting together in the bluebonnets. Ethan wouldn't have it and threw a fit when we tried to sit him on the grass. He was so terrified of the flowers.

Enjoy!

Snow in March?!

Just when we thought we were going to leave winter and enter spring without one bit of snow this season. I guess God decided to bless us with not one day but two days this past week with snow. It really was a pretty site and it takes my breath away to see the sun reflecting from the snow. I was bummed we didn't get any pictures with Roman playing in the snow. We'll just have to pray that next year we will be blessed again with waking up to a beautiful morning with powder white snow. This photo was taken from our front door looking at our neighbor's yard.


This photo is actually looking at our home. The snow pretty much melted within a few hours but it was nice to enjoy while it lasted.

Unclogging a Drain, naturally!

I know this is crazy but had to post cuz I was so proud of my hubby. Earlier this week, I clogged up the kitchen disposal with peelings of potatoes. Yes, I know they should have gone in the trash but, oh no, I proceeded to turn on the disposal and see the backup begin. My hubby came home from work and instead of sitting down to eat dinner, he was underneath the sink unscrewing pipes to get it cleared up. Sure enough in minutes all was flowing again. BUT, what was even better, he decided to go a step further and clean out our drains with a natural solution - baking soda, vinegar and water. What's so cool is that he learned this tip from reading an article on Dr. Mercola's newsletter. In the past, it was so easy for us to run out to the store and buy the commercial stuff.

What you'll need:
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Water

What you'll do:
Start by pouring 1/4 cup baking soda into the clogged drain. It might stay around the surface, which is OK.
Pour 1/4 cup vinegar into the drain.
Pour boiling water into sink. This will flush the solution through your pipes.
Repeat process if you have a particularly nasty clog.

Note that this is a good process to go through occassionally in order to maintain free-flowing pipes.

Way to go, Honey!!

I just got tagged!

I just got tagged by my friend Lori.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people (I won't be able to do this since I don't know many who are bloggers)

Well, the closest book to me is called Perfect Weight America by Jordan Rubin but when I turned to page 123 there was a chart on the page and only 2 or 3 sentences. So, I decided to reach for another book called The Power of a Praying Parent. I had pulled this out when I had been up several times a night praying for our little ones. Last week, we all came down with the flu and it killed me to see Roman struggling with such a high fever for several days. Unfortunately, we all got the flu and it was the most difficult 3 - 4 days trying to take care of 2 kids and also trying to heal ourselves. Thankfully, the MOPS group I belong to at Dallas First Church pitched in and delivered dinner 2 nights. What a tremendous blessing that was for our family. But, with God's strength and healing we made it through and we are all doing great!

Ok, so here goes:

This comes from chapter 17 titled, Staying Attracted to Holiness and Purity

"This doesn't just happen. It must be taught. And although we can do much to teach our children about living purely in the ways of the Lord and model this to the best of our ability, the real teacher is the Holy Spirit. Holiness begins with a love for Him. "Keep yourself pure" (1 Timothy 5:22), the Bible instructs us. That's a hard assignment for anyone, but especially for a child. It can only be accomplished by total submission to God and His law and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit."

These few sentences really made me think about my teenage years. I didn't know the Lord back then and, boy, was it so easy to be distracted or enticed to do things that were so unpleasing to God. I realize how important it is to pray for our children at such a young age and to hopefully lay a Godly foundation for them so when they are older and are enticed with life's temptations, they will want to reject it.

I love this prayer at the end of the chapter:
Lord, I pray that you would fill Roman and Ethan with a love for you that surpasses their love for anything or anyone else. Help them to respect and revere Your laws and understand that they are there for their benefit. Hide your Word in their heart so that there is no attraction to sin. I pray they will run from evil, from impurity, from unholy thoughts, words and deeds, and that they will be drawn toward whatever is pure and holy. In Jesus name, Amen!

The GDiaper !!

Over the past several months, I have been struggling with using disposable diapers for my kiddos. Every time I watch my DH empty out the Diaper Champ, I'd think to myself...wow, that huge bag of dirty diapers is never going to biodegrade in the landfill. Ok, never might be too strong of word but did you know that the conventional disposable diaper will take 500 years to biodegrade? And they are the 3rd largest contributors to landfills around the world. Yikes...hello...is anybody getting this...500 years? I know what you're thinking...does it really matter? It really started bugging me so I made a decision to go with cloth diapers and was going to use my last disposable and then make the switch. I headed to Target one Saturday afternoon as I was on my weekly shopping venture and made my way over to the cloth diaper area. For some reason Pampers and Huggies started calling out my name or at least that's what I thought I heard. So sure enough, I broke down and bought more disposable diapers because I could justify it with the fact they were on sale and I had coupons...yippee!! So, I ended up at square one...watching my hubby emptying the Diaper Champ the next day and feeling terrible that I could have joined the Green band wagon a little sooner.

But, lo and behold, one late night, my SIL Dawn sent me this link to a company called GDiapers. I'd never heard of these diapers before. So I checked out their website and I was pretty impressed with how these worked. What's really cool is they have videos that show real people putting them on their child or flushing the dirty diaper down the toilet. If you think about it, we really only have 2 options - cloth or disposable. I am so thankful that I have a 3rd option to consider now. Anyways, I think I am going to try these out and will come back and share my experience. I hope these eco-friendly diapers are an answer to prayer. Thank you, Dawn, for sharing this bit of info!

Heavenly Cupcakes!!

For my 40 something birthday (hee hee), my DH surprised me with cupcakes from this wonderful place called Sprinkles http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/. I'm sure many of you have heard of them because they have been featured on so many programs like Oprah, Good Morning America, Dr Phil, The Today Show, etc. etc. etc. Plus, you'll catch so many celebreties raving about them. Yes, they are the most overpriced cupcake I have ever tasted but OMG they were worth every single penny.

So, Ladies, if you are looking to get your favorite man a wonderful treat for Valentine's Day, surprise him with their red velvet or a belgian dark chocolate cupcake. There is a location in North Dallas in the Plaza at Preston Center. Of course, if you don't live near one, they do happen to deliver by mail. If there are cupcakes in heaven I hope they are Sprinkles! Thank you, honey, for making my birthday extra special.

Special Moments!

We've had such a wonderful time these past two weeks with friends and family visiting. First, we dedicated Ethan at our church, High Point in Arlington, TX http://www.churchunusual.com/ this morning. It was such a beautiful service where Pastor Gary Simons laid hands on each child while April prayed a special prayer. We were so blessed to have my sister, Sondra and my BIL Mazen (from McAllen, TX) and Ethan's Godparents Jim and Tina Smith with us at the service . Jim and Tina have been such a blessing and through their testimonies have made such an impact in our lives. We know that they will be a wonderful spiritual covering and encouragement in Ethan's life. After the church service, everyone came to our home for lunch and dessert. Ethan's grandmother prepared an awesome lasagne (will have to post the recipe) with all the great side fixin'. Grandpa helped so much too! Tina's parents (The Blacks) also joined us since they were also visiting. Here are a few pictures:

My good friend Suzy Moravick, from upstate New York, was also visiting during the past two weeks attending courses for her residency as she is pursuing her PHd in clinical psychology. We met back in 1995 while I was living in West Lafayette, IN working for State Farm and she was completing her undergraduate degree at Purdue University. We met each other at Silver Mountain Coffee shop while we were both working there part-time. Before we knew it we were best of friends. Well, I relocated to Dallas, TX in 1997 and she went on to New York to work on her Masters. We stayed in contact throughout the past 10 yrs but our paths never really crossed again until recently. It was such a blessing to see her. I didn't realize how much I missed our friendship and the times we use to share. Although, it has been 10 years, I felt like we had not missed a beat. Suzy is such a sweet and beautiful person with a passion for Jesus. I know that God is going to use her in a special way to touch the lives of many hurting people and be instrumental in bringing them into the kingdom of heaven. She will be back in Jan 2009 and we can't wait to see her then!!

I have been so touched these past two weeks with past relationships being rekindled and new relationships being birthed. God is so awesome in how he knows exactly how and when to surround us with those who can encourage and speak life in to our souls. There was something that Mr. Black (Tina's father) shared today that I thought was worth posting. He said..."it takes a little man to make you feel little but it takes a big man to make you feel big." It is so important to surround yourself with people who can encourage you and build you up because in life there always seems to be things around us that can makes us feel so insignificant.

Stayed blessed everyone....with lots of love from Texas!!!

The Power of a Praying Wife!

This past week I picked up a book that I've had on my bookshelf called the Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. If you haven't read it, ladies, you really need to add this to your collection. With alot of the transitions that Steve and I have been going through these past few months and as we step into a new year, I truly felt that I needed to spend more time praying for him and our marriage. I guess I didn't realize how having children would take up so much time and energy that sometimes I really don't feel like I have anything of me left to share with my DH. I was talking with a friend the other day about all that Steve does to be the sole provider for our home. He allows me to stay home with the boys and to focus on raising our children that hopefully will make a difference in their lives. It hit me like a ton of bricks that he really needs me to undergird him with prayer and support especially during times that are so transitional. I will admit there are many days when I feel like I can't pray for him because of a disagreement or because I just have a zillion other things on my mind or on my "things to do list that just never seems to get any shorter list". But God continues to show me that as his soulmate I can make a huge difference in his life if I just keep him lifted in prayer. As Stormie said it so well: “I can think of no better way to truly love your husband than by lifting him up in prayer on a consistent basis. It is a priceless gift that helps him experience God’s blessings and grace.”

If you feel you’re able, try this little experiment and see what happens. Pray for your husband every day for a month using each one of the 30 areas of prayer Stormie has included in this book. Pray a chapter a day. Ask God to pour out His blessings on him and fill you both with His love. See if your heart doesn’t soften toward him. Notice if his attitude toward you doesn’t change as well. Observe whether your relationship isn’t running more smoothly.

Trains at North Park!

Yesterday Roman returned back to Wycliffe's MDO program. He usually goes Mondays and Wednesday from 8am till about 12:45pm. It has been so nice having him home during the holiday season so I kinda didn't even know what to do with my morning. But after an hour of missing him, I quickly realized, hey, I've got a zillion things I could be doing to get my week, month, year started. Anyways, I did have a mommy moment of missing my little Ro Ro. But, one thing that we were able to do while he was on vacation was visit the Trains at North Park Mall. This was our first time to go so we had a memorable time especially watching Roman as he was in awe! Trains at North Park Mall on New Year's Day!

Daddy and Roman looking at one of the trains going by!

Checking out the trains....Roman so badly wanted to pick them up!

They even have a rendition of the Dallas skyline which was so neat!

More trains...

If you live in the Dallas area or you are visiting you must stop by to check them out. The Trains at NorthPark hit the tracks every year to raise money for the children and families of the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas, a home-away-from-home for families who have traveled to Dallas with their children for treatment in local hospitals. Because of the popularity of the Exhibit, it now provides approximately 1/2 of the annual operating budget for the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas. Oh, and Ethan had a great time too!!!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe 2008 is here! I am so looking forward to starting this new year with a fresh outlook in so many areas of my life. As I reflect on 2007, I had made so many new year's resolutions and realized that I didn't keep any. I started off great but didn't finish off too strong. The bible teaches us that the number 8 represents new beginnings. So this year I am going to tag as a year of "new beginnings". Here are a few goals I hope to achieve or maintain this year. I am not calling them "new year's resolutions" just because I never seem to keep them. In the book of Habakkuk 2:2 "...write down the vision, and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly ] as he hasten's by. I've listed two goals here as a starting point for me.


1. To read the entire Bible this year. Last year, Pastor Gary (my Pastor at High Point Church) challenged us to read the bible in a year. Well that didn't happen so this year I am making this a top priority. What's so nice is that my DH gave me a new bible for Christmas called "The One Year Bible for Women". It is so nice and truly is a quick read when you've got to tend to two little ones under the age of 2. My goal is to draw closer to God and seek His wisdom in every decision of my life.

2. To be a better wife to Steve and mom to Roman and Ethan. 2007 was definitely a year of many changes and transitions. Having a new baby, Steve starting a new business venture with Villager Book Publishing http://www.villagerbookpublishing.com/, implementing a budget/finance program through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (thanks to our friends Jim and Tina), etc. etc. etc. I realized that I probably didn't handle all these changes too well and didn't feel like I was there for my hubby especially during his transition from MADD to Villager. Well, I hope to make this a better year for my family and to focus on creating a more peaceful environment in our home by pursuing God more consistently. I also want to be a good steward over our finances. If you haven't read or heard of Dave Ramsey; I'm telling you this will be an eye opener. It was for us and we are so excited to be on track for Financial Peace. We are now 90 days in and seeing a HUGE difference. This goal will also include health and wellness for our family as well as ensuring we are doing everything we can to maintain the temple that God has blessed us with. Bottom line is that we as a family need to excercise more and spend more time doing things that keep us active.

Anyways, our pastor has commissioned us to fast for 21 days starting this coming Sunday, January 6. I am looking forward to this time because I know that God is going to reveal so much more to me.

Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope that this year will also be a time of 'new beginnings' for you and your family.

Click on this link for a video that I felt was so appropriate for me this year! I hope it will bless you!