Karissa's Moment

Karissa had her first school play last night. She was very nervous. She did great and afterward she said "you know mom I kind of enjoyed that." The other kids loved her play. They all sat entranced for 20 minutes. Kylie even wanted to go back and see it again today. My Mom came down to see the play and she helped me do some decorating. It is amazing what you can do with things you already have!! I'll try to post some pictures this weekend. For now I will leave you with my pictures of the day for yesterday and today.

Pics of the Day

Kylie is trying to give up her nap. Today she didn't quite make it. She fell asleep at 4:30. Yeah

Longview

This weekend we traveled to Longview, Tx. I have never been there before. It was beautiful. As I was driving by all the pine trees and through the forest I had a new appreciation for God and the beauty He surrounded us with. The trip was a little long with all four kiddos in tow but very worthwhile. We went to the Newberry family reunion. That is Kirk's grandmothers family. I had never met any of them and Kirk only knew a few from many years ago. It was held at a hotel and we just hung out, played cards and dominos, ate, swam and visited. They were all so friendly and welcoming. Karissa met a cousin who was 9 and they had a great day. It is amazing how much they resemble each other. Anyway, I was just amazed at the friendliness and kindness. It was wonderful to meet family I didn't even know about!! Granted ours were just about the only kids present, but everyone just loved our them. We came home Sunday and did yard work and had dinner with our neighbors. Cara went home with Memaw and will stay in WF until Thurs. She called after their 7 hour car ride and was very happy to be "home." She alsoThings have been a little quiet around here. Caleb is trying to crawl and almost there. He can get on all fours but can't move yet. Karissa has her first school play Thursday. She is very nervous. She only has to sing in the choir but she doesn't want to get up in front of everyone. Kylie is doing well. The east Tx air was a little hard on her. We have had to give her breathing treatments the last couple of days.

Easter Pics

By the way, does anyone know where Easter came from? I checked it out on the net. It is almost as bad as Haloween. Not that we will stop using the word Easter or having egg hunts but it is good info to know. We had a great Easter weekend. We headed to Wichita Falls on Friday. We finally made it to Grace to see all our old friends. We had great family time Saturday and Sunday.
We also got to see my great niece again. She and Caleb are only a day apart. She is so tiny!!

Caleb and Cara boo

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Caleb is so full of energy. He tries so hard to get around. He digs his toes into the carpet and pushes off. It won't be long and he'll be into everything. Right now he just screams a lot out of frustration and impatience. I read recently boys are less patient and more clingy. That sounds like a great combo. Cara just loves to be on camers. It always makes me smile to watch these little clips. :)

Three Cuties

Blessings

Just a quick note. I realized recently how blessed we have been by this move. We have wonderful neighbors who we love to hang out with. I have a wonderful new friend who lives across the street and stays at home with her kids, too. Our kids play daily so I get to visit with and adult!! We have a great house and a wonderFUL family to fill it. We have a great church with a small group that feels like family. I have a moms group and a womens in-depth bible study. Our kids have friends. I feel like I tend to take the day to day things for granted so I just wanted to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given.

On another note, Caleb is almost crawling. He is definately moble but not officially crawling yet. He seems to have allergies which is not good with all the wind around here. Kirk has been working a lot of late nights lately. It reminds me of when he is in school. I have worked out a great bath routine. Karissa and Caleb bathe in one tub and Cara and Kylie bathe in the other. That way they all get clean at once and I roam back and forth and then help them get out. Then on to teeth, stories and bed. It has been a little hard to put them to bed when it is still light but they are getting used to it.

Nuts or no nuts?

Well we survived the vasectomy. I think it might have been worse for me than Kirk. Now I know how he feels watching me go through labor (I didn't watch but he gave me a play by play afterwards). He said the shots hurt like heck but the rest wasn't too bad. He has even been up and around all weekend. Just a little slow to get up or sit down. His aunts brought him a nuts gift basket. It had a t-shirt(it's all fun and games until someone loses a nut), an empty can of nuts and things like mounds with no nuts. Kirk thought it was great. Oh yeah, he brought the parts they cut out home in a jar!!

In other news, Kirk's parents bought a puppy today while they were visiting. He is an 8 week old brindle boxer. So cute but doesn't have a name yet. The girls and Kirk are in love.

Bath Time

This is for those of you who don't get to enjoy Caleb's baths all the time. I hope it makes you smile. He is so irresistibly cute !!! It makes me laugh just to watch him!!

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Can we ever get well??

I'm BACK!! We have had a run of sickness. Kylie got a stomach virus for four days so we missed our family retreat. Then Karissa and Cara broke out in rashes that looked like someone slapped them in the face. They apparently had Fifth's disease. It starts with a respiratory symptom (that we were never aware of) and two weeks later you get the slap face rash, which can last 2-4 weeks or reoccur. Yeah!! Karissa's covered her whole body, Cara's is mainly her arms. It can be itchy and is irritated by heat, sun, and sweat. So last Friday Karissa runs her school 1 mile Fun Run and that afternoon the nurse calls and tells me all this. I am the mom of the year!!! I made Karissa do the run even with the rash, of course, it was before I knew what the rash was. Caleb had his 6 month check-up Friday. He weighed in at 19lbs 2 ounces and 27 inches long. He is so happy and chubby. His ear infection wasn't gone so we started a second round of antibiotics. He hates it!!! It must taste really bad. At least it'e not pink! Anyway, Wednesday Karissa had her teeth cleaned. They look really great. Then I took her to school and an hour later the nurse called because she had fever. When I picked her up they said she needed to stay home today as well. Karissa was crushed because today was her class fieldtrip to the zoo. She did OK today but still ran fever so I guess we will keep her home until Monday. Tomorrow is the big day for Kirk. His vasectomy is at 11:30. Wish us luck and pray for the doctor.

I am almost giddy with excitment because I have made two new friends. I feel so blessed. As you know, we have moved away from W.F. a few times and always returned. This time we feel like we were in God's will and He is blessing our family. So one friend lives right across the street. She is a stay at home mom and we hang out in our yard or hers most afternoons. She has a three year old son and a 2mo old daughter and she watches her neighbors 14mo old little girl. My other new friend is a part of my small group on Thursday morning. We had a great lunch last Thursday. I have always struggled with initiating friendships. These two were so easy and I am truly blessed.

Spring Break Photo's

My Movie Stars!!!

Our Spring Break shoe project. It only cost about $3 a pair!!!

Update

Caleb's first sit up bath. He loves to splash!!
My Cutie Patooties

Welcome to Lake Wimberley!!!

We spent the first part of Spring Break in W.F. I was so disappointed I didn't get to see anyone. My mom wasn't feeling well and Caleb was sickly. I was hoping to meet Owen but maybe I can soon. We enjoyed our visit but were happy to come home. I was going to stay and extra day but Karissa wanted to come home and see Dad. Thursday, I took Caleb to the doctor instead of going to Bible study and he had an ear infection and a virus. Yeah!!! He is pretty fussy and about to the point of refusing that yucky pink antibiotic. We cooked out steaks and had a family anniversary dinner. It was fun and then Kirk and I watched our Thursday night TV.

Now back to the present...Sunday, Kirk woke up throwing up. Yeah x2!!! We thoght he had eaten some bad left overs but he continued to get worse. After we thought our yard was going to float away from all the rain, I talked Kirk into going to the doctor. His Uncle came over and took him to the ER. They returned about midnight with a diagnosis of a kidney infection and a stomach virus. So far (knock on wood) no one else is sick. I have been nauseous and had a headache but I am hoping it is allergy related. I think Kirk will stay home one more day.

I almost forgot. We made the ctest shoes over Spring Break. The idea was in Family Fun. The girls loved them and want to make more.

Moral Dilema

It has been so long since I have posted I am going to start from today and work back. We have had a busy Spring Break. I didn't think it would be busy but it was. Today we went downtown and watched the implosion of a 30 story building. It was cold and rainy but definately cool. It is amazing that the building falls straight down and is gone in about 13 seconds. Go to Kirk's blog for the video of it. Then we went to Joe's Crab Shack. I wasn't impressed with the food but the decor was great. Caleb couldn't figure out what to look at first. The kids had fun but definately want to go again when they can play on the play ground. Yesterday, Karissa lost her 7th tooth at Payless Shoes. She almost made herself sick she got so scared and nervous about it falling out. Memaw also bought the kids their spring shoes. Thank-you!! We found three pairs of shoes for Karissa at the resale shop for the price of one pair at Payless. Then we came home and decided to cut Kylie's hair, for the first time. Yesterday was a big day!! Kylie looks soo cute...like a little pixie. We found her Tinker Bell skirt at a resell shop down here. It has tiny Tinker Bells on the end of each strand.
Last night Kirk's mom was here so we went out to celebrate our tenth anniversary. Yeah..we made it!!! We ate at the Olive Gardem. YUMMMMMY Then we went downtown to Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. It was really cool. I really enjoyed the music and the show part but morally I have issues with the crudeness of the entertainers and the waste of money spent in a bar. Kirk and I discussed it on our drive home but we differ in our views. It was disturbing to see how the college kids of today spend their time and money. Of course I never lived the party scene in college so I guess I don't understand it. I love to people watch and this place was great for that. I guess you just have to be able to be entertained without using your maral compass. I don't know. I guess I was just convicted about the content of what I was dwelling on. You know...whatever is pure, and just and right etc.

Hockey Pictures

Our Big Boy

We had a good weekend. Friday night we went to a Brahma's hockey game. They don't have as much support as the Rustlers, but it was still alot of fun. We sat near the ice and right by where the players entered and exited. The kids got to high five the players when they went on and off the ice. One of the guys even gave Cara a puck. She said "this is the best night of my life." We also had blue cotton candy. What a mess that was. Kirk's mom and dad and grandma came to visit, just for the day, on Saturday. We relaxed at home and cooked out for lunch. It was grandma's first time to see our house. We loved having her here. Kirk's cousin and her daughter also dropped by for awhile to chat. Memaw brought Caleb some big boy clothes and he looks so cute in them. He is sitting up all by himself now. He says dadada, too. Before they went home, we ate at Pulido's, a local mexican restaurant. Caleb had a good time grabbing onto Pawpaw's beard (see above picture's). Today we ALL went to church and now we are going to plant a tree in our back yard. We are counting down the days to Spring Break. We will be in WF at the begining of Spring Break. Then Kirk's mom and dad will be here at the end. Kirk and I will celebrate our 10th anniverary the 16th. We were hoping to go to a hockey game or a concert but there isn't much, except basketball, going on. I guess that's all for now.

Tongue Man

Caleb has discovered his tongue. It is outside of his mouth more often than inside. Isn't he soooo cute! I am finding it so hard to make him cry himself to sleep. He really is spoiled and now I get to reteach him all the things he should have learned from a tiny baby. Being a mom is so hard sometimes. I just want to hold and cuddle him not leave him all alone in his room.

Funny Karissa story... Karissa has a friend in her class named Nathan. Apparently, they are paired up a lot together since they are the smartest and at about the same level. Nathan is really sweet but very energetic. The other day he went up to his teacher and said "Ms. Lawson, what does" I'm not in the mood " mean?" I guess Karissa had had enough of him and let her true colors show. Boy they sure start young!!!

Pictures!!

At Ariel's birthday party with cousin Dustin.

Look at me...I can sit up!!

Rainy Weekend

We had a busy weekend. Aunt Linda took Karissa and Cara to see Curious George and out to dinner. Kirk had Kylie and Caleb all to himself friday night while I went to a moms night out with my moms group. We went to our leaders home and her husband made us homemade pizza while we worked on Easter banners. Have I mentioned she has eight kids from 4-21? The banners are like Christmas advent calendar only foe Easter. It was a lot of fun. We just sat around and talked about everything while we cut pieces out of felt. One topic of conversation brought something up that I wanted ya'lls opinion on. Do you think it shows a lack of complete faith in God to use birth control? Before you freak and think I am hanging out with weirdos not everyone feels that way. We just really couldn't come up with a good answer. Kirk and I think God gave us intelligence so we could choose to use birth control. Some of the girls said God won't give us more than we can handle and children are a blessing from God so why would we close the door on a blessing from God? Anyway I just wondered what you all think?

Saturday, Kirk let me sleep till 9:45. WOW!! Of course we were up off and on with four kids in our bed due to the thunderstorms. At one point I got up and went to sleep in Cara's bed. I woke up a bit disoriented and heard Caleb crying. I went into my bedroom to find Caleb crying in the middle of the bed with Kirk, Karissa, Cara and Kylie sound asleep around him. I picked him up and nursed him and we fell asleep in the recliner. Anyway it rained all day yesterday and all night and until late Saturday afternoon. Our back yard is like a river. Kirk went to lunch with our small group guys and then they went and played pool at Main Event. Then we loaded up and went to Kirk's aunts house for his cousins birthday party. We all went out to dinner at Zio's Italian Kitchen. It was good food but Kirk and I wonder why we try to go out with all our kids. It is so expensive and so not relaxing. Then we headed back to Aunt Sharon's for cake and presents. We got home around 9.

This morning we woke up to Cara's barky cough. She has had it for over a week but only in the mornings. I was feeling icky like major allergies or a cold so we opted out of church. We spent a lazy day at home. Caleb and I caught up on sleep and Kirk watched the race. Then the girls and I went to the park and to McDonalds with Aunt Linda. We had a great time and even met a nice couple there. McDonalds is a great place to meet couples with kids.

I just finished the book of Leviticus. Wow what a hard book to read. It shows a whole different God than the New Testament God. I had to get the commentaries out because I couldn't figure out the whole point of all the regulations and sacrifices. So I learned they were so God could have a relationship with his people. He gave specific instructions for their purity so He could reside with them. I did stumble across something I have a question about. Maybe one of you bible scholars knows the answer. The Nelson comentary says the sacrifices were not a part of salvation because that can only come from Gods grace. It says the israelites were a "redeeemed" people. DOes this mean they are all saved or all pre-destined? Also, I didn't think there was salvation by God's grace in the OLd Teastament. I am so enjoying this trek through the Bible and it has sparked many conversations between Kirk and I. Did you know that 70 men plus wives, kids, etc. went into captivity in Egypt and over 600,000 came out. I had no idea it was so many people. I always pictured the crossing of the red sea as a small group of people. Anyway I had no idea so many were a part of the Exodus or that so many died in the wilderness because of their lack of faith. Once again, I would like to encourage you all to read the Bible thru. It is so much more alive to me to read it as a book and not in pieces. Don't get me wrong...I have gotten behind and had to catch up but it's really not about the time line it takes to complete it. One year isn't a magic number, just reading it in its entirety is a whole new experience.

Karissa made all A's on her report card and is consistantly making 100's on her AR(accelerated reading) tests at a late 3rd to 4th grade reading leval. She loves to read (just like me). Cara can write her name and many other letters as well as count to 30 (almost) in English and Spanish. Kylie can count to 20 and is still enjoying taking care of Caleb. It is so funny to see her cuddled up to him. They are so close to the same size but she insists she is the "big sister." Caleb is sitting up for a few minutes at a time with a pillow behind him. He is very happy. He doesn't sleep well and isn't really liking the cereal with a spoon thing. We are giving cereal in a bottle for now and trying the spoon every few days.

I guess that's all for now. I hope everyone has a great week. One more thing... Sometimes I think I am writing this soley for my own records. So last night I pulled up my stattracker and it told me I have 6-12 unique visitors a day. I would love to know who you are. Please leave a comment. I saw people who visit from all kinds of locations and I don't know who they are. I can pull up where you visit from but not your names.

To Grandpa Bill's House We Go...

This weekend we went to visit Kirk's grandparents. They live down by Georgetown. What a weekend to pick to travel!! Kirk's parents and brother and nephew went with us, so we divided kids and adults in two vans. God kept us safe and we arrived Saturday around lunch time. The girls love to visit Grandpa Bill's because they think it is like a farm. He did have miniture goats but now they just have four dogs. It was too cold this time to spend any time outside but twe found plenty to do. They live out in the country and run a little country store. Karissa and Cara love to "help" in the store and collect payment in candy. They live in a house they built themselves and have all kinds of cool stuff in their house. It is very comfortable and homey. This was Caleb's first visit there and his first time to meet his great grandparents. We played pool and just relaxed and had a wonderful time. The girls will definately remember visiting Grandpa Bill's (and Grandma Sue's) when they grow up. Grandma is very crafty and taught Cara how to crochet. Karissa had fun playing with her cousin Chris and playing pool. She also finished an 80 page book in the van . We returned home Sunday evening and Kirk had Monday off.

On a sad note, when we returned home we learned the youth pastor of our church had died in a car wreck early Sunday morning on his way to preach at church. We did not know him but please pray for his wife and the youth and youth ministry team at our church.

V-DAY

I hope all of you have a great day. We are poor so we will be having a wonderful family spaghetti dinner tonight. That is AFTER we all load up and go pick Kirk up from work. As life goes, his truck got a flat yeaterday and his radiator sprang an old leak. His truck is parked in a bank parking lot until he can buy a new tire. It seems like there is always something.

On another note, I am struggling through Exodus in my daily reading. I am to the part where God gives SPECIFIC rules and instructions about the tabernacle. It is very repetitve and precise.

I also wanted to take this time and space and say a great big THANK- YOU to all our parents. In the last month, everyone has been so wonderful. Thank-you for making the kids Valentine's Day special. Thank-you for visiting and baby sitting. Thanks for always helping us out and just being here for us. We love you!!