Adventures in Babysitting

First of all, my computer is back! Virus free! We decided it was going to cost too much to have it fixed, so we just wiped out everything on it and started over. I think we saved everything important to flash drives...or at least I hope we did!

Yesterday I got to spend the day with three of my most favorite people. Eli, Beaux and Eden. We had a blast drawing pictures, watching a Eukanuba Dog Show (we wanted Razzle to win) and playing board games. Unfortunately all of that took about an hour and a half. I was then forced to either get creative, or give in to the chaos.

So, we made cookies.

If I mysteriously get sick in the next few days, I don't think it will be hard to trace back the origin.

Then we baked them and decorated them with chocolate frosting. They were delicious, and our only casualty was a white pillowcase that Beaux used as a napkin for her chocolatey face, hands and legs. Yes, there was chocolate on her legs...don't ask me how.

Then we built a fort out of blankets in the living room.


We ate our cookies inside and watched Banana Splits, which is quite possibly the creepiest cartoon I have ever seen. But they loved it.

What an adventure!

Virus

Our computer has been compromised! We have some serious virus issues. I am about to go take it to Best Buy and see if the geek squad can fix it. I will keep my fingers crossed! Hopefully it won't take long.

Waiting...

For the last 4 months I have found myself in an intense period of waiting. In general I am a pretty patient person, but 4 months is a long time to wait, especially when you know other people are watching and waiting too. I've gone between anger and sadness, feeling grateful for my time of waiting and feeling inadequate because of it. But God says to wait. Even when it's been a really long time, Wait. Even when it feels wrong, Wait. Even when everyone else tells you it's been too long, Wait.
His timing is perfect. To rush it would just mess things up.

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
-Psalm 27:14

Patience is Overrated

1 trip to Joann's
2 visits to the library
2 hours
3 re-do's
1 mild case of Carpal Tunnel...



All for this! About 8" of a scarf. But I'm not giving up yet. I think with a little more practice I can at least get a little faster. Our local library has a knitting club that meets twice a month. Maybe I can find a nice grandma there to help me.

Yes, I Am Embarrassed

My best friend is heading back to China this week. I am really going to miss her! That is why when I found these pictures I just had to put them up and embarrass her. Yes, they are embarrassing of me too, but there really isn't a picture of me from age 11 to 17 that isn't embarrassing, so I just have to embrace it.

I don't have a scanner so the pictures are acutally pictures of pictures.

I'm going to miss you friend! I hope you're not too embarrassed!

Colorful

Here's a quick look at my newest sewing project.

This is the fabric John gave me for my birthday. I am making a blanket and I am going to attempt to actually quilt it! I'm a little nervous because I don't want to mess it up(and because I haven't had the best experiences with quilting in the past), but I went to the library and checked out a bunch of books on how to quilt, so I am going to give it a shot.

I also checked out a book on knitting and I am going to teach myself how to do that too. I figure if I start on a bunch of projects, right when I get in the middle of them someone will call and offer me a job, forcing me to never work on these projects again. Sadly thats usually the way things work for me, and at this point that would be a good thing, because I really need a job!

On another note, everyone keep John in your prayers. He has another kidney stone! He has had on and off pain for about 2 weeks, so he finally went to the doctor this week and it's official, Kidney stones. Now we are just waiting to find out how big it (they) are where to go from there. Pray for John, the pain is getting worse and he still has to go to work!

One Year Down

John and I had a weekend full of celebrations. We celebrated being together after a 5 day stretch of being apart, we celebrated John's birthday (the big 23!), and we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. This weekend was amazing! Every day I spend with John is amazing, but this weekend was especially wonderful.



I came home Friday exhausted after sitting in the car for 6 hours with 5 children under the age of 5. Lets just say it was a rough car ride. But John came home and suprised me with these beautiful flowers and my day picked up a little. I love anything that's a suprise!

He was so excited to open his birthday gifts Saturday morning. I got him an Oswald Chambers book and a couple of shirts. Doesn't he look handsome?

Going to lunch with John's parents.

Nothing says summer quite like a snow cone.

On our way to my suprise. John NEVER suprises me, so this was a special treat. I was so excited!

Horses!

Thanks to our guide Dave for the awesome picture taking!

Here is a little look at our anniversary gifts to one another. We decided to stick with the traditional one year gift of paper. I went the home made route (of course) and made John a box of memories. Basically I picked a different city in Texas for each month of the next year. I got information on what there was to do, to see and different festivals in that city. I compiled them in this box and the plan is to visit one city a month. Then all the pictures we take can be stored in the box. It is a little weird, but I think it turned out pretty good.

These are the cards inside the box. Some places are close to home, while others are far away, but they should all be close enough to drive to and back in one day.

I also put together an Adventure Book. I started it with a few pictures and left the rest blank to add new adventures over the next 50 + years.

Here is a look at my gift! I love it! I gift card for a one hour massage. It is perfect. I also got a chalkboard but it somehow got lost in the mail so John has been trying to locate it.

It was such a great weekend I am sad that it is over! This has been the best year of my life. I can't wait to see what year 2 has in store!