"BOB" Party

(B.O.B. is the little blue guy with the eyeball.)

Yesterday was Jecoa's birthday. What a fun day we had!

We went out early and looked at a house we are interested in buying. It's a nice one. The kids like it, too.

We ran by the dollar store and picked up a couple things. Water toys and balloons.

We came home and did normal stuff. During nap time I finished the B.O.B. cupcakes (from Monsters vs. Aliens), added water to our little pool, made salsa and filled water balloons.

Sadly, the kids we invited weren't able to make it, but a couple grown up friends we invited and the kids had a great time with each other any way.

The B.O.B. cupcakes were fun. Jecoa said he wanted a "B.O.B. Party" after seeing some party plates at the store. It was a fun choice. And he kept saying "B.O.B. cake!" It was very cute. (Also I thought the whole theme worked out pretty well because Abe grilled and the kids played in the pool. In the movie the Monsters all went to a BBQ and swimming summer kind of party at Susan's house after they were released from captivity... maybe you gotta see the movie to follow all that ;) The water balloons were a first for them, and they were a huge hit. Theona asked what they were for and I told her we could throw them and pop them. See looked a little sad then asked, "Could we put them in the pool?!" I said sure, so as soon as it was pool time, she put them all in. They liked swimming around with a bunch of water balloons. Funny.

Abe got his big boy a tool set. He loved them. I think his favorite is the hammer. Theona declaired, "These are like Home Depot!" They have both been figuring out how to use them. Jecoa will stay occupied going around with his pretend nail and hammer and hammering everything. So far I've only said "no" to hammering the computer and the guitar....

So, that was the big "2". I can hardly believe it's been 2 years. I miss the place we lived and the friends we had near us when he was born. I hope we'll get to visit you all soon.

Happy birthday my big boy!

Ouch! My feelings hurt.

Theona got up tonight after I put her to bed and had something she wanted to tell me:

Theona: Well, Mom, I'm senafied...

Me: Oh, you are?

T: Yeah, and I'm kinda misterated...

M: Are you gonna be ok?

T: Well, yeah, but misterated is for my feelings. Cause...(as she rubbed her side and scrunched her face) my feeling hurt...

He hee hee... She's so silly and cute. She was just looking for a reason to be up! I can hardly believe she's big enough for that. She just makes me smile.

I prayed for her and her feelings and she was ready to go right back to bed. Ahh, this is a good life.

The old computer and the NEW ONE!

(Explaining my absence.)

We've had some computer problems.

For almost the last year our main computer has been my sister's old laptop. Our Mac laptop is almost dead. (It's a rare day that it works...and then only for a few minutes. It's been like that for a year, so it was, uh, retired.) Abe really would like to get a new Mac, but there have been other things to save for, so we've put that off for now. My sis's old Dell does the job.

So, the Dell has been acting up. I spent some quality time on the phone with tech support. (Now that's a good time. Not!) Turned out, the mother board needed to be replaced. That was taken care of, but immediately we were again having problems. The problems were strange and they couldn't figure it out over the phone, so they had us send the computer in for them to fix. We were not looking forward to spending a week without a computer! (We've become so attached to our gadgets, huh!)

Well, turns out we aren't without a computer for a week cause Abe bought me a present!!!He got me a little 8.5 inch, white Acer netbook!

Yeah, the little one! So Cute. (pic from here)

It's so cute and teeny! He got it for me cause I like to listen to internet radio ( a lot) and I'm pretty sure he was worried I was gonna wear out *his* computer. It was especially good timing, too, cause it arrived the day the Dell had to be shipped out for repair. I guess they're great for surfing the web, listing to my music, skype (It has a webcam built in), blogging (maybe I'll do more of that), plus I bet it's really handy to tote around cause of its teeny-tiny, so soooo cute, uh, compact size. I'm having a great time playing with my new little toy! I'm sure I'll be around here more!

**Oh, and incase you are wondering what internet radio I like to listen to, it's on iTunes radio. Click on "Religious", then my favorites are Anima Radio and Growthtrac Radio, also, KJSM Radio (that's out of the church where I went to Bible College) and KWVE (Calvary Chapel teaching). There are some other good ones, too. Do you listen to internet radio? What's your fave?

I'm home when I'm here...

The BIG Tractor.

The other day, the kids went out with their Papa after he got home from work. Apparently, they played, picked flowers and jumped in the front yard.
(Look at that girl jumping! She's been really into jumping as high as she can. Maybe she'll be a volleyball player.)

They've been really into action songs lately. One favorite is: Jumping up and down, Jumping up and down, Jumping up and down, shout Hosanna!

I'm pretty sure that was sung at some point here.
(Look, Jecoa got some air! He's a good jumper.)

Then they took a walk, and now that I see these pictures I understand why the Big hole and BIG tractor have been the hot topics of conversation for the last couple days. (Tractors and big trucks have been exciting lately. There have been a lot around since there is a park being built on one side of us and a new sub-division on another side.)

Yeah, I guess it was big!

Friday Already?!

This week absolutely flew by! Today was our shopping day. We do our grocery shopping every other Friday. I took all three kids! I think this is the first time I have taken all three and done an entire shopping trip. (Once before I took all three, did one store, came home and put them down for a nap, then went back while Abe stayed with sleeping babes, oh, and I took sleeping baby.)

We usually do two stores. Abe had to work this morning (He's been soooo busy at work this week. He's exhausted and we've missed him at home.) so we did our first store then stopped by the theater. I nursed baby and the kids ran around a little, then we were off to our second stop. We all did great. It seemed to take longer than normal, but everyone stayed happy and cooperative, and we made in home just in time for lunch and nap!

We ate some of the beautiful big sweet strawberries we bought (for a deal, by the way. I love a deal!) for lunch. We had a peaceful rest time. It was a good Friday-Shopping day.

Four Months

My baby Elihu is Four months old. This year is flying by already...My new haircut is really a lot cuter than it looks in this picture... But you weren't looking at me anyway, right?
Just look at my sweet little baby boy and those big, beautiful eyes and ears!

Today!

Ah, It's good to be here. In the present. Now.

I admit sometimes I look toward somewhere else. Where my friends are... Where my family is... Where my kids are behaving...

Some days there are too many places to wish to be. I'm learning (again) to be content where I am. Today I'm here and I'm glad.

Mondays are usually relaxing days at my house. Rest from a busy weekend, Do laundry, Make bread. It's an easy day. My "to do" list is short. But there are so many in-between things that make the day beautiful.

Jecoa is a little sick. He got a cough this weekend (We had some rain and it seems like every time the weather changes that boy has some lung issues.) He seems much better today, but he's such a little snuggle bug when he's sick. I love giving him extra love when he's not feeling his best. Usually he's too busy and independent to sit down for hugs from Momma.

Elihu is starting to get around. He gets up on his elbows, buries his head and pushes with his feet. He makes it a foot or so at a time. I don't think he means to go anywhere yet, but if he did, he'd be there! I'm pretty sure as soon as he realizes he can follow his brother and sister he's really gonna be on his way!

Oh, and I gave the big kids sweet pickles with their lunch. We never have pickles in the house (Abe HATES them), so I think the kids have only tried dill pickle slices on a hamburger a couple times. They were not a fan of dill... They both seemed excited about the sweet pickles. Theona immediately licked hers and announced that she liked it. Jecoa took a bite and immediately spit his out (and then wiped off his tongue! ha ha.) Neither of them ended up eating them. I guess they got their Papa's taste for pickles... just kidding. I'm probably gonna keep trying them. Maybe they'll acquire the taste... i don't know.

So, there's a glimpse of our Monday. There's beauty in the small stuff today.

Time flies...

I always intend to blog more regularly. I get out of the habit and it's so hard get back to it... honestly, I think I've put too much pressure on myself to blog, I'd rather enjoy it.

To catch up (all I ever do on here), the kids are growing, we've started a home study, well, home church (I guess I'm not 100% sure what to call it yet...) It's Sunday mornings. We are only having a visitor here and there, but Abe and I agree it's been a huge blessing to our little family. We still go to church on Sunday and Wednesday evenings. It's sure been a different season, but things are changing, and we pray we are following the Lord's leading as we think we are.

Mothers day was lovely. I tried to do almost nothing. I hung out with my family and held the baby. I had to keep reminding myself I was relaxing and enjoying the day. I didn't realize how busy I had become; I guess that's growing up! It was refreshing. Abe grilled and we just took it easy. It was a special day of rest from the busy days around here with three little, busy ones!

We've gotten into a great habit of having a little "circle time". Mostly, we read from the Childrens Bible and sing songs, it's great. Theona and Jecoa are very into singing right now, so they have been learning a lot of songs. I'm really excited about how this is moving us toward our first year of homeschooling. Next year I plan to start a little homeschool-preschool with Theona.

Oh, also, I finally made a couple friends around here! I met a girl from the church here in town (it's a Spanish-speaking fellowship) Her mom is so nice. She taught me to make meatballs, and she always speaks to me in Spanish "because I need to learn" she tells me. Also, I met a lady threw AWANA at the church we go to in McAllen on Wednesdays. I was so glad to meet her! It seems like we have similar ideas about a few things, and she's the first homeschooling momma I've met in the area. She told me about a local homeschool library, so I'm pretty excited about checking that out.

So, that's the excitement in my life... maybe I'll get on here a little more often and try to avoid the "catch up" posts...maybe.

Happy Birthday, Abe!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear A-Abe,
Happy Birthday to you!

(feel free to add "cha-cha-cha" if you must.)

Today we celebrated Abe's birthday. He had to work, but it gave us plenty of time to cook up a good surprise. We had fun! He's nearly impossible to surprise, so it was great fun to put twenty-seven candles on a big chocolate checkerboard cake carry it out after dinner. He was happy and surprised (even after Theona had declared, "We made you a cake, Papa!" as he walked in the door. He didn't even catch it then!)

Ahh, I love my little family! We have so much fun!

Open up the Sky

The Fair

The County Fair is in town! I was looking forward to entering a couple projects in the arts and crafts competition, but it kind of snuck up on me... I sure didn't expect the fair to be in February.

We went yesterday and had a lot of fun looking at the contests and animals. There were some really big cows and pigs there! The kids liked seeing that. And there was a little petting zoo. It had a few goats and lambs, some really fluffy chickens, a large, black rabbit, and a young camel. Abe took the Theona and Jecoa in and the biggest goat (who was bigger than Theona, but a miniature anyway) come running over to them. Theona hid behind her papa, and I was a little nervous for them, but I think she was just coming over for some treats (we didn't get any). After being greeted by Abe, she was on her way. The kids liked seeing the animals up close, but the only one they petted was a chicken! It was pretty cute, I would have captured the moment, but our camera battery died right before they went in.

Then we had to go play a game. My favorite game is the throw the dimes in the glass, you get one in you get the glass, you know... Well we threw a couple dollars worth of dimes at the glasses. It was pretty cute, Theona got the hang of throwing them up high, Jecoa threw 4 or 5 straight at the ground, and Abe and I had fun trying our hand at it. We went home with three glasses, actually! One of them was a mug that said "2000" on the handle. Ha ha.

We also went on the "BIG SLIDE" - the only "ride" Theona has gone on. I took Theona and Jecoa

So, Abe was invited to be part of judging the barbeque contest on Sunday afternoon. I know he'll enjoy that! And we will probably go back then to walk around and see the animals again.

There is No One Like Our God

Yesterday evening we went to a church in our town that we had been wanting to visit since we moved here. I don't know why we put it off... It's a Spanish-speaking fellowship. I think Abe was concerned that I wouldn't get much out of it or something... I barely know enough Spanish to get by in a Christian setting. I don't do well with it out and around town, but I know "church Spanish" I guess! Ha ha.

It was a wonderful service. The teaching was about love. Can't get enough of that, huh?! The Lord totally ministered to my heart. Limited Spanish abilities and all, and the worship time was so special. It's been a long time since I've worshiped the Lord by singing in Spanish. They played a translation of a new English song I listen to online sometimes, and a couple older songs that I knew. It was great!

Tonight I got on youtube and looked up a couple of Spanish worship songs that I like and remember. Here's one of them. It's really awesome to see all these people gathered for (what I would call) a worship concert. (Is that what they call it, cause that's sure what it looks like!) Notice about half way through the people with the "Jesus" banner. Awesome!

Midnight trip to Mexico

Last night Jecoa wasn't feeling well.

He had been teething all day, and screaming all afternoon (accompanied by drooling and chewing his fingers, poor baby.) In the evening his breathing seemed very shallow, almost like he was panting, but he seemed normal off and on, so I decided to wait and see. Maybe he was just doing that because he was in pain.

He played off and on from dinner to bedtime, then went down like normal. But he woke up about 10:30, just a couple hours later, and really didn't seem like himself. He was so tired, but was fighting to stay awake. His breathing was strange and shallow and he was grunting and moaning. I was concerned.

My kids rarely get sick, so I am always worried I'm over-reacting when they catch a little something. This time I was sure I wasn't over-reacting! I called Abe at work and told him he should come home right away and take Coa to the doctor.

We knew of an emergency clinic just across the border, in the town near us in Mexico that some of our friends here had taken their kids to. Abe called a friend to come with him since we aren't too familiar with that town yet, and they were off.

I think it's about a 30 minute drive, they arrived at the clinic and thankfully there were just a couple other people there. They got in quickly and the doctor told Abe it was bronchitis. (I'm so glad I sent them! I tend to get bronchitis easliy and I'm glad I didn't wait for it to get worse.) He prescribed Jecoa a decongestant and a breathing treatment and they were on their way.

Of course, since they were in Mexico they had to stop on the way back to get some tacos! Jecoa hadn't eaten very well for dinner, so it was good he got a "midnight snack" too. They got home about 2:30 and everyone was in bed by 3:00. Yeah, 3:00a.m. I was wishing for a little extra sleep this morning, but the kids only slept in an extra half hour.... At least I got a little extra.

And I was so glad to wake up to my big boy feeling much, much better this morning.