A Lesson on Thinking of Others

Yesterday while we were in the car running some errands, Audra pointed out the window and said,"Look Mom, someone is camping!" I look and see a homeless guy with a backpack and his dog by a tree. I explained to her that he didn't have a home and all he owns is in that back pack. She was obviously upset about the situation. She asked a million questions of why and how. I explained it could be a lot of reasons: lost his job, made bad decisions, or by choice, but that we needed to pray for him. We both took turns praying for him. We talked about how thankful we should be about the blessings we have.

I had wanted to make "Blessing Bags" awhile back, but never got around to it. I took this as the best oppurtunity to bring it up. If I mention something to Audra I will have to follow through because she will not let me forget otherwise. So I asked her if she would like to make a list of food and toiletries we could get and make some packages to hand out to the homeless people we see.  She was excited and talked about it all night and this morning. We went to Wal-mart and checked of our list and came home to do our service project.

 We got:

Water bottles

gum

granola bars

peanut butter crackers

raisins

fruit cups

juice packages

soap

tooth brush

tooth paste

Gallon bags

 We sorted it out! (Bonus: Math fun too!)

 Got our four packages ready and prayed over them. 

 Audra decided she wanted to make a card for each package. 

 "We prayed for you" was inside each card she made. 

Finished product with a beautiful card. They are in a basket in the truck ready to be passed out. It isn't a whole lot, but it was a great teaching moment of thinking of others and hopefully the individuals that get the bags will be blessed. I intend to restock as needed. Audra will probably remind me, so I shouldn't worry to much about forgetting.

 I hope that these moments in her life make an impact forever. I enjoy them and they are so special to me. I pray she continues to grow up with her caring heart. I know God has big plans for her life and I pray that Ryan and I just do our best to guide her to look to Him and use every opportunity that is put in front of us to it's fullest teaching potential. I can't wait to see her grow into the woman He has made her to be. 

When Things Don't Go as Planned, Make Peonies!

The Fictionista's Book Club!

Book Club has been such a great way for me to have fun this past year. It was my turn to host again this month. I choose Peony in Love by Lisa See. I fell in love with chinese literature my sophomore year of college and wanted to share a little piece of my passion with my Club. Since our club is made of Mothers and Wives it is a given things can come up and you are not able to make the meeting. This month it just so happened that only two people could make it. So I decided to make it really laid back and we did a small craft. We all made a peony hair piece. It was fun to talk about Peony in Love, other books we have read, and of course funny family stories. It was a good night. Thanks Cait and Lorraine for some laughs and fun!

Our finished Project turned out pretty well if I do say so myself! :)

Adiah's Two Monthday!

Time is flying by and Adiah is Two months today!

This month was very hard. Adiah came down with RSV and it took a toll on his little body. After two trips to the doctor, one trip to the emergency room, breathing treatments, lots of suctioning, crying, and praying our little man is on the mend. He only has a little sniffles here and there now.

His little personality has started to shine. He has started to smile and coo. He has the sweetest little face. He adores his sister. We have started a routine of while I cook dinner, Audra "babysits" Adiah. It is the most amazing thing listening to their sweet giggles. 

Firsts for this Month:

Smiles

Coos

sleeps 7-8 hours

Pictures Through the Years

The other day Ryan and I were talking about our Anniversary coming up this week. I pulled out our "love box" (holds all our notes, important tickets stubs, dates, those kind of things) and started reading what we used to write to each other. I guess deep down inside I knew we would be getting married one day because I had saved some notes from ninth grade.

We were laughing so hard at each other. It was hilarious to see how awkward you act in high school. We would rip notes out of each other hands and cry out how embarrassing it was to read what we thought "normal" notes should say back in the day. Oh high school!

Needless to say it is fun to remember were we started and how far we have come. We have changed and matured so much over the years. So I thought it would be fun(ny) to put together a little series of photos over the years. Ryan will probably kill me with the high school pictures I am about to show you, but they are just to dorky awesome not to share. 

If you want to read our story go here.

Enjoy!

Here we are the last day of ninth grade. 

Yes, I know we look goofy, but I am so thankful I have this photo.

We were babies!

Tenth grade he came to our schools fall festival

Eleventh grade summer we started hanging out again.

Prom Senior Year

Our Graduation Day

Ryan Graduating from 

UTSA

White Coat Ceremony for Medical School

Last Kiss in case we didn't make it out of Water Rafting

Recreating our Senior Prom Picture

What Five Years of Marriage Will Make you Do. (I Kid)

Have a great day! 

How Ninth Got Us to Five!

When I was in ninth grade, I flirted with a boy who I found attractive and a complete hunk. Although, looking back in ninth grade no one really looks cute but rather awkward and gangly. He tutored me for my Spanish final (I sucked at spanish, still do). He would play hangman with me in spanish so that I would have to look up the terms. It would always say something like: I think you are pretty or I wish I could kiss you. You know the kind of things you would blush while reading. 

A few days before school was going to end he was getting ready to say bye and he kissed me on the forehead and ran out the door. I remember that whole day/night I didn't want to wash my forehead. The butterflies would come every time I thought about the moment. Oh he also told me he was going to marry me one day. What boy says that in ninth grade? We went to Spiderman with a group of friends and promised to see the next one together, but as fate would have it the next year we went to separate schools. 

We lost close contact. We talked occasionally on AIM. Does anybody remember instant messaging? Oh the hours I wasted on it. Anyway, life moved on. Tenth grade came and went. Eleventh grade came and went. The summer before Senior year the second Spiderman came out. Somehow the boy got in contact with me and wanted to make good our ninth grade promise. I thought it would be fun and agreed. 

We met at the movies. I remember the whole time during the movie the tension of what the other was thinking. How if our arms were to close to one another the other person would move. I could feel his eyes looking at me. Needless to say the butterflies returned quickly. That night after the movie we hugged and departed. I remember leaving excited about rekindling our friendship. We became close friends. We started talking on the phone every night and hanging out together when we could.  We still went to different schools, but he lived at my school. How he passed his Senior year I am still not sure. We went to prom together. We went to each others graduations. He was my best friend.

The night of graduation on May 21st he wanted to take me out on a special date. He made reservations at  the Tower of Americas. During the dinner he seemed a little nervous. He pushed a little box towards me.   I opened it to find the prettiest silver heart ring. It was a promise ring that one day we would get married. I accepted it without hesitation and could not have been happier. 

  

Two years later, on February 10th, I married my best friend I had met in 9th grade. Ryan is the love of my life. People may say when you are young you can't find real love, but I was lucky and did. We had challenges and struggles along our 12 years of knowing each other, but we have conquered and worked each one out together. He has been the man of God I had hoped for. He loves me and shows it on a daily basis. He is the father of my children and is the best dad they could ever want. These past 5 years of marriage have been the best and I am looking forward to the next 60, 70, or 80 together. How ever many God will grant us. I am thankful for my companion in life. 

I love you Ryan! You are my Lobster! :)

Practice Kiss at rehearsal.
We gave a peck and the paster said that we would get a 2 out of 10 and we needed to do better than that. This was our second attempt.

The Real Deal!
Evidently we had some people talking about how long our kiss was... Although seriously it was a classy kiss in my opinion. The Paster said it was a 12 rating. I will take that!

Love this picture!
 It always makes me feel like the end of Titanic when Rose and Jack meet and everyone is cheering.

And They Lived Happily Ever After!

A Healthy Dose of Medicine

My medicine's bottle this morning read as follows:

Take one healthy dose of Perspective as needed.

May cause side effects such as 

gratitude, gratefulness, appreciation, thankfulness

As I was suctioning out Adiah's nose so he would be able to eat, I was thinking how unfair it is that my precious baby isn't feeling well. Why did this have to happen? He is so little, dependent, and helpless. I just wanted to be able to explain to him why I was suctioning his nose. He was crying and I was tired. I finally was able to get his nose mostly clear and while he was eating I started to really feel convicted.

All the blessings in my life began to poor out in front of me. I have a faithful husband who stands by my side. He is trustworthy and my help mate. I am not a single woman having to take care of my babies by myself. I have two beautiful kids who light up my life. They are both overall healthy. Audra only gets sick once or twice a year. I have never had to hospitalize my children. I am not worrying every day if it will be my child's last day. They don't have a life threatening disease spending their days in and out of the hospital. I have extended family and friends who I know would be there to help us out at any given minute. I also have an all powerful, loving God who I can turn to for comfort and strength. So do I really have a place to talk about things being unfair? No. I have a blessed life and I need to remember that. 

As Adiah was finishing eating. I had a new perspective. Even though Adiah is not feeling well he gave the sweetest smile to Ryan. I had a tear in my eye because I knew everything was going to be fine. I needed the perspective to really be thankful to God for everything in my life.

I am blessed beyond measure!