Going on a treasure hunt!

Our anniversary is on Sunday, but Justin will be working, so I decided to get an early jump and surprise him with a treasure hunt. We decided not to buy any gifts for each other, but that didn't mean that homemade gifts were out. I devised a 6 clue treasure hunt with 6 homemade gifts--one for each year we've been married. It started with him going to get Claire from daycare yesterday. While he was gone, I put the gifts and clues in place. When he got home, I met him outside with the first clue which was to take Claire to his parents for the evening. I had given his parents the 2nd clue along with his first gift. The first gift was that he got to pick the movie for us to watch for the evening here at home. He picked 21. The 2nd clue led him back to our house for a Hot Fudge Sundae Cake for us to enjoy during the movie. MMMmmm. It was the first time I'd made the cake but it was so good. It was gooey underneath and more "cakey" on top. Perfect for ice cream, whip cream, nuts, and cherries on top! That clue led him to Claire's room where I had a very early picture of us framed using an old picture frame I found. The next clue led him to his computer where he found a music cd that I'd put together of how I feel about him and our relationship. (He had made one for me before we got married and it is still in my cd player in the car I listen to it so much.) I used some of the same songs, but some newer ones too. The 5th clue led him to the dryer where he found an "encouragement book". Our pastor had suggested a few weeks ago that everyone needs one of these books where you put encouraging notes, cards, etc. so that when you get down or frustrated you have something to remind you of good things. I took this to heart and created one for him. I have saved every card that we have given each other over the years and put them all in chronological order in this book. I also left some room at the back for more to be added. The last clue led him to the living room where I had created a card from my scrapbook stuff and for our movie and ice cream sundaes! We then watched 21 and enjoyed it. We had both heard the story before and we both like blackjack so it was a perfect movie! He is usually the one that is "romantic" and I am usually the procrastinator, but hopefully I was able to catch him off guard. Happy Anniversary!

Boring Week So Far

This week so far has been pretty uneventful around our house. It's been kinda nice. Yesterday we went to the park and Claire got to go in the sprinklers. She had fun and wasn't ready to go even when it was raining! Hurricane Dolly hit the south Texas coast today and although it's pretty far away from us, we have gotten rain all day long.

I finally decided to do something about an exercise plan. So I took up running. I even am planning to run a 5K on October 18th. I have been faithful so far and it has been enjoyable as long as I have my ipod. Even the rain today was nice since it cooled me off. I'm just praying that I'll stick with it. I am not really changing my eating habits, just cutting back a little here and there. I want this to stick and I know if I change things drastically it won't stick. So if you're reading this, I'd appreciate any prayers for me and that I'll stay motivated. I even put a little ticker on the right side to keep me aware of the coming 5K run. I just wish that I would have learned to do this a long time ago.

Worth it All

This week was crazy busy with VBS. We had over 90 1st graders every day this week. This is split between 3 teachers and helpers. 3 of the helpers were teenagers and boy were they helpful. We could not have accomplished all that we did without them! What a blessing! Most of the kids were very well behaved, but of course, there's always that small percentage that is not used to a routine. It was pretty rough the first 3 days and I was really unsure whether I was going to make it to Friday. But on Wednesday, the Lord gave me just what I needed. The story that day was about Jesus dying on the cross for us and rising from the dead 3 days later. At the end of the story, I asked if anyone had heard the story for the first time just then. One little girl sheepishly raised her hand looking around and noticing she was the only one who raised her hand. I reassured her that was ok and that all of us hear it for the first time at some point. She seemed satisfied with the answer and went on for the rest of the day just fine. On Thursday, we were playing a game where everyone got a chance to tell one thing they knew or had learned about the Bible. When it was her turn, she answered that in the Bible we learn of Jesus dying on the cross. Of all the things she could have said, she mentioned the story from the previous day! It was such a blessing to me and it immediately made me so glad that I had stuck with it and it gave me the strength to make it through the rest of the week. I have already requested not to be in a classroom next year though. It was just a little too much for me. Instead, they have an idea for a science room where we'll do small-scale experiments and we'll tie them into the lesson for that day. Sounds exciting to me! I just hope I get enough notice ahead of time to plan properly and be organized! The Lord just always places those little reminders in our lives that His grace is sufficient for us!

Picture Catch Up

Even though the blog was empty for a little while, the camera was still rolling. So now I'm catching the pics up! Hope you enjoy!

Claire and Matty have been enjoying the sunshine and the trampoline this week in the afternoons after VBS. It's also a nice way to tire them out a little bit more!



They not only jump on it, but run around in circles on it chasing each other and laughing hysterically!




This is Justin while we were working on the wallpaper border in the kitchen. We have been doing some home improvements this summer!



Another home improvement is that we are getting new carpet for the entire house! To go along with the new carpet, we decided to paint the wood paneling in the living room and the hallway before the new carpet comes! Here is how our living room walls look now!




Claire has become quite the model lately. She says, "I want a picture mommy! Cheese!!!" until you oblige.



Here's one of the two of us!



Daddy and Claire!



So Silly!



These were from our trip to Michigan. Claire had so much fun with all her cousins! Here's a picture of Noah and Megan along with Claire. They had emptied Megan's room of all the blankets and pillows and created a big mountain in the living room. Then they all 3 decided to jump, climb, and play on this mountain. It tired them out, so they covered up and rested for a while!



One night while we were there, I was able to go out for an evening with some long-time friends. Here we are while eating Cold Stone Creamery ice cream!



Maggie and Claire at the playpark having a ball! Maggie had just finished taking a class for babysitting responsibly, so it was nice to have a certified babysitter on the job for an afternoon during a picnic!



Here are all the women that were there at the picnic! Girl power!




We had a family picnic at a local park and my Great Aunt from Mississippi came up. Also, my aunt Diane from Traverse City was able to make it too! This first one is of 4 generations of women in my family. My great aunt Edna, my aunt Diane, me, and Claire.



I took my scrapbook and we noticed there was not a picture of Claire and Aunt Marni, so we made sure to get one this time!



Cousin Reece and Claire had a grand time at the playpark and decided to walk back hand in hand.



Aunt Trish and Claire also enjoyed holding hands walking to the playpark.



What good is a picnic if there isn't any watermelon???



No matter what happens when she's awake, she's always an angel while asleep!



Daddy got tickets to a Sesame Street Live performance at Ford Park and so Meemaw, Matty, Claire, and I went to watch Elmo Grow Up! It was cute, but we left at intermission. Just not something that we were all that into! Fun was still had by all and we learned that Matty wants to be a doctor when he grows up. At least that day he did.



Uncle Matt, Matty, Claire, and I went to a Texas Wildcatters game at Ford Park which was their last season here in Beaumont. I love going to the hockey games and there just aren't that many here in the South. Especially now that the Wildcatters have moved on. We still got to give them one last hurrah and hopefully sow some seeds of hockey love in Claire!



These were from early in the spring when Matty was in his tee/base ball season. We got the opportunity to go to some of his games and Claire would cheer him on. She loved to watch them play ball so much we decided to get a tee for her in the backyard. This was her first swing. She was a natural and hit it all the way across the yard on the first shot! What a girl!




She also likes to fingerpaint although this is not done very often I must admit. It's messy and she really is not into details other than mixing all the colors in her hand immediately and smearing it all on the paper in a random fashion.



This set is from Easter 2008. Claire had the cutest hat, but she didn't want to keep it on for very long. We went to church and then went to Papa and Meemaw's house for Easter Dinner. Pawpaw and Meme were there (Justin's grandparents) and Uncle Matt and Matty. After dinner, we had the official Easter Egg Hunt complete with Easter Baskets. The most memorable Easter present Claire received besides all the candy was an official Star Wars Light Sabre complete with sound! The Force would not allow any official pictures of a jedi in training!

VBS and Band-aids

I just finished reading Heaven's Wager by Ted Dekker. It was an excellent book and I am excited to find the other books in the series at the library.

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School at Calvary. I am teaching 1st graders and within 2 hours realized that I teach high school for a reason. Kudos to all elementary teachers! The kids really were great, and I enjoyed them immensely. I just know I wouldn't make it through a full week at school with them all day and so I am glad that VBS is only 3 hours for a week! This is also the first time that Claire is going to VBS and is able to understand what is going on a little more. Her teacher was surprised when I picked her up and asked her what she learned and her response was Joshua! That's all I got out of her, but just that much is a starting point for 2 years old! We pray that the Lord continues to allow her to be open to His word and His truths and that we'll be faithful to show her them through us. Matty has also gone to VBS with us and he came home with us this afternoon to spend some time. Claire and Matty have so much fun together and it's so fun to see them play together. They jumped on the trampoline and enjoyed popsicles. Matty also got to play Super Mario Kart on the Wii and Claire just cheered him on. She kept saying, "Keep going, Matty!" and "You can do it!" She's our little "Barnabus".

One short conversation we had tonight was priceless:

Claire: "You're a monster!"

Mommy: "No, I'm not a monster, I'm your mommy!"

Claire: (grinning from ear to ear) "No, you're a monster!"

Mommy: "Please don't say that, it hurts my feelings!"

Claire: "Told on, Told on" (hold on) "I'll be right back!"

Mommy: "Where are you going?"

Claire: "To get a band-en for you" (band-aid)

Mommy: "Where are you going to put the band-aid?"

Claire: "On your feetings!"

I hope this brought a smile to your face, for it certainly brought laughter to us.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

I was tired of looking at the green, so blue is here! I am not a girly, girl and neither is Claire well, at least not totally, so flowers are just not appropriate. This is nice though I think. At least for a little while.

Things around here have calmed down since Claire's procedure on Thursday. She is on 3 medicines and she is the best medicine taker EVER! The only bad thing is that one of the side effects is sensitivity to the sun. She is already super sensitive to the sun even without this medicine and so now we have to be extra extra extra careful about going outside. Did I mention it's July? In Texas? where the sun is always shining? and it's hot? and humid? We've been doing our best to stay inside, but the sunshine and swimming pool is just so inviting.

VBS at our church starts on Monday morning and I'm going to be teaching 1st graders. There is a specific reason that I teach high school students for a living. Too bad they don't have VBS for high school. I'm stretching however and stepping out of my comfort zone. And it's only for a week. I'm excited for Claire to be in VBS too. I'm hoping she'll have fun and learn some new songs.

Dad made it safely to India and will be there until the end of August teaching local pastors at their Bible college. I'm so appreciative for his courage to step out of his comfort zone too. Especially the fact that he went by himself for that long!

I read the book Thr3e by Ted Dekker yesterday. Yes, the entire book. It was a good book and I really liked the twist"s" at the end of the book. I have read several of his books now and think that many of them would be good movies. After I read his books, I don't have a new author picked out yet, though. Any suggestions?????

Warning: Bodily Fluid Topics Discussed

I was looking through my archives and looking for something about this and couldn't find anything, so I'm going to relate it all now. Last August, the day after we got back from Michigan, Claire started having diarrhea...no big deal right? That happens sometimes. Fast forward to October where it's still happening. Yes 3 months of diarrhea. After she's already expressed interest in potty training. HA! We finally get into a pediatric gastroenterology specialist and he takes one look at her and says no juice whatsoever. No dried fruits (like fruit snacks, trail mix, etc.) That's it? I've waited 3 months for this??? I was not too sure but we listened and it did clear up almost immediately! Praise the Lord! So we got back on the potty training wagon and was headed toward big girl underwear...until April. Still on a "no fruit juice" diet, the diarrhea comes back. Hmmpffff. So we schedule another appointment and she was still gaining weight, so let's just wait and see and perhaps it will just go away. Here we are in July. I have noticed it is a cycle of loose, none, and then slightly firmer stools. So last week they suggested the next step (after labs with all normal results for bacteria and viruses) would be a double scope. Today was the day of this scope. Yesterday, we had to restrict her to a clear liquid diet including a laxative to clear out her system. This is how the day went yesterday

Claire: gets up and says, "Mommy, can I have a pop-tart?"

Mommy: "No"

Claire: "Mommy, can I have cer-e-al?"

Mommy: "No"

Claire: "Mommy, can I have crackers?"

Mommy: "No, we are going to go to the doctor tomorrow and he wants us to just drink water and juice---"

Claire: "JUICE?!?!?!?"

Mommy: " --today, you want some juice?"

Claire: "JUICE! JUICE! JUICE!"

and that was it...seriously. no more asking of crackers, pudding, grapes, or any other types of food. (Once after her nap she did ask for a popsicle, but that was it, honest!)


She did sooo good yesterday which was such an answer to prayer.

Today they did the double scope and she was not very happy when she woke up (don't blame her). However, they didn't really find anything abnormal but took some biopsies and so now we are waiting for the results of those. The doctor did prescribe some medicine in the meantime and we'll go back in a month for a check up and hopefully we'll have some answers and/or results by then. He did say she can have juice again which will be a nice change for her.

Thank you to all of our friends/family who have prayed, thought of, and visited Claire. We are so appreciative of all that the Lord has blessed us with and are just looking at this as a small bump in the journey He's prepared for us. We have even been able to use this as a witnessing opportunity and we (Claire, Meemaw, Papa, Daddy, and Mommy) were singing "Everybody Ought to Know" this morning before she went back to surgery. Justin and I also met a person this morning and invited her to church and she seemed genuinely open which was an answer to prayer. Hopefully we'll see her on Sunday. We'll be looking for her!

Claire is waking up from her well-deserved nap and so I better go! Don't worry, I won't post the pictures the doctor gave us!