For a good cause

Less than a couple of weeks ago, I took Lily to get her hair cut. Her hair tangles real easily, so I need it to be a more manageable length. When we got home, Jasmine had said, "I want to get my hair cut too." I brushed the comment off at the time because I've always loved Jasmine's hair. It's naturally curly, and is pretty easy to take care of. And I know she loves it too. She'll twirl around and let her hair fly, and say, "I'm a princess!" Or she'll come out and head-bang, flipping it all over the place, while Jamie and I are playing Rock Band. Her hair is thick and healthy. She always gets compliments about her hair. But lately I've noticed more and more breakage, and she's been messing with it so much that we've had a few occasions where tangles were a problem. I asked the people at the hair salon about Locks of Love. If you don't know what that is, Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss (you can check out their site at http://www.locksoflove.org/) . I showed Jasmine the website, and let her think about it for a few days, even though her initial reaction was "I want to do that." Earlier today I called and got her in for the appointment. She was grinning from ear to ear...not only on the way to the salon, but during the entire hair cut. She loves her new hair do. Over and over after the trip, I've heard, "I got a hair cut...do you like my new hair cut?" Which I do. She's beautiful either way. So, now she's a bit lighter on her feet (minus about a foot of thick curls), and her locks will go to bless a girl out there soon.

Got to give a plug for my salon. I and the girls are loyal to a local salon called Freak Show. Shelby always takes great care of us. And since the hair is being donated, the cut was free of charge.

Catching up

A few weeks ago, some friends of ours got married. I was asked to sing. I didn't have a good reason to say "no," so I went and found a song. I haven't done a solo since I was in high school. I worked very hard on the song. I was very nervous, and my voice was shaky. In fact, my left leg shook through the entire song, so I couldn't put any weight on it. I think I did okay. I got a lot of compliments and encouragement from people that know me. My brother, James, was at the wedding with us. He gave me the best compliment of them all. He said that when I started to sing, it reminded him of our mom. Our mom used to sing in church, the car, the bathroom...just wherever. It's something that we grew up with, and since she's gone, it's one of those things that we miss. So, it meant a lot to me that my brother would say that, and if I'm ever asked to sing again, it will be my motivation to say "yes."

Our newlywed friends put the wedding together so fast that we decided to schedule the wedding shower a week after the wedding. I was very happy to get to take part in that as well. I volunteered to get the cake for the shower. My step mom made my wedding cake, so I knew she'd be perfect to ask to tackle the task. I kid you not, this was her second cake to put together...my wedding cake was her first. She was an art major, so any project that she gets her hands on will be beautiful. She did a great job, and the cake was the talk of the shower.

This past weekend, we had friends over...Saturday for a pay-per-view fight and Sunday for the Superbowl. I love having people over. The fellowship is always great, and then there's food, and the kids get to run around with their friends...it's always a lot of fun. I just hate the stress of getting the house in order. I hate to clean. I hate to nag Jamie about helping out. I always have clutter somewhere all the time. So, I am determined to get the whole family to help out around the house. It's a big job no matter what the size of your house, and I want my kids to know how to help out (I know too many people that their mom was also their maid, and they're lost without her when they get out on their own). So, right now as I type this, Lily just started the dish washer, Jasmine is mopping (with the swiffer) the kitchen, Rosalie is dusting, and Iris is running around the house with a damp rag wiping anything in her path. I crafted together a chore chart, and sat down with the girls earlier to see what they'd like to help out with, and they were honestly excited about doing chores (I can only pray that will last). Hopefully, I can keep this up because it will be a big help.

Levi cut his first teeth...the front two bottom teeth. I think he's working on more, too. He has been restless at night. I can't believe he's getting teeth already. It's time for it, but he's growing way too fast for me. I'm so in-love with this little guy. I catch myself just staring at him. He's a really sweet baby. God has blessed us with great babies...

Oh, I almost forgot...

...to mention what Jamie got me for Christmas. He did really good this year. I ended up guessing 2 of my gifts. It wasn't that hard to guess, though. I made it really clear what I wanted by slowly and loudly saying, "I'd really like ____ for Christmas..." But he went a step further, and got me something all on his own. I had a hunch that he'd bought something else. One afternoon while the girls were eating lunch, Lily and I were talking about some of the gifts under the tree. Lily said, "I bet you don't know what's in the big red box." I told her that I knew what it was. It was the mixer that I'd asked for. And I told her that I also knew about the dutch oven that Jamie had bought, as well. She said, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you already know what you're getting." Then, hoping to get some information out of her, I said, "I even know about the other present your dad bought me...the little one." And she said with surprise, "I can't believe he told you about the necklace!!!"

Of course I knew nothing about it. And even though I managed to spoil the surprise, I was still impressed when Jamie gave it to me Christmas morning. He was excited to find it. He said, "It's a heart for each one of the kids." He's very thoughtful. I've had it one since he put it around my neck that morning. He did a good job this year! Just had to brag on my hubby.

And for those of you wondering, "Why didn't I get a card?" I didn't get a chance to sit down and put together Christmas cards this year. I think I managed to send out 5, which caused a problem. I sent one to an aunt because she was in the beginning of my address book, and didn't get the rest of the aunts a card, and everyone was asking, "Where's mine?" I guess I'll save the cards for next Christmas, but I still have pictures. I think I'll do a family newsletter, or something. Who knows? But here are the actual pictures that were suppose to be sent out.

The holidays are over...

Okay, I'm making myself sit down and post an update. It's been busy around my house since Thanksgiving. In an attempt to get a bit of rest after the holidays, my house is a mess and my Christmas tree and decorations are still up. I'll deal with that on another day, though. Right now I have a lot of pictures and stories to share.

After Thanksgiving, my brother, James, came back home. He was stationed in Alaska, serving in the Army. He's now working with Jamie, and being an uncle to the kids. We're so excited to have him back. I'm close to all of my siblings. We're spread out over the country now, so it's good to have James here.


We got the tree up and decorated in early December. The girls had a lot of fun. Last year I switched over to plastic ornaments so the kids could decorate the tree. When I was little, one of my favorite things was decorating the tree. I can still remember some of the handmade ornaments that we had. I want my kids to have the same memories. Each year I've taken them to the store to pick out a new ornament. And I also make sure that any decoration that was made by them finds it's place on the tree. After the last ornament was on the tree, I had to get a family picture in front of it.

Jamie took Lily hunting one weekend with his dad. This was her first time, and won't be the last. Lily had a blast. She said it was awesome. Her grandpa got a doe, and Jamie got 2 javelinas. But if Lily tells you the story, she calls them "hogalinas." They brought one back to have it mounted. Lily calls it her trophy. When it's ready, I don't plan on having it in the house, but I'm sure we can find a nice place for it in the garage. Lily got to experience everything that goes with hunting. She watched her grandpa gut the doe, and she says, "It was awesome! I got to help...I got to hold a leg." Since her siblings were home with me, I tried to make sure we did something special. Each night, we'd drive to a local house that had Christmas lights and music, and we'd watch the lights dance as we ate our dinner. One night I made all of them hot chocolate with marshmallows and whip cream. Here's a picture of them enjoying their treat.

And here is a picture of the kiddos dressed in their best on the Sunday before Christmas.

We had our Christmas with Jamie's family on Christmas Eve at our house. We ate way too much, and the kids were spoiled. Each one of them got a bath robe from the grandparents. All the girls look so sweet with them on. They had them on when they woke up Christmas morning.


Christmas morning was all about the little ones. I have a love/hate relationship with the holidays. I love the excitement of the kids, and all the family and festivities, but I hate the stress of buying gifts. And you wouldn't think it would be hard buying for your own kids, but last year it was. I had to make sure they all had the same amount of gifts, and that each one of them got something they'd really like. But this year, when the big toy magazine came, I gave each one of them a chance to circle what they liked (understanding that they may or may not get it). Then, I decided not to do individual gifts at all. I bought a bunch of gifts, wrapped them, and stuck them under the tree...no name tags or labels. We don't do the whole Santa thing, so to build their excitement and wonder, each day at breakfast I'd ask, "If you get to open the first gift, which one would you choose?" Each day they'd change their mind on which gift they'd open. They couldn't wait for Christmas morning. When the day finally came, I got breakfast going, and Jamie read the Christmas story to the kids, and then prayed. We ate and then started with the presents. We had them open gifts from youngest to oldest. I explained to them that everything was to be shared, so with each gift that was opened, they were all equally excited. This year was less stressful with the shopping, so I'm definitely going to do the same thing next Christmas.

My sister, Jessica, flew in from Washington, and my brother, Justin, flew in from New York. Jessica is stationed at Ft. Lewis, serving in the Army. Justin was serving there as well, but is now attending West Point. I love having my family in. We don't do anything special while together...basically just hang out, catch up with our lives, and pick on each other (as siblings do).

Jessica is always a big help when she's in town. She's great with the kids. She helps me with them, and helps so much with the house. She's one of my best friends. I love her very much. I couldn't ask for a better sister. She always puts herself last, and would literally give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. There's not enough "Jessica's" in the world, so I'm grateful that I have my very own. It's always tough when it comes time to take her back to the airport. I don't know when I'll see her again. She's scheduled to deploy in a few months. I hate that she has to go, but I rest easier knowing that she's one of the many people protecting us.

Justin has already served his time in Iraq. He's been at West Point since June 2008. I'm very proud of his accomplishments and the direction his life is going. Justin is so smart. I can only wish to have some of his brains. He's great with kids, which makes him a wonderful uncle. He loves to irritate Lily to get a reaction out of her, which isn't that difficult. He likes to call her "Billy." It drives her up the wall, but it's funny to watch them go back and forth.









They both were in town for two weeks. We got to spend a lot of time with our dad since they were here. We had a couple of big meals over at Dad's. The meal closest to New Years, we ate Mexican food. It's sort of tradition since we're originally from New Mexico. My dad made a bunch of tamales, enchiladas with homemade sauce, beans, rice, sopapillas...oh, I was hurting from all the food I ate. It was all so good.

We all had a good visit. I can't wait for all of us to get together again.

And to end this entry...Lily is very proud of the fact that she lost not 1, but 2 teeth. She was a bit uncertain when the first one was loose. But after that one fell out, and I gave her a buck for it, she couldn't wait to lose another. About 2 weeks later, she (all by herself) pulled out the second one, and was quick to tell me that I owed her another dollar. I have her teeth saved in a bag, and she hopes to tuck them somewhere in her trophy when it's ready.

Quick post before I head to bed...

We had a great Thanksgiving. We drove over to New Braunfels to see Jamie's family...aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. We haven't seen them in a while. I wish we lived closer because our visits with them are always so much fun. The girls had a blast. They were completely spoiled and given lots of gifts, but I guess that's one of the joys of getting to see family. They played with all their cousins, which was sweet to watch. The girls wanted to stay longer. Jasmine was determined to. We were leaving, and she decided she was going to stay. When we didn't let her, she started crying. She was upset most of the drive home. But her Aunt Sandy called and talked to her, and I promised Jaz that we would go back to see all of them again soon. Hopefully we can head over there for Easter.
I first met most of Jamie's family less then a week after we were married. I fell in love with them. They all welcomed me as one of the family even though they didn't know me. They've treated me with love, kindness and generosity from the start. I'm so thankful for them and all of my family.
And now Christmas is so close I can smell it. I'll be getting the tree put up this week (hopefully), and soon I'll have family in town. I had one brother show up already, and will have another brother and sister here in a few weeks. I'm excited to see everyone. I can't believe this year is almost over. But I guess I say that every year.
Oh, sorry no pictures. We were in such a rush to get out the door that I forgot to take my camera. I'm going to have to bum some pics of my in-laws.
I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

I've been kind of busy

I've been wanting to sit down to type up a new post for a while now, but haven't been able to find a spare moment. So, for those of you that have been waiting, I hope you enjoy this one.

I came out the other morning to grab some clothes for Levi. All he had on was a diaper. Jamie said, "Look at Levi's little man-boobs." Lily attempted to correct her dad by saying, "Dad...they're called nibbles." I thought that was so funny. I corrected her, but Rosalie apparently didn't hear me, and started singing, "I see Levi's nickles...nickles...nickles..." I love those funny little moments.

I've been in the process of taking pictures for our Christmas card to send out this season. The past few years, I've actually been able to get one taken with everyone looking at the camera. I figured that would be near impossible to do this year. So, I decided that it would be easier to design our card to include 3 pictures. I'm posting some of the ones that won't be in the card, but I liked them too much to delete them. I love the outfits that I found for the kids!

This past Saturday, my sister Ashley had a formal that she was attending. I got to do her hair for that. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out since I was winging it. I'm assuming that her hair survived the night because she hasn't called me to tell me otherwise. I had fun doing it. I also had done her hair for a choir banquet that she went to when she was in high school. I scared her that time because I was half-way done with her hair, and didn't like the way it was turning out, so I took it all out. I think when I did that, she had an hour left before the banquet started. But once I got started on her hair again, it looked great, and went really fast with my second attempt. That all said, I'm surprised she let me do her hair for this formal.

Jamie and I celebrated our seventh anniversery on the 17th of this month. I grow more and more in love with him each year. Jamie is a wonderful husband and dad. Our marriage still feels so new to me. I continue to look forward to many, many more years together. God blessed me with more than I could hope for or imagine in a husband. He is my best friend and partner. I love him very much. We didn't have a traditional start, and a lot of people said we'd never make it. All I can say is we're still going stong, and our marriage only grows stronger as time passes.

Ninja!

First, let me start out by saying that I did not pose my children. We were about to load up in the suburban to go to the party when I said, "Hey girls, let me get a picture of you first...stand together over here." I made sure they were close enough to all make it in the picture, and I told them to smile, but they instead decided to really get into character, thus resulting in what you see. Iris is so funny. She likes to make "chopping" motions with her hands, and say, "Hit!...Hit!...Hit!" Levi got to dress up, too. I love his outfit with his little hat. Since they are so young, and I don't give them much say in the decision, I have fun dressing them with a theme in mind. I had a lot of different themes that I was trying to find enough costumes in the right sizes...clowns, super heroes, wizard of oz, and star wars. I'm glad the ninja theme won. Seeing all of them in their costumes, and watching them run around & play was so much fun for Jamie and I.

The night before the party, we went to see The Promise with some friends of ours. All the kids did so well, and really enjoyed it. Lily was on the edge of her seat for most of the performance. It was definitely a far better treat for them than a bag full of candy for Halloween.

Speaking of treats, I can't forget to mention that Jamie took it upon himself to make caramel apples for the girls. He didn't do the whole production of dipping the apples...he took the short cut of buying those caramel disks to wrap around the apples. That's not the point, though. The point is that he made his girls a treat, and I thought it was really sweet.

I'm just posting an update.

I want to keep this somewhat current, but that's hard to do some times when there's nothing new to report.

Half of us have been sick these past few days. I credit that to eating at El Chico's in Granbury...that's what I get for craving mexican food. I completely jinxed myself when I told Jamie on the ride home, "I'll be paying for that later." Which I did...the entire night (use your imagination so I don't have to go into details). And as if that wasn't enough, Iris and Rosalie got hit the next day. Poor Iris had it the worst, but she's pretty good when she doesn't feel well...she likes to stay in bed.

When I'm not sick, I like playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero with Jamie. Those are the only games that I'm good at. Guitar Hero World Tour came out last Sunday, and we made sure we got it. I wish it was easy enough for the girls to play because they always seem to get a guitar or the drum sticks and act like they're part of the game. Watch out for Iris, though...she'll smack you with a drum stick if you make her mad. She says, "I'm gonna bank you!"

We don't take the kids trick or treating (I know...we're soooo mean). Last year they got to dress up for a friend's birthday/costume party. We had four very beautiful cats. This year we lucked out, and have another friend that is having a birthday/costume party for their little one. We will have a clan of ninjas (check back next week...I'll post pictures). The kids are really excited. The party is the day after Halloween. On the night of Halloween, we're all going to watch The Promise in Glen Rose (http://thepromiseglenrose.com/). It's a production about the life of Christ. I saw it when I was in high school and was really impressed with it. The kids are going to love it. They can't wait for Friday, and neither can I.

Other than what I mentioned above, not too much has been going on. But I like it that way.

Happy Birthday Iris

Today our precious Iris turns 2. We ate birthday cake last night because I have to work Wednesday evenings. Instead of a big cake, we did cupcakes, and everyone got to get in on the action.
Our lady bugs were strawberry cakes frosted with chocolate and strawberry icing, topped with chocolate chips and mini oreos. I baked and frosted them, and then the girls took care of the decorating. As you can see, Jamie got in on it, too.

Iris was still asleep from her nap when we got started. I woke her up hoping that she'd want to help out, but she was still pretty out of it, and ended up just eating the chocolate chips while the other girls finished decorating. We were crunched for time because Jamie needed to go to a men's group meeting, and my sister Ashley (who had stopped by) had choir rehearsal. So, me, being the "greatest mom ever" (as proclaimed by my kids), let everyone have cupcakes before eating dinner.

The cupcakes ended up tasting really good. Lily ate 3, and was about to grab a fourth when Jamie had stopped her. Jasmine licked the frosting off of 2, and was getting another to do the same when, again, Jamie had to stop her. Rosalie nibbled most of one, and Iris was given 2--the one with her name and the one with the number 2 on it. Iris ended up wearing a lot of hers.

Ashley left, shortly followed by Jamie. The rest of us decided to go get happy meals, and then came back home to eat and hang out together. Last night was really a sweet time. I so enjoyed watching them decorate, and then eat the cupcakes. I have a happy, precious bunch of kids. I don't ever imagine life without them because they've made mine complete. Happy birthday my beautiful baby Iris, and may God bless you with many more to come.

Our most recent happenings...

I love this picture. I have to brag...I have a beautiful baby! Levi is 3 months old now, and is just the most wonderful blessing. I wake up to him every morning cooing, smiling, and kicking off the covers. He's laughing now, which is a real treat. He'll be our last (unless God sees otherwise), and seems to be growing too fast. I'm just sooo in-love with this little guy. That's one thing he doesn't do without: love. His sisters smother him with kisses. They all want to help out with their baby brother. I'm just enjoying him right now. Before I know it, he'll be his daddy's little buddy, so I want to soak up as much of him as I can while I still have a chance.

We went to the Ft. Worth Zoo yesterday for homeschool day. We met up with some friends of ours. All the kids had sooo much fun, and did very well for the long day that we had. Even though we were there pretty much all day, I think we missed some animals. I love going to the zoo. I remember when I was pregnant with Jasmine, Jamie took me to the zoo for my birthday. He's so thoughtful :) I was very thankful that he was able to go with us. I don't know how I would have managed without him there. He not only helped keep an eye on the kiddos, but he'd also made and packed our lunch and snacks for the day. He does such a good job when I finally let go, and let him help ***Note to self...I should let him help more often...***

As if the zoo wasn't enough, I also managed to drag the family to the mall afterward to get Iris' birthday present. This year, all the kids got to make a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop. I wanted to keep their birthdays simple, but special. Iris turns 2 on October 8th, so it was her turn to make a bear. Jamie got to take her through the process this time. She picked her bear quickly...she's a girl that knows what she wants. When it was time to fill the bear, the noise from the machine scared her, but I was quick to get her sisters over there to help out. It worked, and Iris was ready to go on. When she went to pick out clothes, she picked a Nascar outfit. Jamie liked that. But I had to intervene. I had them put it back, and directed them to a different shelf of clothes. Thus resulting in what you see in the picture. She named her bear Baby.

Oh, and another silly picture of the girls. You know, in the age of digital cameras, most silly pictures get deleted (unless you keep them to black-mail someone). But I have lots of goofy pictures. They really show personality, and most of them have a story. It's a sweet time when you get to sit down with a photo album and flip through the pages to remember those moments.