Have you ever

Have you ever watched someone feed a baby? You know, the baby is in the high chair, and the person is in front of the high chair tray with the spoon and the food. It is hilarious to watch most people spoon feed a baby. Their mouths do the funniest things.

Have you ever wished on a star or seen one shoot across the sky? Luke's wish still hasn't come true...he wants a hamster. One less thing we need around here in my opinion. Which counts for more than one vote!

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? I couldn't resist.

Have you ever wished you drove a monster truck so you could drive right over the person who wasn't being very nice in traffic?

Have you ever called into a radio station and spoken to the DJ? I won tickets to Astroworld when I was in high school. Carleigh just called in to our Christian station the other day and asked for prayer for Emma.

Have you ever been so scared you could hear your heartbeat in your ears?

Have you ever felt like you were drowning and you weren't even in the water?

Have you ever gotten everything checked off your "to do" list?

Have you ever been so excited about something you couldn't sleep?

Have you ever said something wishing you could hit the delete button immediately?

Have you ever held someone as they passed from this life to the next?

Have you ever heard the first cry of a newborn baby and realized you had been holding your breath until you heard it?

Have you ever had such a good day you wished it would never end?

Have you ever wished you could hit rewind and go back to a happier day for your baby girl who is not so happy these days?

What in the world?

In case you didn't recognize the one in the flower print, it's our wild boy, Luke! I think his older sister may have had something to do with this dress up party. I might add, he came down dressed as a burly pirate next. I just didn't get a picture of that costume change. There is never a dull moment! I love days like these.

Earlier today Emma's physical therapist, Becky was here. She's good about getting Luke and Carleigh to help her work with Emma. When the big kids and I walked through the door this afternoon, Becky said Emma settled down immediately. She seems to love the hustle and bustle of our household. Today Becky had the kids lying on the floor, and Emma would lay over them, stretching out her back, or Becky would take her legs and move them in a kicking motion on Calreigh's back to give her a karate chop massage. Emma liked it, and the big kids love to "help."
Emma always loved rollin around on the floor with her big brother and sister...

Monday Monday

We started the day with VBS. Carleigh was late due to piano lessons. She's learning a lot in piano. I hope she sticks with it. I would love to see her playing with the praise band or leading our family in Christmas carols one day.

Emma went to the denitst today. Although her teeth seem to be ground to little nubs to me, the dentist said they still look okay. He can definitely tell she does some major grinding, but said she would be okay for a while longer. He even said she has pretty teeth. Of course she does. She's a beautiful baby girl! So, it was a good visit. Dr. Traylor was very nice and attentive. Emma had a good experience at the dentist office today.

I put on a Baby Einstein video for Emma to listen to today, and it caught little miss Cora's attention too. She liked the puppets, but just about jumped out of her skin when one popped up unexpectedly. I thought I would see how she like the Bumbo chair since she has a little bit of head control.

I think she looks pretty good. She's loving the video.

Although she tolerated it, Emma didn't think the video or swallowing her bites was a very a good idea today. I hope tomorrow is better. She's breaking my heart.

Random Ponderings

How is it that on the same car rear window someone has the sticker "Save a horse, ride a cowboy" right next to a sticker of the Virgin Mary? And why are women so proud of their stinky attitudes that they would put a sticker on their car calling themselves a B***ch? I don't get it. Why do people have more pride in the brand of their car than themselves...would your grandma be proud of the "mean little kid peeing on whatever sticker" on the back of your vehicle? And really, who cares anyway? It's a car for crying out loud!

I'm getting a little gripy from the heat, I think. Maybe it's the lack of consistent sleep too. Or the realization that my baby girl is suffering and losing her sweet little life, and people are concerned with things like stupid stickers on the backs of their vehicles!

Moving on...
Cora is growing like a weed. She is so sweet! She has discovered her hands and have them in her mouth a lot. She smiles any time someone gives her any attention at all, and she is delightful about 99% of the time. The other 1% she is testing her voice to see how loudly she can scream. Sister has a very short fuse. She can go from a little fuss to a full blown blood curdling scream in no time flat! The big kids want to hold her all the time. She is a doll. Grammy and Papa kept Cora and Emma while Kelvin studied for finals and I took the big kids to a swimming party the other night...



We are enjoying summer break. The big kids have more VBS, bowling, and a water park this week. They are looking so forward to our vacation later on this summer, but we are having so much fun in the meantime. Carleigh is taking piano lessons, and next week Luke is going to a cooking camp! Can't wait to see what they learn. Tomorrow afternoon I plan on letting them help me mix the homemade ice cream ingredients and dump them in the ice cream maker. That should be a cool treat tomorrow evening!

Did I mention it was 108 degrees on our way home from the Texas hill country last weekend? When we stopped at a roadside park so I could change a dirty diaper, the car thermometer was reading over 125 degrees! I had to check to make sure my sandals weren't melting. My legs felt like they were on fire! I had hoped to get more swimming in this summer, but the water is so warm it feels like a hot tub. Ugh!
Here's a yummy recipe I found on a blog to cool your taste buds...

I have a tip for frappaccino lovers...
make a pot of your favorite coffee and freeze it into ice cube trays. When you'd like a cold frapp, Drop 10 frozen coffee cubes into the blender with 2 T. of chocolate syrup, and a cup of milk, blend until smooth!

Well, I think maybe everyone is finally tired enough to go to bed now, maybe. Have a great day!

not wordless Wednesday

I got the disc of the rest of our pictures! Yippee! Here are some of my favs...





And a couple more...

Luke says, "My cheeks hurt!"


This is VBS week at our church. Being a former choir director and all I thought it would be a good idea to help out with the music. Little did I know I would be getting a work-out every day too! Yesterday I wore a headset microphone so I wouldn't have to talk so loud above the music. Watch out, Brittney!...Spears, that is ;) The music is fun. I enjoy watching the kids get excited about singing and moving and praising the Lord. It's fun stuff. I will say I'm pretty darn pooped at the end of the 3 1/2 hours though.

It's looking pretty around my kitchen. We got our new counter tops installed yesterday. I loooove them! Pictures to come later. I just have to find the right drawer and cabinet knobs now.

Gotta go get ready for movin' and groovin' time at VBS!

Happy Independence Day

Hope you had a great 4th of July. We had a ball. We spent the weekend in Fredericksburg...such a great little family town! It's something right out of Southern Living magazine. I love it there. It's in the hill country of Texas and just delightful. Saturday morning at 8 was the children's parade. We made it just in time for Carleigh and Luke to push Emma in the stroller around the town square park a couple of times accompanied by the local old folks band. They each had on their homemade July 4th t-shirts...so cute. We all sported our patriotic attire. The kids already have big ideas for how we're going to decorate for the parade next year. Fun stuff!

Whew! We made it! Look at our little darlings marching in the parade!

How cute is she!?

Kaboom!

We had a great time with our new friends Saturday evening. Dinner was delicious, and the kids had a fantastic time with the water balloons.

Our Christian radio station talked about our "dependence" on God this week. You gotta witness here. Even though I might be a little upset at God for not working in Emma's life the way I would have Him, I'm so totally dependent on Him to get me through each day. There's no independence here. I don't want to do things on my own. I am truly grateful we live in this great country where so many have given so much for me to enjoy the freedoms I do and share with others what a wonderful God we serve. God Bless America!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Here are only some of the precious pictures taken last week of our family. I'll post more when I get the disk...