under the surface

i have been getting back in the groove today. i have yet to take a shower, i could care less. technically, i would still be in my pjs if i had not taken faith to superkids this morning. it is a cap day.

i could have taken the younger 2 to MDO but we decided to stay home. will has driven his car all over me and the house and managed to knock all the books off the coffee table 17 times. claire & i played dress up for a few minutes while i folded towels. she wore a pink silky skirt that ma got a garage sale for 25 cents with a t-shirt that says "pretty is as pretty does" - i am sure my friends at thera-wear would be oh so proud of her ensemble. the pic was priceless, if i would have taken it but she fell & hurt her foot right as the idea popped in my mind. so. . . no.


i am forever grateful for my mom, mere & adrienne for the help the last 2 days. my children loved playing with abby, mimi and their aunts. the girls kept the house tidy, tended the kids and even did a little shopping. mom & mere bought me new everyday flatware and adrienne got me a wallet for my early b-day present.

it was nice to call home and hear how well the kids behaved and their tender words to me - i have a very sweet fam.

Ad - thanks for leaving the skinny cows, i have had 2 today.

Mom - don't worry about dad's fresh maters, we ate 2 for lunch, they will all be gone by saturday, even in the fridge. if the in-laws don't hurry, they may not get any! btw, you have one of our pillows b/c i have yours.

Mere - I did laundry all day, as you can see below.

one problem: i now have more ironing! you did such a great job, i need you to come back, maybe once a week. :) also, you left a bunch of stuff - found it buried, under the surface of the place we call home. Abby's baby doll, u-wear, swimsuit & skirt all emerged at different times today. I am not through so more may peek from the mysterious hole i can not find. miss all of you . . .see you in hot springs!

i just caught a cute pose of claire, perfect snap with my i-phone would have been perfect. i could have sent it straight to the blog. oh yeah, i don't have that phone.

for adrienne -

this post is for you. behold. . . the crowning of the caps! aren't we cute? someday, you may find yourself crowned queen cap. life brings you to it.


even mr. & mrs. cap look pretty sharp.

getting ready

i have a lot to do the next week. we are going to the beach for a day or so and then i have a meeting at church on sunday for the nursery volunteers. i must prepare my home and myself for the visit from the fam.

my little sisters and my mom are coming. one sis is a clean freak, actually they both are, i used to think i was but 3 kids later...not so much. as you know, the other sis despises my wardrobe choices. and don't even get me started on my hair, they all blasted that one merry Christmas.

i have grocery shopped and have sunday's dinner planned so i can feed everyone when they get here. i feel so bad the trip is so long, it is annoying they live so far away.

why couldn't dad buy a place in houston? because he dislikes people & traffic and enjoys wide, open spaces. i almost started singing. anyway, back to post.

why not tyler? it is beautiful there and they even have a mall. just kidding, i am glad they live where God called them and we live where God called us.

craig & i are leaving early tuesday to head to houston and therefore, to sum up this boring post, i feel the need to straighten. . . everything.

Parade

You know you want too, you just can't stand it! Watch a clip from the parade here. You see Faith & Claire a few times if you look careful but you catch a good shot of Will at the end.

Not to bore you but it is my blog. :)

because i need to get it out

you (all 3 of you) must hear about my day.

it is swimming lesson week.

it is supposed to be fun.

it is for some, it is not for others.

upon claire's return from vbs this morning, she had a stomach ache. i fed her lunch. her tummy still was aching so bad!

me: are you sick claire?

c: yes mommy, very bad.

me: why? (feeling her forehead) you do not have fever, go put your suit on, you have swim lessons.

c: but, i caaaannnn'tttt!

me: (very patiently) why?

c: b/c i am sick, i feel terr-i-ble!

me: i will help you get ready. (reluctantly she gets ready)

as we are loading up in the car, we hear thunder.

c: what will we do if it rains?

me: if is lightning, you will have to sit on the porch or they will cancel your lesson if it does not pass.

c: i still am sick, i caaaannn'tttt swim!

i carry her in on my hip into her swim class, while my toddler walks in mumbling about some preschooler's lightning mcqueen shirt. everyone is under the porch, i feel her spirits lift. her teacher says, "we will make up class at 9:00 on friday, the storm may take a while to pass."

immediately, my sick child jumps out of my arms and starts jumping up & down!!

c: yeah, we do not have swim today! can we go to dunkin donuts or sonic to celebrate?

me: i thought you were sick?

c: (walking ahead of me out of the gate) i am healed, i just did not want to swim.

no, really, i never guessed.

as we get in the car, i squelch the idea of dunkin or sonic and we head to H-E-B, because what else does beaumont have to offer? we shop for chicken, fruit, breakfast bars, ice cream & AA batteries b/c what else do i buy? will is already late for nap and we have one more swim lesson to attend or cancel.

faith's lesson is on b/c the storm passed. she is sooo excited and jumps in the water without even a good-bye! claire waves to her teacher and says, "see you tomorrow miss stacey, i cannot wait to swim & kick & kick." yeah right, who is she fooling?

will, nuk in tow, is quite unpleasant about our departure, he was sure he was getting a swim invite. as i carry him back to the car screaming about water, the idea of a cherry limeade is not a bad idea.

thank goodness happy hour is from 2-4. i may drive through the next 9 days of swim.

Summer randomness

I feel like summer has officially started, now that we are back from our trip! However, I feel like it is 1/2 over since it is July 18th.


Faith is enjoying VBS this week at Westgate Baptist.


We start swimming lessons next week.


I worked all day Monday trying to find a financial mistake in the ministry books. I found it. No, it was not in our favor and it was a big mess. God is good though, at least he opened my peon brain & eyes to find it. It just took 6 hours! Wonder if the accountant would have charged vs. the unpaid momof3? (Not complaining. . . :)


Claire and I have been having control issues, I know all of you are shocked. I won. Finally. Yesterday, around 5:30 p.m. We are having a swell day as I type. Parenting in the Spirit is refreshing, sin-free and joyous. I hope I can stick to that each moment of each day.


I started a new bible study, going solo, which I really need. It is called No other Gods, by K. Minter. You can read about here, if you care.


Craig is working furiously on summer outreaches. He just called. Diesel is $4.62 a gallon, it cost $170 to fill up the bus. Nice, my chest continues to tighten. I doubt his does, either one is up and the other is down. God is so good to allow us to encourage one another. I guess this is his week, not mine.


I am still planning a trip to visit Paula, maybe late July, maybe August, maybe September. As you can tell, I.do. not. know. when. but. I. need. to. go!


Tomorrow at this time, I will be holding Baby Zach, who has been home for 2 weeks and is growing like a weed, pics to come soon.


Oh yes, and I am having a heart procedure July 15th, just simple, to stop svt. It is called ablation, some hot shot doctor in Houston is doing it. He does them all day long, hope he shocks the right currents. My fam is coming to visit while Craig & I hang out in Hstn for a couple of days. It will be our 10 year anniversary, I wanted diamonds but instead, I need heart repair! Ha!


This is one of my Estes Park purchases. I am going to put it on the kitchen table and change out the decor, that I have yet to buy. When I saw it in the store, it had ceramic apples on it. I loved them but they were $9.95 each, I repeat...$9.95 each, they like them just like Estes likes gas and groceries.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. The kids love them, we will not guess which child favors which bird. I need all 3. Neat lesson for the fam and another fantastic find.


I have others things I could continue to share, but I will keep them to myself for the moment. After this random post, I bet you are all glad!

Colorado

entering beautiful rocky mtn national park
the 3 big kids - getting ready for the hayride at the YMCA of the rockiesMa tried to contain the nuk king & queen as we roasted marshmallows after the hayride.
the guys & girls at sprague lake - this was our most beautiful day, not hot but not freezing!

Big Thompson River - the kids loved climbing into the caves.Did I mention it was chilly? It snowed one day, we could not make it up Trailridge Road but it did not stop us from picnic-ing. It takes a blizzard for Larsons to not eat. We were so blessed that Aunt Laura shared her home with us, the kids learned a lot and we made great memories. God is sooo good!

Happy Father's Day

to a wonderful daddy and husband. Craig, thank you for always loving God first and leading us to do the same.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. Ps 127:4-5

What is your favorite thing about daddy?

Faith: I like him b/c he teaches me stuff and he is nice when we are playing bow & arrow.

Claire: He really really loves me. I know he loves me b/c he hugs me.

Will: Dada bye-bye (we think he likes to play outside with daddy.)

Me: His heart, his laugh, his sacrifices and love he has for me....Also, thanks for those precious babies!

Happy Father's Day to my daddy, father-in-law & brother- in-laws - none of who read the blog!

**Also, happy late b-day to my fave middle sis! I could not blog that day but I did call! Love you Mere!

Up, up & away...

and a few tears. Faith decided to climb a tree and continue to climb and climb. Craig was in the backyard with her and he could not believe how high she climbed. By the time I got outside, I got her picture but then Craig scared her b/c he got nervous about the strength of the limbs.
He had to climb up and get her so she was crying by the time he got her down. Maybe b/c he had to help or b/c she began to panic, I don't know?!

Since it is your day,
I have something to say:

Don't lift your head.
Have breakfast in bed!

Just take a look . . .
You don't have to cook!

I don't like to brag
But it's breakfast in a bag!

Happy Mother's Day 2008


** Faith brought my Mother's Day present home from school yesterday and she just could not wait to give it to me so she chose this morning! It contained a clementine orange, a bag of tea, granola bar, Hershey kiss and a sweet napkin. She helped me make the tea and then decided she might want the chocolate. Of course, I gave it to her. As I drove her to school, she was so excited that I was drinking my tea. (I did not tell her that I switched the tea bag to decaf when she was not looking, she would have been devastated but the caffeine would have put me in the ER.) Then, Will and Claire split my orange. I saved the bag and laughed as I ate my granola bar. I keep smiling, precious (and typical) memories.

Cinderella 2008

Faith & Zoe - Holly (Zoe's mom) and I call them Mutt & Jeff, one short and one tall. :) Posing for the group picture. The fireflies were on the front row.

Claire insisted on dressing up for Saturday's performance. I learned a lesson: take small children to the school performance, it is much better suited for them. (Must be why they call it a SCHOOL performance.) She loved watching the ballet but could not understand why she was not on the stage.
We had meltdown by this point, 5th performance & all. The only people smiling were my parents, they were laughing b/c my girls were out of control. I also think they were glad they were grandparents, not the parents!

Where was will? I left him out of the pics...he stayed home. Maybe next year? However, if you ask Faith, she is taking a break in 2009. :)