She did it!

Gracie did awesome and took beautiful photos today! We did have some thumb sucking/ hair twirling moments but they were so cute! Thank you PortraiT Inn0vations for capturing my daughter today!

Thumb sucking and hair twirling

In early 2007 we found out we were having a baby girl! In our ultra sound pictures we received that day we could see her feet and her hands . . . and we could see her cute little face . . . and we could see her thumb in her mouth. We thought how cute is that! Within hours after coming into this world, our sweet Gracie Beth began the art of thumb sucking. Once again how cute . . .

No matter where she is, that thumb is in her mouth. No matter how dirty or nasty, it is there. Then came the hair twirling. The thumb sucking is ALWAYS done on the left hand thumb. The right thumb never works. So the right hand was lonely and once there was a tossle of hair on that cute little head, the hair twirling began.

However, unlike thumb sucking which can only be done in her mouth with her thumb, hair twirling can be done on other peoples hair. Dawson and Sophia with their long mops are prime canidates. Sweet Sophia shares a bed with Gracie and often gets her hair twirled while she is sleeping. Brandon still has some long hair on top and will be told to 'hat off' so Gracie can twirl his hair. After baths, the hands have to be free as quick as possible so the hair can be twirled and the thumb can be sucked. She will even attempt to twirl Mommy and Daddy's short hair dos. It is a hoot. She is one determined little girl when it comes to twirling her some hair.

I tell you all this to tell you that Friday at 4pm I am going to attempt to get Gracie's two year pictures taken. Last time we did this and attempted to get a non-thumb sucking or hair twirling photo we got one mad girl. We ended up with some cute thumb sucking photos but not a happy girl! So tomorrow I am hoping I can catch my sweet two year old in a mood to give me a big huge smile with no thumb sucking or hair twirling involved. Hopefully, I can re-route her determination to suck her thumb and twirl some hair into giving her mama an amazing photo to hang on her wall!

Slip And Slide???

For a few weeks now, the kido's have been asking for a Slip and Slide. I honestly just kept forgetting to look at them when we were at the stores. Last night, we visited my second home (Kohls) to complete our vacation wardrobes. While there, Sophia (of course) had to visit the bathroom. To her it is a must to go to the bathroom in every store or eating establishment that we visit. She had just gone in Target minutes before, yet had to go AGAIN when we went into Kohls. I digress. . . so as we were leaving the bathroom area, I saw that Kohls had a selection of backyard water adventure type toys. They were made by what I feel is a good maker of water toys. This was the box that screamed hours of fun in the water and sun while mama works inside . . .

Look at it closely . .. see that kid who appears to be at least 9-10 years old. See how he is flying down the slide into a pool at least the size of him. Free body board! 18 feet long! Look at that face of joy on the child watching him or the inset picture of the boy riding the slide. Sophia could not wait to set this up and take a ride on it this morning. The begging started right at 8am. So by 9am I was out setting up the ultimate adventure for Sophia and her friend, Trevor.

And here is the final product . . . Okay . . not quite the picture on the box. It is about 18 feet long. However it is only about two and a half feet wide. (the back of the box did give the dimensions in the small print - I just didn't bother to look in my excitement). After placing the Slip and Slide, I was to plug the hose into the end to allow the water sprinkler to cover the slide. I hooked it up - turned on the water - and heard a loud POP as the plastic busted open. Which now makes our small slide a redneck version as the home sprinkler is what keeps the slide wet. The pool at the bottom . . hardly big enough for Sophia to sit in. Too say we were disappointed is the understatement. Luckily, it was on sale and I had a 15% off for my visit so the whole thing was less than $5.
Sophia and Trevor did give it a run for about 30 minutes. I don't think either of them ever made it all the way into the gigantic pool at the bottom. And I don't think the 'super tough ultra slick body board' made any difference to their adventure. Dawson's comment . . . "we should have just used a tarp like I said". (sigh) Of course Dawson did go down our 200 foot slip and slide adventure last week with the youth. That slip and slide had us holding to to a ski rope while being pulled by a four wheeler at about 30mph down the slide. It was awesome! So I suppose an 18foot long self slider wouldn't count for much. Here is hoping that your summer adventures are MUCH BIGGER and GREATER than our slip and slide!

Fav Foto Friday

And here you have the princess ready for a day at the mall . . . yikes!

Brandon's Home and Sophia Conversations - PG Rating

*** First off . . . be warned as we progress through this post it might not be appropriate for younger folks. There might be life spoilers contained below or even a bad word. You have been warned. ***

Brandon made it home to us on Monday after a brief delay in the TX airport after customs taking a bit longer than expected. He had an amazing, awesome, great, wow trip. He has actually talked quite a bit about it, and has even talked about a possible return in October but for sure wants to go back next summer. He says he really feels his heart is there to serve the people of Mexico. Wow! Not sure that is what I would have said the summer before my senior year. This is a picture of his art work on a basketball court in a village - he painted John 3:16 in Spanish.

Now . . . for some Sophia conversation bits . . . remember you were warned . . . if you have been a reader for any amount of time you recall that our sweet 5 year old daughter Sophia is a very deep thinker. She knows stuff, and wants to always know more. So here you go . . .

Riding in car with Dawson, Grace, and I . . . "I would really like to die." (say what?) "I want to know what it is like to die. I could die, go see Jesus, and then come back." (okay?!?!) " I also wonder if you die with your eyes open, can I see everybody that is around me?"

Conversation about hell . . . "Hell is a bad word. But it is not a bad word if you are talking about the actual place Hell. Like if you say the devil lives in Hell it is okay to say hell, because he really does live there. But if you just say hell to say it, then it is bad." (I told you bad language!)

During a conversation with her friend today they started talking about elves. I was working in the other room and couldn't really hear until Sophia shouted, "Mom, are elves real?", Me "what Sophia? No elves are not real." Sophia to friend (who is only 6) "See I told you elves are not real, they can't be real because Santa isn't real." Me "Sophia Faith get in here right now!" . . . "Yes, Mom?" "Sophia how many times have we told you NOT to tell your friends that Santa is not real?" "Well, he isn't." "I know sister but we have asked you not to tell your friends that." "But mom he isn't real." "Yes, dear, I know this but don't tell your friends." "Mom, I am just saying he isn't real because he isn't." "Sophia, I agree with you but we are not to discuss it with our friends, OK? Got it?" "Yes, Mom. I won't tell my friends . . . but Mom, he isn't real."

And there you go, no need to any longer wonder why I must color my hair.

Be Praying for my Missionary

This morning at 5am we said good bye to this young man as he went off on his first mission trip. He and a team of 15 youth and 4 adults will be doing light construction work, street VBS, and just telling others about Jesus. He is such an amazing young man already, and is very anxious for what this trip holds. We are excited for what he is about to experience. Yet, we are nervous as he enters a somewhat unsafe area. We know God will protect him as he goes about God's business in this country. Please pray for our man as he enters the mission field today for the next 12 days!

My Unplugged Week

Last week I went to youth camp with about 100 plus teens from our church. I did not do the camp thing as a child or teen, so I kind of live out that now with these youth. We went to the middle of nowhere Kentucky to Camp Cedarmore. We had a great time! Not only was it a fun camp, but it was a camp where we all grew spiritually. My prayer is that those mountain top highs that we experience during camps or revivals don't fade for these kids . . . or me either.

These are my roomies for the week. Sweet sweet to be senior girls!We played alot. There was a climbing wall where Kyle defeated his fear of heights and even sang The Circle of Life to us. There was football, kickball, wiffleball, basketball, volleyball and six square. And then there was the lake with the BLOB and the Zipline. My BLOB experience involved me unintentionally doing a one and a half back flip with a stellar landing right on my face. My Zipline experience was short. About 5 feet off the dock, my sweet Dana lost her grip and pulled both of us down off the zipline for a 15 foot drop into the lake. This is Brandon and Keegan showing how the zipline should really be done.Another fun thing was the mud pit!!! I did not at all mean to get as muddy as I did, but when you are so "loved" by the youth of our church, they want to show you with mud in your ears, eyes, face, hair, etc. The best part about the mud pit was when Mike handed the fire hose over to me and I got to shoot . . . er rinse the kids off as they came out of the mud pit.

Senior Girls Post Pit Picture

Me Post Pit Picture

Brandon and Friends Post Pit

And while I missed my hubby and younger children so much - it was nice to be unplugged in the sticks of Kentucky with Jesus and the youth.

(this photo is being placed here with the full intent of letting all that know the real Bobby Billy a chance to see him in his acting glory)