WHEW! What a day, what a day!

Okay, well...we definitely had a FULL day today but we had SO much fun! Alf and Mara are out of town for 5 days so the boys are getting good quality time with "Aunt Holly" while they are gone. Today is the only day that we literally had ALL day long to things together because tomorrow we'll be at church most of the day and with school back in session,  Alf and Mara will be back before we know it! So....off to planning we go! The boys woke up, ate breakfast, and chilled on the couch watching Saturday a.m. tube for a little bit. When we were getting ready, Barrett kept telling me that he couldn't dress himself and that he needed help....well, you ain't pulling that on this lady! I started playing a game of counting with him to see just how long it would take him to put his 3 pieces of clothing and shoes on. Before HE knew it he was dressed and ready to go with a big smile on his face for his accomplishment! When I was counting with Barrett, Brock was excited cheering him on that despite how many times I told him to quit jumping on the couch, SMACK....there went the head straight down into the coffee table. Major catastrophe averted, however, I continued to pray throughout the day that black eyes didn't show up and that the weird looks from people would go away. He was so brave and kept his ice pack on his nose. Of course, I gave in and let him have his pacifier to help comfort and calm him. We have to make excuses SOME times! We decided we wanted to go to Build A Bear and then eat at Chick Fil-A in the Food Court. They boys had so much fun stuffing, bathing, and dressing their bears! Not to mention I'm convinced that Chick Fil-A sent the cow to the Food Court today JUST because they knew we would be there! The boys were thrilled! After lunch we got special cupcakes for snack later from this GREAT place in the mall and then off to Target we went! We decided we wanted to make homemade pizzas for dinner and while we were there we found a $5 blow up pool that provided a few hours of entertainment in my backyard! They were tuckered out by the end of the night and both were cuddled and asleep in NO time with their new friends from today! Below are the pix that cap Day One with Mom and Dad gone....NOW, some of you may be thinking after a long day like this why I'm not in bed. Normally, I would be thinking the same thing myself, however, I bleed Orange and would never miss a Longhorn Football game! Who's crazy idea was it to not start this game until 9:30 at night! UGH! 

The School Bell has RUNG!

Well, yes, it's that time again. Today was our first day of school. I haven't gone to bed before 1-2 a.m. in the past week. God has shown Himself SO REAL to me in the past few weeks with His PERFECT plan. I'm anxious to watch God as He uses our teachers to show HIS love and uses our program to partner with these families in raising their children to love Him with all their hearts! WOW....it was definitely a busy day! Busy and tired are such relative terms in everyone's life these days. BUT.....my sweet Jesus truly showed Himself REAL to me today. I love it when His provision shows up even in the craziest of ways. Such ways that you ONLY know it comes straight from His hand. I was running late this a.m. so I did not have time to stop at my usual morning stop of getting my Sweet Tea from Chick-Fil-A. Yes, I'm addicted. I get my large sweet tea nearly every morning and it stays on my desk all day. When I was at school helping parents finish their incomplete paperwork, my sweet friend Lara Ruthven, whose little girl, Gracie is starting at OLC this year, walked in and over to the busy table full of parents and slipped across a large sweet tea to me! GOD so KNEW! I just looked at her and smiled. Who even knows how she knew that was "my thing" but God did. I didn't even sit behind my desk until nearly noon when at that time I realized it was lunch time (probably the reason my stomach was growling). My cell phone rang and it was my precious friend, Michelle, calling to ask me what I wanted for lunch b/c she wanted to bring something to me! WOW! Another, "how did she know" BUT God did! I just sat in my office in awe of the little things we sometimes miss but yet I praise Him that he's faithful to our needs. It just brought a smile to my face. Watch for our sweet Jesus in the little things....He'll BLOW YOU AWAY! 

The New DO....

WHACKED!

Well, given by the title there are two meaning.....first, mentally because WHO IN THE WORLD would choose to WHACK 12 1/2 inches off their hair.....ME! No, it was not a whim. I've actually been thinking about it for several months but probably haven't had the gumption. Even tonight when Sheena cut away at my pony tail I sat in the chair covering my eyes in agony! 

I just kept reminding myself to "breathe in, breathe out." It was harder then what I thought it was going to be. As soon as Sheena cut it she said "it's a done deal now....i can't put it back!" My precious hairdresser is amazing! She is one of my greatest friends little sister and has cut my hair now going on 6 years! I love my cut....she did a great job....now let's just see if I can fix it as perfect as she does! Maybe I need to budget in having her come by my house each morning and fixing it for me! I will be sending in my 12 1/2 inch ponytail to Locks of Love. How cool is it to know that they can use my hair towards a wig for precious children suffering with cancer. AMAZING! 

College D-Day....

Well, I always knew this day would come but I didn't know how weird it would be to come home and really not have my sister nearby! Friday, the 15th of August, we began the LONG treck to Lubbock to move Hillary into her dorm room! Hillary and I had GREAT sister bonding time following mom and dad. We laughed, sang, talked, and she slept from pulling an all nighter making sure everything was packed! The night before we left we had the "last supper" as a family at mom and dad's. I asked her if there was anything she wanted me to do for her in her dorm room and she suggested for me to make her a smaller bulletin board for her large one. SO....off to Hobby Lobby I went! All I knew was 'black and pink' which was different in my mind....every other Red Raider I've ever known is obsessed with BLACK and RED but maybe not in their dorm room attire. I made it simple but she really liked it so it was good. The picture to the right was when I said "see you later" because I NEVER say goodbye's! She is doing great! She went through rush the next week and is now officially a Alpha Delta Pi. Her first day of school was today and she said she didn't get lost. She found the Walgreen's to get her perscription refilled. She knows where the Old Navy, Freebird's and Wendy's is. AND she even drove 2 hours after googling to go visit my dad this weekend at his hunting lease! GO Hillary with independence! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! And I miss you terribly. See you in 5 weeks! 

Back home and Diseased....

Okay, so here I go again not posting.....BUT.....I have a really good reason! When we returned home from Nicaragua (which was over a month ago) I became REALLY sick with a lovely parting gift in the form of a Bacteria Infection. It was the sickest i've EVER been...it was truly awful. My doctor began to strip my immune system with high powered meds. Let me tell you the ONLY good thing about this was that I was in the comfort of my OWN home and was able to hug my OWN toilet! About the trip.....no words can even say what went on in the lives of our students and adults on the trip. It's all about the HEART-change and it was ETERNAL! My heart is GOD-geared towards missions and reaching out to people in our "big world" so this is always UP my alley, however, what was a special part about this particular trip was that my mom and sister were on it! This picture was taken on the day we left in the Austin airport. I have special memories I hold dear from every overseas trip I've been on but this one will even be more special in the fact I shared it with them! 

OFF to Nicaragua....

Well, I've semi caught up on my blogs! I have been overwhelmingly busy and needless to say have had NO time to keep up with this. We leave for Nicaragua in the a.m. My heart is thrilled and leaping inside to watch Jesus show UP and show OUT! I'm excited beyond words to watch God at work in the lives of our team. There's been a ton of preparation that's gone into this trip and now it's ALL ABOUT HIM! He is going to have amazing and wonderful things take place this next week....I believe it! These trips ALWAYS do something very special in my heart! These are some last minute pix of prep time this week for packing trunks and VBS team. Please pray alongside us for an AWE-inspiring trip! We will come home with MANY, many memories! Check back to see pix when I get home.....

Movie Day with the Boys...

When I was gone for Student Camp I missed my boys so much! They kept wondering when "Daddy and Aunt Holly" were coming home....Alf and Mar had to take our "Camp Chefs" to San Antonio to fly home the day after we got home so of course I JUST HAD to spend some time with them! Off to the Mall and the movies we went. Wall-E had come out while we were at South Padre and Barrett and Brock wanted to see it SO.....that's where we went! It was a VERY cute movie! Brock kept saying "it was hilarious" and Barrett NEVER moved. His eyes were glued to the screen the entire movie! Oh, how I'm going to miss them while in Nicaragua...maybe another movie will come out while I'm gone! :-) 

Fun with Brooke.....

Well, after "Aunt Holly Date Day" with Abby and Karly, Brooke and I had "date night." We have so much fun when we are together! We can talk forever and laugh till it hurts....it's such a blessing to have her as one of my dearest and best friends. While we were at dinner Brooke started telling me about her idea to make some shelves for the girls rooms. So....OFF to Hobby Lobby we went! And an hour later we had our project in the making! The below is the result of our creative juices. I can't wait to see them hanging in the girls room on my next trip to Ft. Worth! Nor can I wait for Brooke and I's next "date night!" 

Hearts bound for Nicaragua

Yesterday we had our first official "work day" for our Nicaragua VBS team! We've been meeting, planning, and praying for several months now but today we started to truly begin to "see" what we are going to be doing with the children of Emmanuel, the barrios (village) we will be serving in. When I was in Nicaragua back in September, Emmanuel was the very first barrios that the planning team visited. That place captured our hearts from the start. The kids were glued to us and we were glued to them. Many of them had never seen themselves before so the cameras started flashing and kids began to see pictures of themselves for the first time. Their smiles were larger than life! This barrios was extremely muddy and there were so many children without shoes and clothes. Emmanuel is one of the poorest villages in Managua and fairly newly established. It has only been where it is for 2 years. When we visited villages that were 5, 7, and even 10 years old you could definitely see the difference. Some of the pix below show the team visiting Emmanuel when we were there in '07. Bruce and the guys helped several ladies at the water pump fill their buckets. It was amazing that the people in the barrios came from all over just to simply get water from this pump. In the picture I lost my sunglasses to the young girl in the green skirt. She tried them on and I never got them back. She thought she was so "cool" with them on.

I'm so proud of our VBS team and how they are already allowing God to prepare their hearts for this trip. 90% of our team of 47 has never been out of the country (including adults)! It is already proven to be such a faith journey for many. Every time I have traveled overseas I pray and ask the Lord to give me a scripture for my personal promise and encouragement. It's interesting what the Lord clearly gave me for this upcoming trip. Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly BEYOND all that we ask or think, according to HIS power." I fully believe that the Lord not only gave this as a prayer to my own heart but a prayer for me to pray over EVERY single person on our team! I'm believing God will show UP and show OUT to every single person in such a personal way! Below are some pix from the work day yesterday! It's so neat to watch the unity of our VBS team come together now that we are really at the stage of "preparing." There were such sweet spirits in amongst the kids as they worked yesterday as well as when they left and carried the buckets with work needed to still be done home with them!Stay tuned....I'll keep updating with Nicaragua information. For now, we leave on July 12th....continue to pray that God will "shower his favor" on each individual heart whether it's a financial, health, or spiritual need!