Timing is Everything

It is amazing that you hear or read things that seem to be sent to you in just the right moment. My friend Kelly sent me this over email today and I don't think it could have come at a better time! The first line of this pretty much sums up so much of my life! I am ALWAYS trying to work out things before they have come, I am an expert projector! I loved this and wanted to share....

"Stop trying to work things out before their times have come. Accept the limitations of living one day at a time. When something comes to your attention, ask Me whether or not it is part of today's agenda. If it isnt, release it into My care and go on about today's duties. When you follow this practice, there will be a beautiful simplicity about your life: a time for everything, and everything in its time."

Say some extra prayers, Tex has some really promising things in the works as far as possible employment! I can tell his heart and hopes are in pretty deep and I pray that God continues to grant us patience to know that our time will come!

It's Pretty Much There!

Ok, after blood sweat and tears I FINALLY figured out how to make "cosmetic" changes on my blog!! I have a feeling that I probably went about it in the most difficult way but  conquered some things that I have been wanting to learn since blogging (3 years ago!!!) I can't wait to try more out! I made and designed my own background, picked out the colors, designed my own header and figured out how to do different font!

This website saved my life! Makin Cute Blogs they led me step by step thru most processes! I really wish they had classes for this stuff, I am sure they do I just don't know about them :) I will definitely help anyone spice up their blogs if you would like, I need the practice!!! And if anyone has any helpful fun tips for me, they are welcome anytime, I need all of the help I can get!  Hopefully I can figure out how to get a little more sophisticated but I thought this was a great start considering every website I used was free and I don't have any fancy software like photoshop, etc...

So for now, I am done, thank goodness cause I was driving my family crazy!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

My blog design is currently under construction. If I don't take a break from figuring out how to do a "pretty" blog page I may not have a working computer much longer cause it will be thrown across the room!!! haha I need a class in this! Maybe when I figure this all out I can start a business designing other peoples blogs but for now I am just trying to figure out mine!!! Hopefully I can find an answer soon!!!

When One Door Closes another One Opens...

I took an unintentional hiatus from blogging! It has been an emotional week for us. I thought I knew that unemployment would be hard but it surprises me every day just how hard it has been and what an emotional roller coaster it is. You get excited and you get your hopes up then comes the disappointment, just when you think you have it figured out you learn that your back to square one and then the cycle seems to repeat itself time and time again.

With my personality it is SO hard to just wait for the right "timing" because I want to know NOW what our life is going to "look" like. Where are we going to live, what are we going to do, etc... God has definitely shown us that He is leading the way. I am grateful that he keeps closing some of these doors because I have to believe He is opening more and taking us down the right path. I am learning to stay in the day because it seems like each day our plan changes :) I know that I will look back on this with gratitude and a stronger appreciation for what we have been blessed with and a closer relationship with Tex and my children because there are days when I don't want to try anymore and I just have to look at them and remember that this isn't really about me at all, it is instant perspective! We appreciate your thoughts and prayers more than you know! We have friends and family that get excited with us and feel our disappointment and that is priceless!

On and MUCH lighter note!!! The kids have been AWESOME! They are definitely the bright spot in my day, every day! Palmer started soccer and Tex started his "coaching" career! Here are some pics from the Navy Ninjas first practice and Tex's first go at coaching 3 year olds!

 Coach Chris trying to instruct 6 tiny 3 year olds, a lot harder than it looks :)

I LOVE this picture!! Ann Mason wants to be on the team SO bad!!! She was sitting on the soccer ball listening to coach/dad give his pep talk! I have a feeling she will be playing soccer soon!

Palmer's #1 Cheerleader!!! I even taught her spirit fingers! She screams "Go Palmer" and then does the spirit fingers!

We had a great Friday night hanging out with Nikki and her boys. The kids are best friends and it is so fun to watch them grow and play together. While the boys were wrestling in the basement Nikki and I thought it was time to introduce Ann Mason to something that would get her thru a lot of tough times in life... COOKIE DOUGH! The three of sat there with spoons and dug into the cookie dough and had "girl talk" definitely a memory I won't forget!

Annie's first bite of deliciousness!

Lovin Life!

Alex couldn't resist the cookie dough and girl time so he joined us at the end and loved the cookie dough just as much as Annie.

This Saturday was Palmer's first real game. They actually played another team and had a referee and everything. My expectations were low to say the least :) When you are dealing with 3 year olds you never know what the day will bring. I was pleasantly surprised that Palmer did AWESOME! He scored 3 goals!! I was shocked ...my usually pretty reserved, sensitive boy was out there being aggressive and stealing balls and making goals! I had to catch myself from screaming too much from the sidelines, I didn't want to get too many looks from the other parents but I was pretty darn proud!

Warming up with stretches!

More stretches getting ready for the big game! haha Did I mention it was 39 degrees out? I didn't get to take many pictures between trying to keep Ann Mason warm and watching the game but hopefully I can get some action shots soon!

Another highlight of the weekend was going to Owensboro to hang out with the family! This is Palmer and Ann Mason's "happy" place, they LOVE it and LOVE hanging with their cousins even more! Here is the fab four at church! I love how much they love each other!

It was a great week end to a not-so-great week! I realize that this will be a small blip on the radar one day! All we can do is trust and pray and be open and willing to whatever direction we are supposed to go in! For today we have each other and an amazing support system and that really is what life is all about.

Cousin Love!

Palmer and Ann Mason are in LOVE with a little cutie named Belle! Aunt Ashley has been so helpful over the past few weeks watching the kids while I am at work and Tex has interviews and the kids are in HEAVEN!!! Palmer is in love, Ann Mason is midly obsessed! She has started to ask for paci's, bottles and wants to wear a bib and talk baby talk! Oh and she had me get her bumpo seat out the other day so she could eat in it!

Palmer smiling and Ann Mason making sure she is as close as she can possibly be to Belle! haha

I love this Annie and Belle are looking at Palmer and he is probably thinking, why aren't there any boys around here!

Going in for the kill!

Best Buds!

Matching in their Monkey pjs that Ann Mason forced Ashley to find and put on her so that she could be just like Belle!

Again, Palmer bored of this non-sense between Annie and Belle!

I think Belle really likes them too! I can't wait for them to grow up and be best friends! I think Palmer and Ann Mason would be a great big brother and sister, but for now we will just pretend with Belle!

Day 2, Soccer and a Shopping Spree!

So I successfully made it thru Day 1 of my journey to tracking all of my food intake! haha I plugged in everything and I stayed within range of all my daily goals! I even downloaded the app on my phone and it makes it so easy to always plug in the food you eat! I have done 1/2 of day 2 so far, so good! haha The weekends will be the big test!!!

Spark People!!!

Download the app on your phone and have access 24/7!

Palmer starts his outdoor soccer team this weekend! He has team pictures and we even have to buy him shin guards!! I can't wait to see him all cute (or manly) in his soccer outfit! The funniest thing is that we marked a box for Tex to volunteer with the coach and help out...well, we got the information packet and Tex IS the coach! haha I think he is more nervous coaching 7 three year olds than he was coaching high school! I hope Tex knows what he is doing because I sure don't! :)

Don't forget this weekend is the GAP GIVE AND GET! 30% off at GAP, OLD NAVY and BANANA REPUBLIC!!! I am taking a solo roadtrip to the outlet malls!!! Money is not growing on trees these days so I used my points from my debit card for Gap/Banana/Old Navy gift card and I am heading to the outlets with my gift cards and 30% off!! I am hoping to get all of us most of our spring/summer wardrobe!!

Keep Tex in your prayers, he has a few leads that he is talking to this week and we are praying something pans out! This is such a frustrating process full of self doubt and I just want to see him feel good about himself and be able to work somewhere that he truly enjoys!

Gaining Weight and Losing Weight

This princess went for her 2 year appointment this morning!

I wasn't able to go so Tex had to do the whole deal himself with both kids, shots and all! He was a trooper! I was SO curious for Ann Mason to go to her appointment to see how big she was!! She is not fitting into anything I buy her and I was starting to wonder if all the clothes I bought just ran too small :)

Well, she is

29.5 Pounds

35 Inches

Which puts her in the 81% for both height and weight! I was shocked! Maybe she needs to lay off the chocolate donuts in the morning as pictured above! haha She is doing great and is perfectly on schedule and exactly where she needs to be! Tex made it thru the appointment and everyone stopped by to say hey to me at work afterwards!!!

On the subject of GAINGING weight I am thinking about LOSING weight!!! Today marks the 6 week point until Tex and I take our adult vacation!!

I spent 5 hours in the ER yesterday and as of right now they didn't see any gallstones or kidney stones but I am going to have a HIDA scan to test the functioning of my gallbladder to see if that is causing the pain and sickness!

So I figured since I want to lose weight before vacay and I want to keep track of what I eat in case of any more attacks, that it makes sense to track my food intake and calories. Spark People is an AWESOME and FREE website to track nutrition, weight, exercise, etc.... It gives you how many calories you should have daily and gives tips, forums, recipes, etc...

So as of today I am tracking my calories for 6 weeks!!! I will let you know how it goes! I am NOT brave enough to post my "before" weight all over the world wide web but I will update HOPEFULLY with pounds lost! haha I doubt I will wear a bikini again but it would be fun knowing I could if I wanted too!

Weekend Part II

One of the best parts of the weekend was spending time with Family! My mom was in and we were able to spend lots of time with Belle! The kids were in heaven! I know I am not in many of the pictures and the one I did post I look horrible! I have only self-diagnosed as of now but I am pretty sure I am having gallbladder attacks? :( Boo! They are terrible and painful, I am going to the gasterologist Thursday and I fear my ol gallbladder will be coming out soon! I will keep ya posted. Yes, if you were wondering this is the last thing we need right now but I guess that is the way life works! ha! Trying to look at the glass half full so  I guess it is a blessing the Tex can be home while I am recovering.

The girls, Annie is mildly obsessed with Belle! She wants to be a baby again and found a paci and has been asking for a bottle!

Don't you just want to squeeze her sweet cheeks, she is so sweet and happy!

She even smiles when the camera is on her!

This might be my favorite pic of neenie and the kiddos, their faces say it all!

Belle on Day 2 dressed up in her tutu! The kids went nuts over her and Palmer is SO sweet to her and talks to her in a whisper and laughs at everything she does!

Ann Mason trying to touch her, she thought she was a real ballerina in her outfit!

Sweet girl! She woke up with pink eye this morning and she was still smiling! Ashley made her headband and flower that is on it, SO CUTE!

An attempt at getting everyone in the picture, I don't think we will ever get one where everyone is looking at the camera!

These two were buddies! I know they are excited for Neenie to come back in April and watch them while Mommy and Daddy go on vacation, I know I am excited!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I am gearing up for the week and trying to watch what I eat so my gallbladder doesn't go crazy :)

Weekend Part I

We had a great weekend filled with lots of fun! It was one of those weekends with no plans but we ended up having the best time! Friday night Tex and I were spontaneous and decided to take the kiddos to see Yogi Bear at the dollar movies! I think going and picking out the candy  popcorn was the best part! The movie is seriously terrible probably up there in top 10 worst movies ever, so the kids attention span was shortened greatly, but we still had fun! We made it about half way thru the movie but we had a great time!

Palmer and Ann Mason before the movies! So excited!

Saturday morning was a nice surprise! We went to the "train table" in Barnes and Nobles with my mom and Aunt Janet who were in from Florida and when we got there the kids section was filling up and to our surprise it was story time! The kids loved it (for about 10 minutes! ha!)

With Neenie at Story time....

Well, I have managed to avoid spending any money in Build a Bear for an impressive 4 years, but Neenie came into town and the next thing you know Palmer and Annie were making bears/bunnies in Build a Bear! It was actually super cute and a lot of fun!! They had a blast doing it and I think I was more excited than they were!

Palmer stepping on the stuffing to fill the doggy he picked out!

The sweet and very patient build a bear worker stuffing the doggy!

 Palmer picking out his doggies heart!

Rubbing the heart on his body for lots of love before he put the heart in!

Ann Mason after her bunny came to life!

Annie picking out her heart!

Palmer SO excited! He dressed his doggy as a cop at first and then switched him to a fireman, of course! He named him Nulo (no clue???) and now he just goes by fire-dog!

Ann Masons bunny was SO cute! She dressed her in a ballerina outfit with shoes and bows to match! She named her Balle-rita! She LOVES her!

That covered just Friday night and Saturday morning! ha! My goal was to take more pics this weekend and I think I took about 125!

Things I am Looking Forward to:

I have been sitting at my desk watching it POUR with RAIN for the past 8 hours so I needed something to brighten my mood! ha! So here are the things that I am looking forward to in the next little while! These are in no particular order of importance :) 

WARM WEATHER and DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!!!! (Don't forget it's this weekend! WOO HOO!)

Vacation! I don't think I have even been able to get excited yet but I can't wait for Tex and I to spend 5 glorious days together doing any thing we want in the sun!

The Bachelor Season Finale! I can't help it, I am on the edge of my seat wondering whether Brad picks Emily or Chantal! Sad, I know!

My mom coming to visit this weekend!! This is such an old pic but one of my favorites!!! The kids are super pumped to see Neenie for a few days!

Easter!!! Here is Ann Mason's Easter dress, it is PRECIOUS in person and looks so cute on her! I got it on Ebay with monogramming, shipping and everything for $21!! That makes it even cuter!

GAP GIVE AND GET

For those of you who don' know what the Gap Give and Get is go to the link! I LOVE when this comes out twice a year and try to take advantage of it. I am making a special trip to the outlet malls to use my 30% off and get a lot more bang for my buck for some spring clothes for the family!!!

Palmer starts OUTDOOR SOCCER for the very first time. We have only done indoor so we are doing outdoor this season and he actually gets to play real games this time! I am SO excited to sit outside on warm sunny days and watch him make some goals! He even gets to wear shinguards!

Well, I don't know about you but this made me feel better! ha! What are you looking forward to?

Pulling Myself Up By My Bootstraps

I have always heard of the phrase "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" but I never knew what it meant. When I looked it up it means "To improve your situation thru your own efforts" I have been on the pity pot this past week BAD. I have had a poor attitude, a poor outlook and a poor everything else!! haha I just can't seem to get out of this funk that I am in. I am so mentally and emotionally exhausted from worrying about what will happen next, will Tex get a job, where will we live, where will the kids go to school, what if he doesn't get a job, blah, blah, blah. Worrying has always been natural for me, I have wasted so much energy on worrying throughout my life!

I talked to my awesome friend today thru email and we were sharing stories that we had heard recently that were just heartbreaking. I have to realize that my situation is NOT that bad and I told her that if given the choice we would always pick our own problems compared to everyone else!! I think attitude has a lot to do with everything and I am desperately trying to change mine and be excited about what is to come instead of full of fear about the future! Hopefully this will happen thru prayer and perseverance because I have a lot to be thankful for and I don't want to be wasting my time worrying about all of the things I don't have but cherish the things I do!

One good thing about this weekend was our trip to Nashville to see the Moody's. Kelly is like my sister we have been friends since we were 14 and she had a daughter Caroline just 10 days after Ann Mason, so it is fun to get together and visit and let everyone play! Here are some pics from the trip:

Annie and I

My big girl eating her birthday cupcake from Aunt Kelly

Caroline and I! This girl is HILARIOUS, she has got the funniest personality!

Caroline and Ann Mason sharing their birthday cupcakes!

Palmer and the girls! Poor Palmer he was a trooper with those girls all day!

Palmer and Caroline although no one is looking! I think Palmer secretly liked pretending like he had two sisters but it is a lot of work with those two!

Random of the Day: I blow dried Palmer and Ann Mason's hair for the first time last night. Palmer got the idea from Great Clips because they blow dried his hair when they cut it this weekend. I think I have started a new "thing" in our house they LOVED it! I have to post pics! Ann Mason cracked me up, she looked like she had a full salon blow out by the time I was done, her hair was so fluffy and big!!! My family keeps me smiling and as long as we hang in there together everything will be just fine!!!