Birthday's Galore

This is how my week went...Work, work, work, work, party, work, party, party, party.


Not kidding!




Party #1 - Miss Mattie Lynn turns seven! Here is a pic of the crazy girl...unfortunately my batteries died in my camera and I didn't get but like 4 pictures the whole night. STINK!








Mattie is my *adopted* niece. She calls Chris and I, Uncle and Aunt...she is actually Connie's official niece but we claim her as well. She fits right in with our crazy family. I wish I had more pictures though, because we played with play dough, which you can see, but we also put fake fingernails on the girls and then gave them little pedicures including soaking and scrubbing their little feet before painting their toes. It was a fun evening.






Party #2 - Misti turns 30!! Not an official party, just a gathering of the family, but fun nonetheless! We surprised Misti with a cake and the kiddos made posters with Mawmaw. Misti was excited and we had a great time. The first thing Taylor asked Misti after saying surprise, was "Can we have cake?!" She had been dying to eat it the whole night!

Now here is a video that actually proves that my family is the worst at singing happy birthday, but Chris' family is quite good...it is almost sickening really...j/k. Take a listen.

Party #3 - Titan turns 6!! Now this was an entertaining party! Water balloons, water guns, tug of war, etc. All things boy for sure! I was unprepared when I first started getting shot with water guns, I had to arm myself pretty quick! Titan is one lucky little man who obviously has parents who love him dearly...you will see what I mean when you see what he got from them below!

Party #4 - Jules turns 3!! She is the cutest! So lucky to be her aunt! Her party was super girly and precious. We had it at the park and her theme was Strawberry shortcake. For this one I HAD to make sure to have back up batteries. I have PLENTY of pics from this party. We played at the park, bubbles, face painting, etc. Fun, Fun!

Camping!

We went camping this past weekend to Turner Falls! It just so happened that Chris had the weekend off and Joe, Misti and the kids were available too. So, we packed up and headed off to Turner Falls on Friday afternoon. We set up camp, made hamburgers, took the kiddos on a walk down to the river and then took like a 5 mile hike (JOE!) down to the Falls from our campsite at 9:30. Yes, I mean 9:30 PM...and yes we were the ONLY ones out at that hour walking around. The kids thought it was fun though because we got to use our flashlights. We got back to our campsite around 10:30 and made a campfire and Joe made smore-like-quesadillas. They were pretty yummy even if that sounds a little weird.



















A raccoon woke us up around 2:30AM digging through our trash and I freaked out (I NEVER sleep well when camping b/c I hear things constantly). Finally around 3:30AM Chris got up with me to walk to the restrooms. We saw several cute little baby bunnies walking across the road...the high light of a trip to the restroom at this hour. After we got back I was able to go back to sleep again. But we were woke up by some very loud "CAWWWW....CAWWWW"-ing a crazy bird was doing at 7:30 AM. Ben goes "hey, that bird woke me up" To this, Chris and I could only laugh. We spent most of Saturday playing in the river...after many comments from the kids "I WANT TO GO TO THE RIVER" repeatedly while waiting for our extremely long and drawn out breakfast...but it was worth the wait b/c it was YUMMY!! The kids were not impressed though by the wait and could have cared less if they ate any eggs.

Ben had a BLAST playing in the water...Taylor not so much. That evening after we packed up camp we set off to Arbuckle Wilderness. I don't think I have laughed that much in a long time. Let me explain...Ben, who LOVES animals, was absolutely terrified of the animals that basically came into our vehicle while trying to feed them. He shoved his entire body into the dash when we were feeding the zebras. I was cracking up so hard that the zebra got tired of waiting for me to feed it so it decided to stick its mouth in my cup full of food. Later down the road, the only thing Ben would feed was the miniature donkeys...which were cute. It was so funny because he had his little arm pressed so hard to the door arm rest that I could not roll down the window (he was sitting in the front seat with me). Haha!

Connie's Birthday

Connie decided that for her birthday she wanted to go to the Melting Pot with her girlfriends. So in return we celebrated Connie's 30th, had tons of laughs, ate interesting food and got a few good pictures. We also had the best waiter ever, referred to as Fondue Zach. We all had a great time conversing with him and another not-so-loved waiter we refer to as Chuck, who attempted to guess the age of everyone at the table (only after being asked to) and did a horrendous job. Can't really blame him though, we did ask and he is only 20 years old...he did not know any better...poor Chuck. Fondue Zach was much more wise and did not attempt the feat of guessing ladies ages.

Old, but good

These are videoes from couple of weeks ago. They were too funny not to share though. This was about at 9:30 PM and all the girls were WILD!! Take a look for yourself and you will see what I mean.

Stinkin' Garage!

Well, I just THOUGHT that I had my garage clean. Chris entered our garage this past week and realized that more of the ceiling had caved in and this time a BIG chunk! So now I will post pictures of before and after having cleaned it twice since the ceiling decided to give way.

BEFORE PICTURES: (oh the mess!)

AND AFTER PICTURES: (better but not fabulous)

Oh yeah! And in case you are wondering why my washer and dryer are at an angle, my sweet husband put them this way for me since their doors open the opposite directions it was VERY difficult for me to toss a load from the washer to the dryer. Now I can toss a load very easily. He is so smart! Why didn't I think of that?!

Prickly Pear Cactus

I absolutely despise mistakingly getting into cacti. They have these little tiny needles that you don't even notice off hand and you think you have passed without getting into them, but yet you feel a sharp pain in your leg and you go to try to remove it and it breaks off into your skin. These particular needles are more like little hairs rather than needles, but nonetheless they hurt.

I was out and about yesterday at the EM Park and took some great pictures of the cacti as they were blooming. When they bloom they really are a pretty sight. Their flowers are so intricate and beautiful. I am amazed that God can allow something so beautiful to grow on something so ugly and hurtful. I guess that is the way he makes people too. Even the ones we think of being so mean and hurtful can turn out to be real "beauties" in the eyes of God.

Just a thought to Ponder! Happy Friday!

Cochlear Implant

For those of you who may not have already heard, my dad has his initial consultation appointment with a cochlear implant specialist yesterday.

After his appointment he sent me a text message that read: "I am good to go for the next step, MRI, then surgery. They will submit to insurance to see if they will pay. Dr. said this should really help me. This is a long process and may take a while. Overall I'm totally encouraged."

If you would like to learn more about a cochlear implant, because maybe this process with my dad has peaked your interest visit the website that is linked to the title of this blog (hopefully this will work by clicking on my blog title) and watch the video on the left hand side, it is very informative.

Our only concern at this point is the recovery time that will take place after the surgery. The healing time is usually around a month and that is a long time for my Daddy to be off of work. Please pray that BNSF is compassionate and understanding during this time of healing and recovery for my Dad. Also, he basically has to retrain his ear/brain to hear. The doctor is encouraged that since he lost his hearing recently that this should not be a long process and is expecting a 3-6 month rehabilitation process.

Whether or not the insurance decides to pay is really not a contributing factor at this point, my parents have decided that no matter the cost, they ARE going to have this done. It will improve my dad's overall life by just being able to hear again. He will FINALLY be able to understand what our little girlie girls (Mia, Jules and Atlee) are saying when they talk to their Papa instead of always needing an interpretation.

My mom, sister and I went to a seminar put on by the Fort Worth Cochlear Implant Support Group a few weeks ago and got to speak with several cochlear implant wearers which encouraged us that this would be a great thing for my dad and that his rehabilitation process would be the "hardest" time for him because frustration can occur if you do not have patience. Please pray that this time will go smoothly as well for my dad and that he will be patient in re-learning all sounds.

I will let you know when he has scheduled his surgery so that you (my prayer warrior friends) can be praying for him on that day as well.

Praise God for researchers and doctors who have come up with such a wonderful miracle for those who have lost their hearing and that my dad is a candidate for just such a miracle.