SO I am really bad at posting on this!! I know not too many people wait with baited breath to read what is happening in my neck of the woods but I can hope I am popular somewhere! I know Dale loves me. While we were in Mexico he decided that he would just live there when he grows up. With that being said we told him we wouldn't be there with him. He replied that was okay he would visit us and so forth. Well today he has changed his mind, hallelujah, he will live with us forever after all!! I am praying for his wife daily!!

So maybe Stephen and I have a chance of winning the "parent of the year" award for the party we had for Dale! We hired the "Jack Sparrow" impersonator and WOW he was really great! Dale and his friends had so much fun having sword fights, walking the plank and the 3 legged races they almost forgot about the cake! When Dale first saw Captain Jack he was so blown away that he took his hat off and shook his hand. He was such a little man! We are so proud of Dale Robert. It is difficult to believe that he is 5 already! Seems like just yesterday we were telling everyone we were going to have the little guy! Dale is such a sweet, sensitive boy. He has a special way where he tries to include everyone. He adores his little sister! And most of the time he is loving us too! He enjoys jumping on the trampoline, anything to do with his Daddy, and he LOVES cookie dough! Dale loves Jesus too and that is the most important thing. He is growing in the Lord and is so sincere in all his prayers. Words don't tell how much I love that little brown eyed boy...I knew him from the minute I saw him and I am privileged to be his Mommy.

What a wonderful week we have had at our home. "THE DADDY" is back, and I am no longer the boss! WHEW! As you can see we are all pretty excited, well Meri Ellis is too she just doesn't smile for the camera right now! Anyway Stephen arrived Tuesday night, evening being the reason for the kids being in p.j.s, and it was so GREAT. It was even better than when he came home from his first long deployment. Seeing our little boy RUN to his Daddy made all those months separated so worth being a family. It is hard being a single parent, even though I had a lot of support, I don't ever want to go it alone! Besides I sorta love the guy!!

Well we are having a party at our house tomorrow. Dale will be five on Monday!! Time has flown by!!!! I have made the cake, set out the drinks and ordered cupcakes in case the cake is yucky looking. After last year I learned 2 things...make the cake at least the day before and not to serve a meal!! Anyway we are having a very special guest at the pirate themed event. Captain Jack Sparrow himself will be here!! I will post photos later. Also I will post reasons why you should make a cake a day ahead!! Last years cake was a bomb so to speak!!

Well I am off to bed...

love to all,

E

So in order to "lift" my spirits I am having a "slumber party!" No spending the night but some gals from church are coming over Saturday night at 8:30. So I guess we are having a girls night in! I am already feeling better and looking forward to the fellowship! Come if you can!

Love,
E

So maybe he will be home on Wednesday. Not Sunday like we were thinking. The uncertainty definitely drains me, my family and others too I am sure!! So PLEASE just pray Stephen home, specifically WEDNESDAY! I am missing him pretty good now!! I am just thankful for good advice, "don't tell the children until you are SURE he is on his way and FOR CERTAIN he will be home!" Their little hearts couldn't handle it I am sure! We can however, start on the Welcome home banners!!

Love to all,

E

Well the entire time my husband has been away I have not blogged about it. Well, now I am ! I am going to say THANK YOU to my family and close friends that have made the time so much easier for myself and the kids. We are at the end of the deployment and I have a favor to ask. Could you all please pray that he gets home for Dale's birthday! We are thinking that Stephen may be allowed to fly "space A" home. This is a fancy way of saying hitching a ride with an air force plane. So far this looks good and he will make it home in a few days! However AF planes are notorious for breaking down! Often in obscure places, so just pray for a safe and fast trip home. Also that he will be here on Sunday, Monday...like we are thinking. Schedule changes are really hard for me!

Wow! I cannot believe it has been 6 months already!! I know that the transitions for us all will be emotional. I just know we are excited about DADDY being home!! Yeah! Here is a photo of him with the kids before he left...these were actually taken the night he left. I love them.

SICK!

Dale is now sick. I was up with Merideth Friday night/Saturday morning. He has stomach bugs like she did. So NOT FUN!

Pray for us..pray for patience and compassion. Pray I don't get sick!!

Thank you!
E

And the truth comes out....

while looking at the funny pattern on Dale's head, knowing full well that Pete would not cut it that way, I wondered out loud when he had cut his hair...

When he cut Merideth's!!!!

Oh my...

Well she finally did it....







she cut her hair!!











So I guess that we will go and get a real trim later...after the nap that we ALL need!! I really thought that I had put the sisters up...GUESS NOT!!

So how is your DAY!!!
E

Well she finally did it....

Gumball and Meri



















Dale, me & Gumball

Well after a lot of prayer, yes I said prayer, I decided that Gumball would be better off in 2nd grade. I know we have chosen to home school Dale and Meri but for Gumball he seems to need a little more interaction, something that public school will provide. I interviewed his new teacher, she loves Jesus, and the decision was made. Also urging me on was the fact that Meri fed him 3 cups of food in the last couple of days and he should only eat 1/2 that!! So off to 2nd grade he is going, we trimmed his nails, kissed him and told him to play nice. We will be able to go and visit him. I know I am going to miss him a lot. Since Stephen has been away I hang out with the bunny at night...O well only 5 more weeks to go!!!

For some reason blogger won't let me post some photos...o well. It will just give my loyal 3 readers something to wait on! Call a practice in patience!!

We are doing well here. Dale and I did some school today, Meri did too! It was fun and such a blessing. We are having some trouble with the letter "c" for some reason? He can't seem to stop the momentum of the letter and it turns out more like a pear shaped diamond!! Merideth cut some today and she tried to cut her hair! Fortunately they were old scissors, or sisters as she calls them, and they would not work!!

Well I will add more later...
love,
E

I really will add more soon!!

Things are just busy here...

Just 6 more weeks and 50 pounds to go!!

Love you all,
E

Dot and Merideth June 13th

So lot's going on here...

Dale and Merideth have been BUSY! They are like "two peas in a pod" and get into a lot together! Dale decided it would be a "good" idea to bathe Meri and put her into our big tub fully clothed and they bathed. Swam is more like it. The floor was soaked and we have carpet in the bathroom. (the previous owners did that!) Anyway they have also figured out they like to howl together, fun sounds! Miss Meri fed the fish...two cans of food! It is a big mess and is still stinky. I have cleaned it up as good as I can. Merideth ate 12 children's tylenol and Dale is just busy! WOW!

We have a sad item to report and that is the death, or murder, of our beloved rabbit Dot. The dogs got into the courtyard and killed her. They knew they were in trouble when I went out there...they ran back into their yard. I was so sad, still am. We are going to get another bunny, they are great pets.

Last night I went to a very fun party. It was for our Sunday School women. We all got together and had fondue. Oh my goodness it was fun. Not great on L A Weightloss but oh it was good! Great fellowhsip too and that is what I was needing. Ladies remember that even though we may be the primary caretakers of our homes, children, and husbands we also need to take care of ourselves too. To me that means spending time in the word, eating right (this is a very hard one for me!), resting and spending time with our sisters in Christ.

Well everyone have a great day!

E

Above are some photos we took a few days after Merideth's birthday. Most of you know why I love them so much.

Things are good. Dale just got over a big sick. Praying Meri doesn't get anything and that I can keep this cold at a minimum! Yes M; I have taken my allergy meds!

This week is VBS so we are BUSY! I will update more soon!
Love, E

THE PARTY!

Well we had a PARTY on the 6th...It was so much fun! Bob and Sonja came and brought the main course....you will see the photo of Bob slicing the beef!! It was so good! The cake and "theme" was cupcakes! Heather Belle and the little girls made the cake and I decorated it. The party was fun, Cha Cha, Nonnie and Poppys, Heather Belle, Bob and Sonja and the little girls (who by the way are not so little anymore!) Grumpy and Grandaddy and my great Uncle Jack were here to help us celebrate. We kept it a family party this year. Everyone got to see and visit so much more...reasons all of you know why that was important. Anyway the party was fun!

"someone has a birthday we are so glad...let us count the candles to see how many she has had...one..two...Merideth is two years old!!"

These were taken this morning over a breakfast of dinosaur oatmeal and crowns with her "walmart" baby". It is so hard to believe she in already two...seems like yesterday I was telling everyone how badly we were wanting another blessing...well here she is. Merideth is so much her own person..she is mischievous, clever, funny, and so many things I cannot list. This morning when I went in to get her she just patted me...she knew I needed the extra touch of love...God Bless this sweet gift from you...and Lord help me remember everyday that she is yours, a precious gift to raise to praise and love you.

It is funny to me that he still has baby hands. I LOVE that he does. He still sleeps like a bunny too. Dale tells EVERYONE that he is about to be 5 and that he is going to have a BIG party for his birthday. The problem is his birthday is not until November!! Merideth is the next birthday around our house! He is so sweet and cute and thougthful. I love him so. He is getting into the swing of things with Miss Meme having a b-day. He thinks she might want some dragons or snakes. She might; but I think she would rather have babies or dress up clothes!! Anyway just a glimpse into our lives around here!!

So here is our sweet Dale. I LOVE the photo of him just looking at something. I can't even remember what he was pointing at but I just love the way the light is hitting his sweet little boy face, how he is still holding a stuffed animal. He is growing up way to fast. It seems like just yesterday we found out he was on his way. Time goes way to fast! The other photos is of the kids with Poppy, or Poppies as Merideth calls him. Dale really enjoys being with Poppy. They have a lot of fun. But as Poppy likes to tell me he does not let Dale negotiate with him. That is the thing with Dale he is a smooth talker. He can get me to think I agreed to something! Even when I didn't and then I wonder and scatch my head! Dale is learning more about numbers and letters. And he is an expert cutter with scissors and paper. He loves animals and today we are making a scrapbook of snakes for him. His idea that we keep the photos from the newspaper of the rattlesnake roundup! Should be fun! Well I am off to cut and glue!!

OH Merideth! She is such a doll! The first photo we were in Canton Tx for a girls weekend with "Cha Cha" we had SOO much fun. Merideth definitely kept us busy! I don't think she stayed in her stroller unless she had some popcorn, you know the good kettle corn kind, or something to drink. Stephen and Dale went skiing with Uncle Jonathan to Colorado. The added bonus for the "boy trip" was getting to stay and ski with Aunt Heather Belle and Unca Dave. They had a great time BUT I wouldn't roll dice to say who enjoyed themselves more, them or us!

The next photo is of our artist Merideth. She has found that she likes..Okay LOVES to color, paint and draw. Most times it is on paper. This day she decided to paint herself. The funny thing is that she didn't paint anything, or for that matter anyone else!!

Merideth's newest words or should I say sentences are about talking and eating. She always says, "I wanna talk" when she sees a phone. Or "Wanna bite" when Stephen is eating something. She will tell me to "Stop it" often...On anything...She is pretty strong willed. I just thought Dale was/is! So I am going to re-read the Strong willed child by Dr. Dobson. The best thing about their strong personalities is that once it gets going to right directions oh the ways the Lord will use them!!


I will try to post more often, maybe even later today. I got a photo of Dale a few weeks ago at the farm that is just wonderful, I will post it later with an update on him!

I think I am now fully recovered from my KICK START PROGRAM for Weight Watchers!! Yes I got the "stomach bugs!". Praise Jesus I feel better, just really hoping no one else here gets it!

So onto better things, I did join WW. Funny thing is that I am down 10 from when I quit! So pray I do well on it. SO far so good.

Well Meri is having beginning signs of the bugs...so I am off to "bug" proof the house! I will update when I can!

e
this post was written throughout the day...long day!!

Well we are mostly recovered here today. Merideth did need to sleep with me last night but that was okay...I could handle it. She is so sweet and is really talking a lot; and with conviction! Dale didn't vomit again, but did have the "other" stuff!! Merideth has never had the stomach bugs so we are still praying she won't get it. Anyway...

Still getting things in order here after the wonderful cruise. Still can't get over how much fun Stephen and I had. I knew we would enjoy the trip but WOW. We had so much FUN! We needed that!! I highly recomend cruises and husband/wife time! Go now run even if it is just a night away.

Okay dokay so off to do the regular stuff around here. Have a great day!
e

So we have a regular puke fest here!! I am calling it "pukafalooza" just in honor of us being home. Merideth does not have it yet but if the indication of the timing of my post has anything to tell you about how Dale woke me up today then I am guesing she is next. I am jut praising Jesus we are home for them. Not that Nonnie and Cha Cha couldn't have handled it!! I just want to rock my sick babies. Dale is always so sweet when he doesn't feel good. He WANTS his DADDY! So he is cuddled in with Stephen right now, I am about to head to Wal-Mart when it gets a little more light around here!
So here is a little about our trip...it was WONDERFUL!! Oh so WONDERFUL. Thanks to all who made it possible and prayed for fun and fellowship and FUN!! I knew I would enjoy being with Stephen but I never knew just how much we needed to be together just the two of us...oh it was so wonderful and such a blessing. I will post more on the cruise later above is a photo of us. Can I say again, FUN FUN FUN!! I am so blessed to be married to my best friend, he is so much fun I needed a week with him. The posted photo of us is taken by us in Cozumel in the pouring rain! We had so much fun there, this was before the scuba dive. We are on our way to shop. In the background is our ship.

Well I am going to check on the kids. Have a great day!
e