Ten of My Favorite Things...

I love reading blogs when people journal about their favorite things, so I've decided to write about ten of my favorite things! (By the way, these are in no particular order!)

1. My children! I cannot say enough about how much joy they bring into my life. I get so excited when I see pregnant couples because they just don't know how exciting their life is about to become!

2. My husband. He is a complete doll. He is my best friend. God did such a good job molding him for me. I am blessed. :)3. Coaching. Although it does take up a lot of my time, it is so rewarding. Middle school girls are both fun and challenging. This is a picture of my first team. We went 7-0 in district. These girls will always be very special to me! 4. Playoffs! Playoffs bring such great games to watch. The intensity and competitiveness rises to a new level. The Mavericks just won in game 1 against the Spurs. I was lucky enough to get to go to the Cowboys playoff game against the Eagles this past season and it was amazing. The atmosphere is unbelievable. Some of you may think I'm crazy when I say that's what I imagine Heaven to be like. So excited that I will be a part of it!
5. Baseball. I love spring because it brings baseball season along with it! One of my absolute favorite things to do is go to the Ballpark in Arlington. We go to about 15 games a year and watch almost all the other ones on television. I like gametracker for when I'm away, too. I am definitely wishing that we make it to the World Series this year! I also love to watch my oldest son play ball. He plays on a select team and has since kindergarten. Hopefully, these same boys will play together through high school.

6. Coke. I really like Coca-Cola~the real thing. I drink Diet Coke a lot, but that's just because it doesn't have any calories! This is Jordy with two of my loves at the Coca-Cola Factory in Atlanta last summer.

7. Cruising!!! My husband and I were married on a cruise ship. This July I will go on my fourth cruise. There is not much better than being in the middle of the ocean with family and friends, but no computers, phones, emails, etc... It is so relaxing and such fun for all of us to get together!

8. Shopping for Jordenne. I know...sounds vain; but I do love to shop for her!

9. Baths. I don't get to take them often, but a warm bath with candles and a capella music is a very relaxing time for me.

10. Coming home to a clean house. My husband, like I mentioned before, is amazing. He stays home with Malachi during the week and one day a week he spends the entire day cleaning. It is so nice to come home to a place where clothes and toys don't occupy the floor!

It's Time!

The Texas Rangers' 2010 slogan is "It's Time!" I absolutely love spring SO much not only because of the beautiful weather, but because it is baseball season!!! Growing up in the DFW area I was raised a Ranger fan and that's how I'll raise my kids! They love going to the games, too.

Last night was just an exhibition game against the Royals, but it was still fun to watch them win! Opening day is Monday, but we're not going to make it. :( We are all going Wednesday night to dollar hot dog night. It is the first night game of the season!


Go Rangers!! Hopefully, there will be a post in October about winning the World Series!




On another note, today is my BIL's birthday! Happy Birthday to a great guy--one of the funniest men on Earth, to a guy that loves my sister more than words could explain, and a guy that is a fantastic daddy to his sweet girls! Happy Birthday, Ed!

Spring Pictures

Saturday, I took my kiddos to Granbury to get their pictures taken by A & C Photography! They had so much fun and I love how the pictures turned out. If you live in the DFW area, they do a great job and have great prices. Go check them out :)

Make sure you go check them out!

Spring Break

My precious little girl turns 6 on the 28th and we celebrated by going to American Girl on Monday of spring break! I had been telling her for about a week that I had a special girl trip planned for her birthday. Monday morning she was so excited as we (me, mom, and Jordy) headed to Ft. Worth to meet my sister and two nieces.

We headed from Ft. Worth to Dallas (which took about an hour longer thanks to two sisters not able to shut up talking and watch for the correct exit!) and parked underground at the Galleria. There were many little girls walking with us holding their dolls and Jordenne kept looking at them and them looking at me! When we made it to the store, her eyes were huge! She was so excited that she was going to get a doll that looked just like her!!!

The American Girl boutique at the Galleria in Dallas.

Jordenne and Elliott Kate waiting to go in!

Trying to get a group picture...wasn't working too well!!

They have big glass cases with all the dolls dressed up. In one case they have the "Just Like You" dolls and Jordenne went straight to the one that my sister and I had already pointed out to each other. The doll looks a lot like Jordy! She was so sweet making sure that Elle and Beckett were having fun and made sure they were getting a doll, too!

Elliott, Beckett, and Jordenne

Jordenne and I after she picked out her doll. Jordenne named her Mia Michelle. Michelle is my middle name...isn't that sweet! We had a blast looking around the store and picking out an outfit for Jordenne and her doll to have that match! Hopefully, I will get pictures of that soon.

Thanks, Grammie, for the doll and lunch and a perfect birthday celebration!

On Tuesday, we left for Abilene to go visit Tony's family. We had a very good time, including amazing food cooked by my MIL. I love spending time with my in-laws! Thursday we had to come home early because Jordenne got the stomach virus. :( Friday went something like this--shopping with my sister and nieces--lots of good deals--spent way too much money--good lunch at On the Border--went to Hobby Lobby(my favorite place)--got home to my family--got the stupid stomach virus! YUCK...seriously, it was probably one of the worst stomach viruses I have ever had. It reminded me of my pregnant days and I'm not talking about the good ones! Then we were back to Monday....waking up early....school....siblings fighting, etc!

Spring Break was a blast (except for the last part), but most of all it made me ready for SUMMER! 9 more Mondays of school. :)

Heartbroken Children...

make for an even more heartbroken Mommy.

Thursday before last, Malachi did not sleep a wink. He was tugging on his ear and sure enough he had an earache. We started antibiotics and figured it would clear up like it always does. After leaving the doctor he started vomiting and the temperature starting rising. We did the motrin/tylenol thing and Saturday after waking up from his nap, his neck was huge. After calling the doctor we made the decision to go to the ER.

The ER doctor put us on a stronger antibiotic and told us to keep doing the motrin/tylenol rounds. Wednesday morning when he woke up with 103.7 for the sixth straight day, Tony took him back to the doctor. They ran lots of tests on him, which meant bloodwork, and took x-rays of his chest. Everything came back good. The doctor just thinks he had a very bad virus. Finally, Friday morning we had no temperature!! Yea!

During this same week we dealt with a very saddening tragedy. Monday morning I received a text from Isaak and Jordy's mom saying that her Papaw (the man who raised her) had a major heart attack and did not make it. This was an amazing man. He was always telling me how grateful he was for me and how blessed his grandkids are to have me, but the truth was that I was so blessed to have known him. He was a great preacher, husband, father, and grandfather. It is still hard to believe he is gone. His wife, who Tony and I call "Mamaw," is just as great as Papaw. She is so loving and kind, but I learned this past week how much strength she has. She got up and spoke at the funeral of her husband of 41 years. She was so strong for Isaak and Jordenne. Friday night she had a grandkids pizza party. They had so much fun. They had a popcorn fight and a pillow fight. They ate lots of pizza, ice cream, and cupcakes. They sat around at one point and talked about Papaw and told stories about him. Then, this great woman of strength, went around the circle of all the grandkids and told each one of them why they were special to Papaw.

Isaak was very close to Papaw because that is who he lived with until he was 5 (before he moved here). We decided to wait until Tuesday evening to tell the kids. Trista called on Tuesday evening and shared the news with Isaak first. He put the phone down and just clung onto me. Then Jordenne was told and curled up in her daddy's lap. They sobbed for awhile and we talked about heaven and that talked about how Papaw is with God and Junior (Tony's brother). That was by far the most difficult thing I've ever had to do. Seeing your babies' hearts break is terrible. I cry just thinking about it. My kids, in the last week, have went through something at 5 and 8 that I haven't gone through.

On the way home today, we stopped in downtown Granbury for some good Blue Bell ice cream!

Playing Catch Up With Pictures...

My mom has a great camera, so I just use hers instead of buying one for me :). Unfortunately, I rarely download the pictures after I take them. This past weekend, I downloaded pictures from the first day of school, Halloween, Christmas, and our Feb. snow day! I guess better late than never!

First Day of School 2009

Isaak--2nd grade Jordenne--Kindergarten

Halloween 2009

Christmas 2009

Snow Day 2010