Family Reunion

Memorial Day weekend was our family reunion in San Angelo, my mom's side of the family. We had a good time seeing everyone, 2 cousins that I haven't seen in 10 years and one baby (13 months old) that we had never met. Everyone came from places in Texas, Arizona and Colorado. The kids were so cute, most of them little which Kelsie loved b/c she LOVES kids. She and Jarrett are the oldest and all the others are 5 years and under. Saturday night we cooked out and let the kids swim at my mom's house and Sunday we were at the lake - it was hot but a good breeze all day kept it pretty comfortable. On Monday, the girls went and got pedicures and did some shopping while everyone else either played golf or hit the road going home. We came home on Monday night but Kelsie stayed for her week at Camp Grammy. She spends time there every year by herself and loves being spoiled at Grammy's house. We will pick her up on Friday for a week of VBS in Prosper, we are looking forward to that. I will try and post pics later this week.

I finished "Like Dandelion Dust" while I was there and started "Oceans Apart" which I am hoping to finish today (both Karen Kingsbury). Both are good reads and they are stand alone books - I have discovered I like the series books much better. Since I completely wasted yesterday and half of today, I better get busy on some laundry. Hope to post pics soon, took some cute ones to share.

A day at The Colonial

Today was the day Wayne and I got to go to The Colonial golf tournament. The weather was perfect! It was warm and overcast with a breeze - actually it was pretty gusty at times. Probably not good for the golfers but it kept the temperature comfortable. We walked the course following various golfers, mostly Corey Pavin, all morning. We sat down at noon for lunch and then decided to walk to hole number one to see some of the big guys start off. We sat at the green and watched Phil Mickelson and others come through. He birdied hole one - it was fun to watch. After noon it was beginning to get pretty warm so we stayed under our big tree at the first hole until it was time to go. We left the golf course and had to stop by Target before we picked Kelsie up from her last day of school. We decided since she had such good grades and had been such a good student, we would surprise her with a Razor electric scooter. She got in the car and saw the big box and was so excited. Of course, we went straight home so she could play on it for just a little while before going with Wayne to his last basketball game of the season at Wedgwood. Unfortunately, they lost tonight but only by 8 points. Once they got home from the game, Kelsie was back on the scooter. I am not sure who liked it more - Wayne or Kelsie but they both had a great time riding it. Congratulations Kelsie on a great 3rd grade year!!

Other updates: Tomorrow is my last day at FBC Aledo and it's Kelsie's turn to go to The Colonial with Wayne. On Tuesday, the office had a going away lunch for those of us that are leaving (there are 3 of us moving) and gave us cards with gift cards in them. While I have enjoyed my job, I am excited to have the summer off with Kelsie. I plan to work on my reading list and be at the pool with her. We actually have a lot of things planned this summer beginning with VBS at Prosper the first week of June, Kelsie's two camps, golf school, a family trip to Austin and 2 family reunions. I guess it's a good thing I don't have a job this summer, I wouldn't have time. Nothing new on our house - keep praying for us that it will sell. We are hoping for more lookers after the holiday weekend and the summer move season starts.

Recently I heard a Hillsongs worship song called "None But Jesus." Actually, it's from the "Mighty to Save" CD so I have heard it before but for some reason recently in the car I listened to it with new understanding.

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will
When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore

At first, I really had to ask myself if the lyrics were true in my own life, especially the part about acting on God's call without refusal or delay. I tend to be a thrasher - you know, the kind of person who goes back and forth with God presenting excuses and arguments before finally giving in to accepting that God is sovereign and He is in control. God's sweet voice reminded me that it's the act of obedience that is important - not how I feel about it. True with moving to Prosper. It was hurtful to leave Wedgwood, hard to pick up and start over, leaving people I love. God said the important thing is that we surrendered and did it - He reminded me that He could heal the hurt part - giving us grace to obey. God has been so faithful through this entire process to show us over and over that He is guiding our steps. I am getting more excited about living in Prosper and see how happy Wayne is working with the team God has placed there. We are blessed!

Weekend Events

As I mentioned, we saw Prince Caspian on Friday and we all loved it, including Kelsie but on Friday night around midnight we see Kelsie's flashlight in the hallway. She was having bad dreams about the scary witch creatures in the movie. So, we played musical beds and switched around so someone could sleep in the guest room with her. Poor baby, I felt sorry for her b/c she was truly scared.

Saturday morning started off with Wayne and the guy who bought the Rainbow play structure taking it apart in pieces and loading it on his trailer. They started at 9 a.m. and finished at 1 p.m. and as I suspected, Kelsie was sad to see it go. She got over it pretty quickly once we reminded her she was getting a trampoline and that we wouldn't be taking it with us to Prosper anyway. She had fun taking out glasses of water and helping with little things. She was a big helper inside too as I cleaned, putting up her laundry and packing for Prosper. After all of that, we left for Prosper. The Griffs were in Denton so they came over to see the "farm house" and we went to Frisco to eat. Church on Sunday was good but Kelsie's mind was definitely on getting the trampoline. We had a first impressions lunch after church and as soon as it was over and we got out of town, we went to get the trampoline. We got home in time on Sunday night to put it together and by the time we were cooking out for dinner, she was jumping.
I am including a few pics of the farm house that I took with my phone - I will try and take some good ones with my camera to post. Our friends said it wasn't what they were expecting b/c they were expecting old carpet and gold appliances. It is a nice house with tile floors, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms with a living room, a formal dining room area and a breakfast area off the kitchen. The very best features of the house are the deck on the back of the house and all the trees in the front. It is very peaceful and quiet out there. On Saturday as we were waiting on the Griffs, Wayne and Kelsie hit golf balls while I sat out and watched them with Raider. I enjoyed watching a blue bird and the squirrels - very restful. Right now of course the house is somewhat vacant except for beds and a few basics to live there on the weekends so it's not quite home yet and won't feel that way until we actually move which is projected to be July. We also must get rid of the bees. We did find out that the gigantic bees around the gazebo are carpenter bees. We found out how to kill them and that they don't sting (except the queen). So, hopefully we can get that done the week we are there for VBS.

Nothing new on the house selling, we seem to have several people to pray for that are relocating and needing to sell a house recently. So, we are praying for God to take care of these details as He moves people to accomplish His purposes. Kelsie's last day of school and my last day of work are quickly approaching! YAY! She gets to have a splash day in PE on Thursday and she is excited about that and the fact there is free dress this week. Her last Science test is tomorrow and she is that much closer to finishing out 3rd grade and still has all A's.

The front of the farm house (side view)

The view from the front porch, the front yard is full of trees.

The view of the barn from the gravel drive way where we park.

Kelsie hitting golf balls - this part of the property is to the side of the house where there is a clearing of trees. She is hitting balls out in a field and then we walk Raider and go pick them up.

A Fabulous Friday!

Today was a great day. We got up and finished school fairly quickly (we still have reading to do) and then off to the movies to see Prince Caspian. We went to the Movie Tavern which was great b/c it was the 11:15 movie and that meant we could eat lunch there too, especially since the movie is a little over 2 hours long. I won't say much about the movie (because you will want to see it) except that it was really good and the time went by so fast -it's engaging. Kelsie was so funny, she kept leaning over and pointing out when they skipped over certain details that are in the book. Of course, if they had included all of that it would be a 5 hour movie. The book is really good (I think too hard for her age - we have read it together) but we have not read the last chapter yet so it will be interesting to see how it matches up to the movie.

After the movie was over, we came home to clean out our garage. That sounds yucky but we all worked together and it didn't take that long. As we were outside, we saw a few bunnies and found some of Kelsie's old stuffed animals in the attic as we were making our garage sale pile. It was fun to look back at those - we put them back in the attic for keeping. The evening was turning out to be so nice that we decided to eat dinner outside and then Wayne and I pulled weeds, especially around our blackberry bushes. Kelsie found about 8 blackberries that were ready to be picked so she did that part. There are lots of little green berries and flowers about to bloom - hope to have lots of them this year - we to stake the 2 plants that have gotten really big this year.

No house news - we have not had any looks this week. We are hoping things will pick up after school is out. Of course, we would like the house to sell but we are okay with staying in it for a little while. We are looking forward to enjoying the pool at least for a month or so. We know it's all in God's timing and we are blessed to have "the farm house" in Prosper to stay in on the weekends and if our house doesn't sell, that we can live there for a while. God is an amazing provider and FBC has been so generous to us by offering us that option. Tomorrow we take down the Rainbow Play Structure in the back yard - we sold it and the people are coming to move it in the morning. Kelsie is sad mixed with happy. She says she will miss it (even though she doesn't play on it) but is very happy to be getting a trampoline - which was one of the reasons we sold it in the first place b/c we told her she couldn't have both. The other reason being that we didn't want to move it when we move to Prosper. We put it on Craigs List to see what would happen and it sold the next day. We will see how she reacts tomorrow when it's being hauled off. Maybe I can keep her busy helping me clean house....??? Well, to finish off my perfectly lovely day, I am headed to a bubble bath (with my book) and then to settle in with my hubby for a movie. What a Fabulous Friday!

Kelsie's School Program

Tonight was the Fine Arts show at Kelsie's school. Kelsie has been enrolled in Computer class all year and this semester they wrote, filmed and edited their own little mini-movies. They created, filmed and acted in small groups but each student got to edit, add music and type the credits on their own video. It was a cute program along with the fabulous art displayed. Kelsie acted in her own movie of course along with a couple of others - she was so cute. We are proud of our little drama queen! Here are some pics to share of her History Fair Night when she researched and displayed facts about Japan. No pics tonight b/c it would have been pretty difficult to take pictures of short films.






Also, tonight I recorded the season finale of "The Office" and once Kelsie was tucked away in bed and Wayne was off to his basketball game - I watched it. It was very funny. Most of this season there weren't any new episodes because of the writer's strike. When they did start coming out with new ones, they were okay but not hilarious. The new episodes kept the story line going but they were missing something. Not the case tonight - I was cracking up. Tomorrow we see "Prince Caspian," do some school work and clean out the garage. We're that much closer to the end of school and work which means FREEDOM!!!

Summer Reading List

Okay, I have compiled my list for summer reading. What made me do this was our trip to Half-Price books today. I was looking at book titles and couldn't remember titles I had seen or heard about that I want to read. So, I came home to look at a few author's websites to refresh my memory of what I have and have not read and then entered the authors and titles on my iphone just in case I run across a book somewhere (I will add here that I am really going to miss Wedgwood's fabulous library this summer!) So, here is my list (pretty ambitious) but since I won't be working this summer and hope to have lots of time at the pool, maybe I will have a chance to read most of these (plus we have the cruise in September). By the way, if you own any of these titles and are willing to lend it to me for a short time, I would love it!

Karen Kingsbury (I thought I read most of hers but apparently not even close so I want to read everything b/c I love her writing):
Oceans Apart (purchased today)
Like Dandelion Dust (purchased today)
Between Sundays
Where Yesterday Lives
On Every Side
When Joy Came to Stay
Divine
A Time to Dance and A Time to Embrace
A Moment of Weakness and Halfway to Forever
A Thousand Tomorrows and Just Beyond the Clouds
Sunset (released Sept, 08)

Terri Blackstock:
Second Chances Series #1-#4
Restoration Series #1-#4

Dee Henderson:
O' Malley series #1-#6

John Grisham:
Bleachers

Francine Rivers:
The Atonement Child

Robert Whitlow:
The List
Mountain Top
Deeper Waters

Angela Hunt:
Doesn't She Look Natural and She Always Wore Red

Emily Giffin:
Love the One You're With
Baby Proof

Nora Roberts:
Hidden Riches
Tribute (released 7/8)

Allison Pittman:
Ten Thousand Charms

I can't WAIT!!! I am almost finished with Ever After by Karen Kingsbury. I will let you know how the list is coming. Still counting down the days to SUMMER!

Sharing Old Pics

Okay - these pics are a little old but I wanted to share some of them with you anyway.

Butterflies in the Garden at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. What a fun Friday.

American Girl Doll Store on Spring Break:

Happy Mother's Day and Other Random Stuff

Happy Mother's Day! We had a great day, hope you did. On Saturday, Kelsie and Wayne gave me cards and flowers. Kelsie bought me a cuddly pink teddy bear with her own money along with a $15 gift card for itunes. What a sweet little girl. We went to Prosper on Saturday night and headed over to Wal-Mart in McKinney to purchase some necessities for our weekend stays at the farm house so we wouldn't have to keep packing stuff like shampoo and soap. We had some down time after that at the house, Wayne watched a basketball game, Kelsie colored and I started reading "Even Now" from Karen Kingsbury. I wasn't going to start until summer but I just couldn't help it - I have lots of books on my list for the summer so I just got started a little early. Church was sweet with 5 babies being dedicated and worship was good. After church, we went to eat at JinBeh, a japanese hibachi steak house, in Frisco and then went to the Stonebriar Mall to do a little shopping. After walking around there for a while, we went to get Sheridan's frozen custard. This was a first for me but Wayne had been hearing about it so we decided to go and try it. YUMMY - it is smooth like frozen yogurt but tastes more like ice cream. It was a beautiful day so we took our time sitting outside to finish our yogurt. I have to admit, it's really nice for Wayne not to have to be back at church at 3:45, it gives us the whole day to spend together. We came back to Fort Worth and back to life with Kelsie reading the next chapter of "Prince Caspian" in preparation for Monday's work. Have I mentioned we are ready to be done with school?

Random Stuff:
The house - we had a last minute showing on Thursday night. We didn't get any feedback from the realtor that showed it so no news there. What was funny about it is that since Wayne has been gone during the week to Prosper, Thursday nights have turned into family night. We have been cooking out and just hanging out at home together, playing outside with Kelsie and having dinner together. So, after work I went to Central Market and picked up a few things. Once Kelsie and Wayne got home, we started preparing everything and just as we were about to grill the chicken but had started on everything else, the phone rang and they were giving us about 20 minutes. We were all running around like crazy. Wayne vacuumed while I shoved stuff in the frig, the oven and the diswasher to clean up the kitchen. Kelsie straightened her room and took care of getting Raider on his leash and in the car. We were out in record time with candles lit, lights on and clean carpets. It was a pretty funny sight, I'm sure.

Our adventurous walk - Friday night around dusk, it was such a nice evening that Kelsie and I decided to take Raider on a walk. We have been trying to do this so that he will get enough exercise to be tired at night and sleep through until 7 a.m. - it works. Anyway, we could see the lightning from the storm in the Waco area and the wind was cool but not cold - just a pleasant night. As we turned the corner, we saw a bunny hopping across the street and then we saw why - a cat was in a pouncing position on the sidewalk where it came from. The cat looked harmless so we passed by but it arched up and hissed at us so we walked a little faster, dragging Raider along on his leash. The cat followed us, just stalking us - freaked me out so I started running and Kelsie was running behind me just cracking up laughing. She couldn't believe that I was running from a CAT! She laughed so hard but even when we looked back, the cat was at the end of the sidewalk watching. Then to top it off, we turned the next corner and at the same time a man came out of his house yelling at his daughter on the playground across the street - scared me to death! I just jumped and he apologized for startling me. I explained that I was just jumpy b/c of a cat stalking us and I'm sure he thought I was nuts. It was just funny. We saw one more bunny and lots of frogs - it was just one of those every day things turned fun.

I am planning to upload pics tomorrow so hopefully I will post some recent pics.

The Countdown

As you can see, we are on the countdown to the end of school. We are all so ready! Kelsie does have some fun things coming up at school - free dress and Chick fil A at school next week and a trip to the movie theatre next Friday to see Prince Caspian since her class is finishing up reading it. Wayne and I are looking forward to the 22nd (which is the last day of school) b/c we are going to the Colonial. Wayne and I are going on Thursday and then he will take Kelsie on Friday as I finish up my work at FBC Aledo (literally, that is my last day). So, as things wind down we are looking forward to the summer, the pool, time off, reading, VBS, camp, family reunions and just having time to hang out. Hope you are looking forward to a good summer.

A Huge Treat

Friday night the McLelland's and the Shirley's took us out to dinner to celebrate our new ministry (although Deana made it clear that we were NOT celebrating Wayne's new job, but rather celebrating our friendship). Anyway, they treated us to Texas De Brazil and Taylor and the big kids (Conner, Hailey, Andrew) took the little girls to Mayfest. We had such a nice dinner - if you have never been there just get ready to eat meat. My favorite was the pork tenderloin, so tender and the salad bar (more like a gourmet appetizer bar) was full of yummy stuff - smoked salmon with mustard dip, grilled provolone, goat cheese on crackers, etc.... After dinner we went to 4 day weekend for a show. The ironic thing was there was a church group there for the Methodist convention and a choir - they were a hoot and had a lot of interaction time with the performers. The show was very funny, improv - I have no idea how those guys think so quickly off the top of their heads and make anything hilarious. After the show, we went back to Texas De Brazil for dessert. Most of our group wanted creme brulee but Wayne and I shared chocolate mousse and got coffee. What a huge treat Friday night was - a great meal with good conversation and the best company, we really had a good time.

House update - no lookers this weekend. We are lowering the price on Monday so we will see what will come of that. After yard work and laundry on Saturday we went to Prosper and out to dinner with Todd and Melissa. We went to a restaurant in Plano and apparently it was prom night which proved to be entertaining as we waited for our table b/c Melissa and I got to "judge" all the dresses. It was a good way to pass the time and we saw some gorgeous (and not so gorgeous) dresses. Sunday worship was good, this was Wayne's first Sunday to lead. I must admit it feels strange to sit out in the congregation, but since I am unable to attend Wednesdays rehearsals it makes it very difficult to lead on Sundays. So, for now I will be an attender. Ironically, my quiet time on Sunday morning was the book of Malachi and it was also the sermon text today, so it was neat how God was already preparing my heart to hear some things. After church we went out with some couples for lunch and then just drove through a few neighborhoods to get an idea of areas to live in. The "farm house" that we stay in is still a little rough b/c it doesn't have a frig yet and we haven't done a great job planning for things we will need. I have a big Wal-Mart list for next week of things to take and leave there and Wayne is getting a frig from the Griffs to borrow for a while. Pretty soon we will be set up there for the weekends. We came back from Prosper to celebrate birthdays with the Shirleys at their house. We let Kelsie take her swimsuit for the hot tub but she and Morgan ended up swimming. I can't believe they weren't freezing but they had fun.

I will say here - God has so blessed us with a home here in Fort Worth while we finish out school and work and provided us a place to stay in Prosper. We are blessed with good friends and a loving family. God is so true to His word as our Jehovah Jireh! So, while I continue to pray for God to protect my heart during this transition, I also praise and thank Him for His amazing provisions - unearned and undeserved. That is our God and I am in awe!!!

A Gentle Reminder

God has been reminding me lately that I'm NOT "all that" in many different ways (that is a different post completely) but last Sunday the pastor at Prosper (Khris) preached on Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," He talked about the sins that are acceptable, the little things we do that we can justify but we know it's not pleasing to God. Well, I know that my thing is the need to be in control. Most people would say that you have to be in control to keep things going, stay on top of stuff or that maybe it's just your personality, etc. But, I know that often times I trust myself to be in control of things instead and before I trust God to be in control. So today I had a tangible reminder of that.

Wayne was in Prosper and so I took Kelsie to school. The plan was to come home, change clothes and get to my eye doctor appt at 10 and then off to work. When I got home, I opened the garage door and when I got to the door that goes into my house it was locked. It's never locked! My key is in the lockbox on the front door for realtors and Wayne has the other key - again in Prosper. I walked around the house and all the doors were locked. I was locked out of my own house. I tried to pick the lock, that didn't work. I called our realtor who is in Grapevine and he ended up calling a Prudential realtor on this side of town to come and open my door for me. She was very sweet to come and we ended up talking on the porch while her keypad was powering on. Once we started talking about housing, prices, showings, etc she mentioned that she had a client who is interested in a one story house. So, I offered for her to come walk through and look at ours and offer any suggestions if she had them. She said the floor plan would be great for these people and she was going to call them and see if they wanted to come look at it sometime over the weekend. She said the house showed well and made a suggestion to put Bath and Body Works wallflowers in coffee or cookie smell around the house (which I purchased today). Anyway, you never know what will come of it - they may not even come and look at the house but it was a reminder that God works ESPECIALLY when I'm not in control. He is in control and He was sweet today to affirm what I was already being convicted of Sunday. I pray that I learn more about resting in Him during this process.