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In the spirit of Halloween...

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Prayer for Stellan

**Update: Stellan was born this morning around 10:20. He is doing great! If you haven't had a chance to check out their blog, click here for the announcement and the info on his health. God is GOOD!  If you've been reading my blog for a little while then you probably already know who "MckMama" is and you've probably already seen the above button on my sidebar. If you do not know the background on her story, click here to read a little about it. The short version is that she is pregnant with her 4th child. She has a 3, 2, & 1 year old as well! Brave woman. The baby that she is now carrying (Stellan is his name) was diagnosed with a heart defect and they were told earlier in her pregnancy he would surely die. Well God has been performing miracle after miracle in this baby's life and he has made it all the way to 37 weeks and has had really great test results lately. The future is still unknown for baby Stellan once he is born. He may need surgery right away to fix his heart. He may need to be on medication to help his heart. He may be perfectly fine. He may go home to Heaven shortly after joining us on Earth. I say his future is unknown and that's true, but only to us here. His future is known to one. God knows exactly his future and "MckMama" is an unbelievable pillar of strength, courage and faith. I choose to believe that God has chosen to completely heal Stellan and he will be born a perfectly healthy baby boy tomorrow morning. They are delivering him via c-section tomorrow morning at 9:30 CST. She is asking every prayer warrior out there to pray for Stellan. So if you think about it tonight while saying your prayers or in the morning please say a prayer for baby Stellan. I know "MckMama" appreciates it beyond words. 

Not Me Monday

I did not smoosh all the corners of the raw break & bake cookies I made for a friend, so they didn't have those squares on the top...you know, the tell tale sign that they are break & bake. 

I did not take my 3 year old to a tanning salon and make her sit in the room and just wait for 10 minutes while I got my tan on. I had my high school reunion on Saturday and I could NOT show up there looking like a ghost!

Then my 3 year old did not scream at the top of her lungs, 2 minutes into my 10 minutes set on the timer, "I have to go poo poo!"

And as I peeked through the one inch opening of the tanning bed, seeing my 3 year old holding her bottom, pacing back & forth and saying, "I REALLY have to go mommy!" I most certainly did not tell her she would just have to wait and maybe if she sat down it wouldn't come out.

I did not hear from the bathtub my two girls swooshing water from one cup to another saying, "This is my beer and this is your beer." Nice....real nice! I must really look like the Mother of the Year in this one, folks.

Check out MckMama's Not Me Monday for a sure dose of honesty and usually lots of laughs. 

What will you do?

I was reading my friend, Sharla's, blog today and she had a video I knew I had to share. It could NOT have spoken my sentiment on Christmas better. After visiting Africa a little over a year ago and seeing first hand the impact that not having clean water has on people, I was changed. The way I think about EVERYTHING is changed. But the way I think about Christmas is particularly changed. Last Christmas I went into Toys R Us to look for a few things and I left there with a heavy heart. I found myself staring at everyone's cart filled to overflowing and all the rushing around to make sure the latest & greatest toy was gotten and the only thing I could think about were these images:

I literally found it physically difficult to put things into my cart. Now I'm certainly not trying to portray myself as some righteous person who walked out of the toy store with nothing. I bought things. I just did so with a different outlook than I have ever had. I bought less. I bought a lot less and guess what....they. didn't. know. the. difference. My girls had a perfectly wonderful Christmas with toys & games etc. I say all of this because here's the thing: I realize we all want to give gifts on Christmas. I know it is magical to watch our children light up when they see what's under the tree on Christmas morning. And I truly believe God looks upon all of us with a smile on His face. He wants us to live life to the fullest. He wants us to celebrate the birth of His Son by giving to others. However there comes a point where it becomes more about the "stuff" and less about giving. If Christmas truly is about giving, why not give less to our family and also give to people who are hurting, dying, and in need. We are so blessed and fortunate to have been born where we were. Those children in the images above didn't ask to be born where they were. They did nothing to deserve starvation and a thirst that could kill. We are blessed. And we are blessed to be a blessing to others. I don't know about you, but I will always look at Christmas in a different light and I will try to fight the battle, against the grain, and instead of listening to all of the commercials that tell us and our children, "You must have this!" "You won't be satisfied until you get this!" I will watch this video:

Tagged

I was tagged by my friend Lacey. My directions are to go to my pictures, choose the 6th folder, then the 6th picture and tell the story about that picture. Funny that a lot of the people who have been tagged are posting pictures in the winter season. Anyway, here's mine. I took this of the girls outside of the Santa Picture Place right before pictures with Santa.

Jamie, Ashley, & Rebecca....tag, you're it!

Not Me Monday

I did not get this look:

from my 3 year old when I told her to "smile like a princess." I don't know about you, but I don't know any princesses that smile like that.

I did not realize as I was taking my clothes off for the day and changing into pj's that there was a dried booger on the front of my skirt exactly at the nose level of my 3 year old. Motherhood....it's a glamourous life, I tell ya! I wonder how long that had been there??

I did not eat chocolate pie for breakfast almost every morning this week. And for dinner one night, and for dessert after dinners. 

I did not almost run over a real live baby in a stroller when it rolled down its driveway and into the path of my moving car. Thank you God, truly, that did NOT happen.

I absolutely did not have to google Christopher Columbus when my Kindergartner came home with homework that was to ask me what I knew about Christopher Columbus. It's been a long time, people!

I would never ask my 5 year old, "Do you wanna go to choir practice tonight? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. You don't really feel like going tonight, do you??" just because I didn't feel like going. She totally thought I was giving her a break! Little does she know...

As always, go check out MckMama's Not Me Monday too!

You see this?

Well 

it 

should 

pretty 

much 

just 

look 

like 

this:

You're basically putting your money in the same place. I watched kid after kid after kid tonight at the pizza place walk up to the crane game with a twinkle in their eye. They each had it spotted. The stuffed animal they wanted. The one that probably cost the vending game people about 4 cents to buy and put in their "game" if you wanna call it that. They'd walk up with bright eyes & hope and they'd leave, head down, empty handed. Every. Time. Now there were, of course, a few close calls that caused everyone around to gasp and hold their breath just waiting to see if the crane would make it all the way to the drop off point; all that excitement and anticipation for what? For the crane to drop the toy at the very last minute before reaching its final destination. What is the point? You may as well just toss your quarters in the trash can. 

Poor, sweet,...

...beautiful, sleepy, pitiful, sick baby.Who rolled right off the couch onto the floor not 3 minutes after I took this. Poor thing. My heart hurts for her. 

**Update at 5:30pm: Still in the same spot on the couch as earlier today and in the same position, but we managed to get our party dress on for the day. whew!

Party shoes, wand and all...

I'm sorry, but...

HUH?

Does anyone else find this show as disturbing as I do?

Pumpkins...

...not necessarily in a patch

Shannon & I decided it would be fun to take the kids to a pumpkin patch this afternoon for some pictures. We got them all dressed up in their Fall gear, packed up in the car, camera gear in tow and headed to a church that has a great set up for pumpkins. They have tons of pumpkins all piled up, with hay and scarecrows and all kinds of Fallish things. We were told the pumpkins would be all set up and ready this past Sunday. can you see where this is headed? We arrive at the church to find, you guessed it, no pumpkins. Apparently there was some crazy sand storm in New Mexico and the pumpkins they were having shipped to the church could not be picked.Who knew pumpkins grew in New Mexico? Anyway, needless to say, we were a little distraught having just taken the time and effort to get the kids ready Anyone who's ever gotten kids ready for a photo shoot knows exactly what I mean and haul our gear to find we had no where to take their pictures. This is where we decided to get a little creative. We had them dressed. We had fresh batteries in our cameras. We were going to TAKE their pictures SOMEWHERE. We thought, "What if we just go buy some pumpkins at HEB and take them over to the park across the street, set up the pumpkins and create our OWN pumpkin patch!" So off we go to HEB. When we arrive, we discover an amazing display of the greatest, most unique pumpkins. These were not your typical orange, Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. We're talking COOL. And not only were the pumpkins great, but they were all set up on stacks and stacks of hay. While we're deciding which pumpkins to purchase for our make-shift patch, Reagan jumps up on the hay and says, "Mommy, are we going to take our pictures here!?" A momentary pause....Shannon and I both look at each other.....light bulb! Shannon skips on into HEB, finds the nearest manager, and asks him if we can take our kids' pictures on their pumpkin display in front of the store. He says yes! Score! So we proceed to get in everyone's way trying to get in and out of HEB, our kids are running in front of their carts, we're blocking the pathways and the entrance, our kids are knocking pumpkins off the display, Shannon & I have broken into a full-on sweat and people are looking at us like we're crazy, but we got our pumpkin pictures dog gone it! If you happened to be driving by HEB this afternoon and saw a bunch of people darting back and forth with their carts through the entrance, now you know why. 

After the HEB photo shoot, we decide it would be just so much fun and our kids would love us and sing our praises if we still took them across the street with the pumpkins we purchased to take MORE pictures. We are gluttons for punishment. But I had this idea I just could NOT pass up being right there and ready with our super cool pumpkins. Again. Glutton. For. Punishment. 

Now, onto some pictures. Here are our "pumpkin patch" pictures taken at HEB and my "idea" that was worth bribing the kids with any candy they wanted in the store to get them to go across the street and pose for. 

We are SO excited about pumpkin pictures!

I am MORE excited about pumpkin pictures!

If you wanna check out more of our pumpkin pictures, check out Bella Bleu's blog here.

Self Portraits

Being the "photographer" in our family, I never find myself on the other side of the lens, which is usually fine by me. Except that I hardly have any pictures of me with my girls. And that isn't fine by me. So I decided to do a little self-portraiture this afternoon. I set up the trusty tripod and we "hung out" in front of the camera. Here are our "self portraits."

"Make a funny face!"

"Now look very serious." 

They take direction quite well, don't you think? Now if only they would take my direction that well ALL the time.

Not Me Monday

I did not have a dream that I babysat MckMama's McChildren and they were the sweetest, most well behaved children. My obsession might be going a little far now...ya think?

I would never bribe my three-year-old with jellybeans to sit in front of a camera and tell "Bible Stories" for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my blog visitors. No way! 

Do not let my 5 year old tell you I completely forgot imagine that I was supposed to send a flower with her to school for her teacher's birthday until it was 10:00 the night before and therefore sent my sweet child to school bringing a flower made of tissue paper and pipe cleaners to give to her teacher. And it did NOT look like this:

I did not let my 3 year old eat only carrots & ranch for dinner Sunday night because I just didn't feel like fighting with her. She wins a lot of battles for this very reason. Err, I mean she doesn't.

I am not in the process of taking an online defensive driving course for my husband's ticket that he received, because he was speeding and I'm not the least bit bitter about it. That would be uh...against the law! But if I were, it would make me the bestest wife in the world!

Be sure and check out MckMama's Not Me Monday too! Until next time...

Holiday Portraits & Cards

Check out Bella Bleu's brand new card collection for 2008! Click here.

Bible Stories

Had to share...

...one of my favorite shots ever!

I'm sorry but could that BE any more precious!? It's twins and their arms just locked together like that naturally! My guess would be there was a lot of that locking of extremities together in the womb, especially since their Momma was so tiny carrying these little ones. They couldn't have had much room in there! Click here if you'd like to check out a few more.

Maggie

Today is my Mom's (Maggie's) Birthday. In honor of the most incredible woman I know on her Birthday, I thought I would tell you a little bit about her.

She...

...is the most giving and selfless person I know.

...is stunningly beautiful. even after 6 kids!

...loves her children and grandchildren with reckless abandon.

...would give you the shirt off her back. well probably not literally, but you know what I mean.

...is extremely friendly to strangers.

...loves making new friends.

...makes the best spaghetti & meatballs.

...bakes delicious cakes.

...gives others gifts on her Birthday

...listens attentively and doesn't try to fix everything.

...doesn't give advice that isn't solicited.

...has great style.

...does not boast or brag. unless of course it's about her grandchildren.

...knows how to set up electronics.

...knows how to work a grill.

...grocery shops a lot!

...will make 3 different dinners if it makes everyone happy.

...is an incredible woman and an even better Mom & Grandmother.

Happy Birthday Maggie! We love you.

Not Me Monday

I did not use my toothbrush one morning this week even though I knew the girls had been playing with it...no way....that would be gross...who knows where that thing had been. 

I did not use the fact that my girls had a Birthday Party on Monday afternoon as leverage all day for them to behave. Come on, I'm a better parent than that!

I am not jumping for joy to finally have the huge fallen tree in my backyard removed because I think maybe my problem will go away....that would be ludicrous. 

I did not procrastinate making dinner for so long Friday night that I threw the girls in the car to go pick up a pizza for dinner at 8:00...no way man. I only feed my kids organic and my kids go to bed before then!

I did not have a complete panic attack crying, hyperventilating and all at MacKenzie's school in front of a bunch of people I didn't know because MacKenzie was missing for 15 minutes after school let out and the Principal herself couldn't find her anywhere. That's not possible. I don't cry, remember?

I definitely did not have a moment of sadness when MckMama said she was taking a break from blogging and didn't know when she would be back. You don't actually think I'm that lame, do you?

And I did not let my children feed themselves Breakfast Sunday morning, because I'm not feeling well and didn't get out of bed til after they had already fed themselves. Wanna know what they had?? 

• Nutri Grain cereal bars Not too bad, right? Well I don't know I think the second ingredient on the list is high fructose corn syrup...ok so it's pure sugar...whatever.
  
• Capri Sun Roaring Waters Well at least it's "flavored water" and not a juice box. I know, I know...just a pathetic attempt at justifying here, people. 
  
• Cheetos Before you freak out, they WERE the "Natural" Cheetos, so no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Comparatively speaking, not too bad.
  
• String Cheese Hey, at least they got their calcium in somehow.

Check out MckMama's Not Me Monday. Yes, she's back and I am not totally thrilled! It's titled "Nothing" just so not to confuse you. 

October & Boredom

October is officially here and I swear I will blink my eyes and it will be gone just as fast as the previous months. I got up in my attic the other day to pull out all my Fall/Halloween decorations. I just love decorating for this Season. It puts me in such a good mood. The weather outside is perfect and I can spend the day pulling things out of boxes and setting them up. So much fun. This year it was especially fun because everything I pulled out of a bag or box Reagan & MacKenzie would Ooh & Aah over and say things like, "Oh, Mom that is soooo beautiful!" & "Ooh, that is soooo cute!" It was funny that they were so into all the decorations. Anyway, I was bored today and needed a creative release, so I took pictures of our decorations. Just for fun I thought I'd share. Here's what we have set up for the season. 

13 Years Overdue

Simpson Found Guilty on All Charges

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 3) -- Thirteen years to the day after being acquitted of killing his wife and her friend in Los Angeles, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.

The 61-year-old former football star was convicted of all 12 counts late Friday after jurors deliberated for more than 13 hours. He released a heavy sigh as the charges were read and was immediately taken into custody.

Simpson, who went from American sports idol to celebrity-in-exile after his murder acquittal, could spend the rest of his life in prison.

His attorney said he would appeal.

Many people considered the four-week trial justice delayed. Simpson was cleared in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in one of the most sensational trials of the 20th century, but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil case.

"I don't like to use the word payback," defense attorney Yale Galanter said. "I can tell you from the beginning my biggest concern ... was whether or not the jury would be able to separate their very strong feelings about Mr. Simpson and judge him fairly and honestly."

The Hall of Fame football star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges for gathering up five men a year ago and storming into a room at a hotel-casino, where the group seized several game balls, plaques and photos. Prosecutors said two of the men with him were armed; one of them said Simpson asked him to bring a gun.

Simpson's co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, 54, also was found guilty on all charges and taken into custody.

Simpson showed little emotion as officers handcuffed him and walked him out of the courtroom. His sister, Carmelita Durio, sobbed behind him in the arms of Simpson's friend, Tom Scotto, who said "I love you" as Simpson passed by. As spectators left the courtroom, Durio collapsed.

Jurors made no eye contact with the defendants as they entered the courtroom. They declined to answer questions after the verdict was read.

Galanter said his client had expected the outcome, and in a courthouse conversation with an Associated Press reporter on Thursday, Simpson had implied as much.

Simpson said he was "afraid that I won't get to go to my kids' college graduations after I managed to get them through college."

You think this is just a coincidence that 13 years to the day that he was acquitted of a murder he so obviously at least to me committed, he is now convicted and faces up to life in prison? It's interesting to me that his concern is being "afraid that I won't get to go to my kids' college graduations after I managed to get them through college." What about Nicole, the children's mother? She not only won't get to go to their college graduations but she has already missed them growing up and will never get to attend any event for them. What about that book he wrote about if he did commit those murders, how we would have done it. Are you serious? One major flaw in our justice system in my opinion is Double Jeopardy. I understand that we can't have people tried over and over again for the same charge. But I don't get how someone can basically release a book confessing to a crime and go out and play golf that afternoon, because they've already been cleared. Something just doesn't sit right with me about that. I remember exactly where I was when OJ Simpson's passport and money-filled white bronco was fleeing the police and every station interrupted programming to follow it. I was 14 years old. I was sitting on my bed a futon in my room in Houston. I was watching the NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets & New York Knicks. Where were you?

Fall is Here

Fall is in the air. I can feel it. And I love it. I got up in the attic this afternoon and pulled out all my "decorations." I think Fall is my favorite season to decorate. I just love the earth tone colors of everything. So in celebration of Fall I have changed my blog design once again. I thought I was going to try and have a design and stick to it. But I have come to the realization that I tire of things far too easily. I get bored. I don't like it anymore. I move on. So, I think I will probably update the design of my blog as regularly as the seasons change. And that's kind of fun anyway...to have a new look for a new season. Now if I could just convince my husband of that very thing for my wardrobe, I would be set. So I hope you like the new Fall look with all its earth tones. And for those of you that are deeply concerned because I'm sure some of you are about the fact that my new background has birds on it, well as long as they're not flapping their wings at me or pecking at my window I am actually ok with them. In fact I don't mind birds at all...the flat, on-paper, background-on-my-blog type. Any other type of bird. A different story. 

The Quarter Incident

This incident happened a while ago, but I just came across these clips on my computer and had to share.

Funny story from this: When asked to describe the coin she had swallowed, MacKenzie kept saying it had musical notes on it. This confused us. We had no idea what she was talking about. Turns out she had swallowed the Tennessee State Quarter. We knew then what she meant. Check it out! The Tennessee State Quarter 

Pretty funny.....well....after the fact of course.