TIME OUT!

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the seminar "Time out for Women," but Jennifer had the opportunity to attend last weekend. She organized the entire trip, 17 ladies went, Jennifer ordered the tickets, reserved the hotel rooms, and collected all the money. She left Friday morning and got back about 10:30 Saturday evening, and had a great time. The good thing is, she came home! I thought maybe she would take the opportunity of not being chained to the kitchen stove and run. Lucky for me (and the kids who had to eat my cooking) she came back.

Tap Dancing

Mia's new favorite thing is Tap. Our friends the Grajeda family gave her the tap shoes and a leotard, she is loving them! I guess I should put her in tap classes. What do you think??

Kaleb's New Suit

So I must be the blogging queen today, but I figured I was on here, I might as well update everything that has been going on. Kaleb got a suit for Church, it was on clearance and I just couldn't pass it up. He looks so sharp in it, I thought I would post his picture.

Baby Quilts

Since we were going to our friends babies blessing, (which I had know about for weeks) the night before I decided to make a couple quilts for her twin girls. Scott was kind enough to help me, and we were able to finish and go to bed about 1 am. They turned out so cute, Emmi and Mia wanted to keep them. I guess I will have to make a couple more, maybe for Christmas!

Seaworld Fun!

So over the weekend we went up to San Antonio for a friends baby blessing, and while we were there we decided to finally go to Sea World. We have had 4 free passes all year and just haven't gone. We all had a great time. There was a ride called Journey to Atlantis, and it was a blast. There wasn't a line so we were able to go right on. Here are some pictures and a few video clips of our day!



This was the first show we saw with the seals and a huge walrus, it was so funny! They all were trying to find out who had been eating all the fish. Come to find out it was the owner of the store, the walrus! Mystery Solved!



This is the first ride everyone went on. The good ole log ride. Kaleb was a little scared, and really didn't want to go on any other roller coaster type rides. This log ride had 2 pretty step areas.




Here was the flamingo area, I had to get this picture for my Mom! There were at least 100 flamingos. It was pretty cool.



Here is a clip from the Shamu show. It was so neat! The other video is when Scott, Emmi and Brody went on the Journey to Atlantis ride. Kaleb decided he would have fun in a different way!



Last but not least, when Emmi and Brody saw what Kaleb was having fun doing, they decided to also. So here is an action picture. Mia didn't want to do it a second time, I am not sure why?? (p.s. you can click on the picture to see it a little bigger)

Honey, What's for Dinner???

So yesterday I was busy reading a book, and it was time for dinner. I told the kids they could make dinner, but that they could not make sandwiches because they had that for lunch. Well they couldn't think of anything so Scott decided to be creative and make up something of his own. (Of course there is always the back up food like corn dogs, chicken tenders, fries, ect...) Lets just say, I won't be asking him to cook for a long time!!! He took minestrone soup and put biscuits on top, but the biscuits didn't cook all the way. Brody and Scott liked it but the rest of us didn't!

Fresh Air

On two occasions now I have had flashbacks to my youth. I think Mia may have a hereditary breathing disorder which runs in my family; namely the females.

Last week and again tonight Mia was misbehaving and I disciplined her by grabbing her and forcing her to sit in my lap. Regardless of how loosely I hold her, if I do not let her go in the matter of a few seconds she develops some bizarre breathing problem and starts screaming (through her sobs of course); "Dad, your chocking me!"

I remember my sisters (you know who you are) doing the same thing, even if I was holding on to their ankle. I must have an amazing grip to squeeze their lungs through their ankles. Flash can run fast, Spiderman can climb walls, I can suffocate people by touching them. Amazing, isn't it.

Let's get physical

So, Jennifer was talking on the phone the other day to our friend Chiko. Many of you know him. They were discussing his life. Obviously others in the house were listening to what Jennifer was saying.

Jennifer - "Blah blah blah... That's because the relationship isn't physical."

Kaleb - "Like MATING."

When Jennifer relayed the comment we almost had to call the paramedics for Chiko.

That kid of ours is getting too smart for his own good.

Invisable Mom

Some one sent me this in an Email, and I really liked it. I hope you Moms out there like it too.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of what we are building.....

It all began to make sense, the blank stares,

the lack of response, the way one of the kids will
walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the
phone?'

Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking,
or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in
the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am

only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can
you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands;

I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask,

'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to

answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a

car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that

once held books and the eyes that studied history
and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now
they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner,

Celebrating the return of a friend from England ...

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and

she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I
was sitting there, looking around at the others all put
together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry
for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice
turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said,
'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me

until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one

sees.' In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the
book. And I would discover what would become for

me, four life-changing truths, after which I

could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals

- we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a

work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no

credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by

their faith that the eyes of God saw
everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich

man who came to visit the cathedral while it was
being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on
the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why
are you spending so much time carving that bird into a
beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see
it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece

fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to

me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices
you make every day, even when no one around you does. No
act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn

no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me

to notice and smile over. You are building a great
cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction.

But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the
cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness.

It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn

pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a

great builder. As one of the people who show up at

a job that they will never see finished, to work

on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say

that no cathedrals could ever be built in our

lifetime because there are so few people willing

to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't

want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home
from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in
the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand
bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens
for the table.'

That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument

to myself. I just want him to want to come home.

And then, if there is anything more to say to his

friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals.

We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And
one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel,
not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has
been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible
women.

Great Job, MOM!

Week three away from home

For the third week in a row I haven't been around on Saturday. This week was a clean-up effort in Galveston, Texas. We met here at 2:45 am for the drive up. This time I was blessed with being a passenger. That was a relief because I was pretty tired.

















We were greeted by wild views on our way onto the island. However, the pictures are from on our way out, not in.





We met up at the church at 8:00 for our work assignments. Our first job involved removing downed trees from the back yard and flooded appliances from inside the house. The house had water rise to about 4 feet in it. Everything in the house is ruined and molding. The neighborhood looked like a landfill. Across the street we helped empty a garage and clean a back yard. These pictures show some of the debris littering the curb.


At our second area we moved flooded appliances again, removed wall paneling and moldy sheet rock. This house had water inside to about 5 1/2 feet. The house is built about four feet off the ground! The neighboring house was build ground level and the entire first floor was flooded, clear to the ceiling. The wallboard is all molding and the entire neighbor hoods wreak. We wore masks to help protect us from the mold. We also had rubber gloves to keep our hands clean.



Here the trucks are removing the building debris from the curbs. We were told a separate truck comes by to get the appliances. It was sad to see such conditions, yet amazing to see the resolve of the residence. They rolled up their sleeves and went to work. At this particular place a Lutheran group was busy helping gut another house just down the street.

We had an insurance adjuster stop his car, get out, and come up to thank us for the volunteer work we do. He commented on seeing our yellow shirts all over the town helping clean up the community and just wanted to show appreciation. That was pretty cool!

Here is a story for you. The church building we met at is just a few blocks from the Gulf of Mexico. The church ground is fairly flat, but the church is on a slight mound. That mound was just enough because the surrounding houses flooded, but the church had no water come in! How cool is that.