Happy Birthday Natalie!

Brian and I decided we would adapt the "every other year birthday party" idea for our kiddos. That meant no party for NJ this year. So, we took her to Build-a-Bear instead!

I never really know what reaction I will get from this silly girl, but this was a big hit just as we had hoped!  Daddy took off work a little early so we could shop and eat.  We wanted it all to be her ideas of how to create this special animal so the possibilities were endless.

As you can see, NJ wasn't the only happy child here=) Joaquin had a blast! He loved pulling the animals around on their leashes but he really got cracked up when it would fall over on it's side. He thought that was hilarious!

After they played for about 20 minutes, we finally pinned Natalie down to make a choice one which "bear" (or cat or dog or pony or.....) she wanted.  We pointed them all out and were not going to limit her choices. The door was wide open.................we had to refocus her a couple times, but she was finally ready to choose. A longhorn. A longhorn, yes you read that right. Out of the 150 choices (or so it seemed) she haphazardly grabs a longhorn and says, "This is cute." 

Seriously?

Uh... no. Uh uh. Not gonna let that one happen. I'm a die-hard Arkansas Razorback fan that lives in Texas. Just can't do it. I looked at Brian and said, "Sorry! I just can't let her choose this one!"

So, I kindly told her no and showed her all the other amazing choices=) I'm sweet like that.  She settled on a rainbow bear that was super cute and really soft. Whew. Dodged that bullet.

From there the stuffing was added along with heart and sound. We didn't let her get the beating heart, but we did let her pick the sound. Big mistake. Why didn't someone warn us about those! They had some cute sounds such as a giggle, or 5 little sayings, or a magic wand. But oh no! She comes across the 'My Little Pony' theme song and is sold=/ I'm not about to be the one that makes her cry on her birthday excursion so we begrudgingly nodded our heads yes. Fun for us in the future.

Natalie was a little timid with the whole bathing the bear bit, but after I brushed his hair and "blow dried" it she joined me.

Joaquin joined in when we began looking at the clothes for her bear. He immediately spotted the outfits with a ball. He kept shouting "ball!" In the picture above he walked over to Brian, grabbed his hand and said, "come on." Too cute. So glad he had as much fun as she did.

Once Nat settled on a dress, she took her to the dressing table to "try it on."  Since she chose the Cinderella dress she just had to have the matching glass slippers that had a heel. She was obsessed with the high heel shoes for the bears. Such a girlie girl!

Our Build-a-Bear birthday adventure was a success! We left with a Happy 4 year old and her new friend, Clubby! So glad we chose this over a party this year. Fun family adventure with good memories.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

Mosaic Movie Matinee

Tonight was our movie premiere of the STUCK documentary and it went really well. We had a smaller crowd than we had hoped for, but several new faces and a wide variety of age groups represented. That's exciting! Click here to watch the trailer and see what you missed.
A huge thank you to the following representatives who were on hand to answer questions and supply information on adoption and foster care and other volunteer opportunities within our community! Please take a minute to check out their links and learn more about these wonderful organizations.

Generations Adoptions

Jonathan's Place

Adoptions for His Glory

Pregnancy Resource Center

It's more than just adoption. There are so many different ways to be involved in caring for orphans. Mosaic has identified 3 main goals for our ministry that we believe address the need to care for orphans:
1.VISIT the orphans where they are
2. PROVIDE for their needs
3. SUPPORT those who support them (adoption/foster families)

Any events in the next couple of years will be centered around these 3 areas of orphan care.  In March, a Mosaic team member will be leading a mission trip to Thailand. Click here to find out more about this trip and the unique ways we will be caring for orphans of all ages.

We even rolled out our new shirts! $10....

It's exciting to see how God is using this ministry in the lives of others! Thank you for those of you who prayed for this event! Join us and others around the world as we pray for the orphans tomorrow on Orphan Sunday..... every child deserves a family.

We are so thankful for our extended "family" for our kids too! We love you Jerry and Jenny.

(maybe one day my kids can be normal in a picture again)

Birthday Razorback style

Last weekend was our first trip to Hog Country for a football game! With two kids now traveling for the games doesn't come nearly as easily so we have to pick 2-3 games to attend and sell off the other tickets we have.

It was a late night traveling as usual but the kiddos did really well. Even captured a sweet moment of hand holding=) This year we have opted to stay in Tulsa with Brian's sister and brother-in-law. It's helpful in two ways: a) We get to carpool with them to the game giving us more time to visit, and b) his mom and dad graciously offered to keep the kids so we can go! So blessed.

Of course the game we choose to attend turns out cold and rainy! Cold I'm ok with. Rainy, not so much. As we suited up and prepared to head to the game my mom and dad surprised me with a mini birthday celebration fit with a Rick's Bakery hog cake and gift! It was quite delightful and unexpected.

The fans did a pretty good job of 'striping the stadium' red and white. For the first time EVER, the ESPN camera man was in our section so we hollered like idiots and jumped around like your supposed to when on TV. I also had to throw up the "A" that I think should totally catch on. Yes, Micah, I think it's cool!

Sadly, after a pretty fabulous looking game, we fell to Bama by 1 stupid extra point. Ugh. Moving on.

Sunday morning Brian's family surprised Natalie and I with a mini birthday party for two! Another unexpected surprise. Cookie cake, decorations, ice cream and gifts....what more could we ask for?

Natalie enjoyed opening her gifts and got some really great stuff! New clothes, new stick on earrings and bracelets, coloring books and a Doc Mcstuffins Operation game! Fun times ahead for me and NJ. Thanks for a fun party and making NJ and I feel special!

Just a few sweet moments captured on film...

Gone fishin........again!

Labor Day weekend was spent with Brian's family in Arkansas. Unfortunately our trip was way too fast due to Sunday morning commitments. We left TX Friday around 4 and returned to TX on Saturday around 10 pm. The only good thing about that was the fact that we wore the kids out so much they slept nearly the entire trip. This never happens people. Never.

We spent our day at Grandpa's pond letting Natalie fish again. She was so excited about getting to go fishing again! This time she got really brave touching her fish, holding the worms and pinching them into pieces for her hook! I couldn't believe it. A mere 4 months ago she didn't want to touch the fish because it was looking at her! ha!  

As you can see above her first cast yielded a huge catfish! She was giggling so hard as we made such a big deal about it. After that she just kept reeling them in one after another. I think her total was up around 8 or 9 again. I wish the video would work because we captured her casting "style."  She got so confident she wanted to do it herself, and every time she would toss it out her little leg would come up in the air with a little kick. Just like a little girl. Grandpa and I got a good kick out of that! No pun intended.

The other part of our time was spent reading, playing with the new toys Grandma brought the kids, watching the Hogs play and eating fried fish (chicken for me), hush puppies, french fries, cornbread and homemade ice cream with peach cobbler! Mercy! 

Our quick trip was packed full of fun, food and memories!

Sometimes I Blog.....

Well, I didn't realize it had been an entire month since I last updated this silly thing. Sheesh.  Here's what you have missed.....

This summer the kids and I spent a couple of weeks in Arkansas with my folks. There is always plenty to do out there in the "deep dark woods" as Natalie calls it. It's nice to be able to enjoy the outdoors.  Natalie's favorite outdoor activity now is visiting the chicken coop! And this time she got her first egg from the nest. Love these two pics of Joaquin. He's such a mess!

On this visit we decided to take a day to go to the Little Rock Zoo. I hadn't been there in ages. It was a bit hotter than we preferred but the kids did really well.

As soon as we walked in the zoo we could hear these howler monkeys. They were on a roll! I could have listened to them forever but Joaquin didn't share my sentiments.  There was another type of smaller monkey that was just as vocal and responsive to us being there so it was fun to interact with them.

Our other adventure was spent out at my Granny's house for the day.  She saved a big squash for Natalie to pick, but she was a little hesitant to grab it.  So we let wild man do it!  Once she saw him she was ready to pick away. She got a couple squash and tomatoes.  Maybe she will be ready to help me plant a garden next spring.

I had to capture a picture of Granny in the kitchen because that wraps up who she is! Even in her 90s she is frying up some amazing squash. Yum!  I enjoyed spending the day with her and letting her embrace the kiddos.  Good memories are always made at Grannys.

Mother's Day Out

This is Natalie's first year to go to Mother's Day Out. We chose to put her in the FBC here in our town so that hopefully she will meet some sweet friends that she will start kinder with in a couple of years. The other reason we chose it is because it takes a whole 5 minutes to get there! For once something is close and convenient.  JZ will be staying home with me so there won't be a lot of free time that everyone thinks I will be getting. I'm hoping to shop with 1 kid instead of 2, take JZ to storytime like I did with NJ and just spend some quality time with he and I. (Not that he really needs it as he is a total clingy momma's boy right now, but still)

On Tuesday we went to 'Meet the Teacher' to see her room and talk to her teachers.  It went about as we suspected. Natalie shut down, kept her finger in her mouth the whole time and didn't utter a single word for the 20 minutes we were there. This is her typical response to a new situation. She needs time to take it all in and assess what's going on. Here's the picture to prove it.

Yeah that will be in her graduation slideshow for sure!

Thankfully, we had another whole day to talk about what all would happen at school and get her a little excited.  When she woke up the morning of her first day she saw this

and a little smile creeped on her face when she asked what it said.  She was very excited about her lunch box.
She promised me she would smile this time when I took her picture with her teachers.......and she delivered!

Her day went really well. This is a picture they posted on their FB page.

She continued playing with her friends even after she saw me there to get her. Always a good sign!  The teachers, however, did not wear her out enough. She didn't nap at school, didn't nap at home and chattered nonstop most of the afternoon/evening. Whew. I was tired!

So thankful she loved it and shed no tears! She needs this out and so do I. Here's to a fun year full of learning and new experiences!

Mosaic Happenings

It is coming up on 2 years since this ministry first began and we have come a long way.  It has been so exciting to see both the little and big things God is doing with Mosaic.  Since the last post about Mosaic was nearly 10 months ago I decided it was well past time to share all of our happenings!

At the beginning of the year we sent out 2 teams each of 6 women to an orphanage in China, Morning Star Family Home.  Their time there was spent caring for the babies and toddlers during the Chinese New Year so the nannies could have some time off.  These babies all have some sort of heart condition so these ladies were not only responsible for their daily needs such as eating, sleeping and bathing, but also staying on top of their daily medicine doses.  Needless to say there wasn't much sleeping going on by our team members! Here is a link to the video montage highlighting the trip: https://vimeo.com/89648842

Just a few months ago we finally rolled out our new logo!  We have been looking forward to this for quite some time and we couldn't be more pleased.  Take a minute to check it out and read more about Mosaic on the new church website:
http://firstrockwall.org/ministries/mosaic/
Here is one look, but there are variances of this...

Our initial goal for this ministry was 'awareness.'  We wanted others to know about the need for believers to care for orphans.  Now our goal is shifting more towards being active.  Now that you know there is a need, what can you do?  How can individuals be involved?  It's more than just adoption, folks!  On July 26th Mosaic toured a local facility for abused and neglected children. Jonathan's Place is located in Garland and has many volunteer opportunities for those looking to get involved in children's lives without the adoption aspect.  We are praying about our involvement with Jonathan's Place.

Sunday we celebrated 4 new adoptive families in our church with an ice cream social! Did you hear that? Four new families: 2 via domestic infant adoption, 1 international and 1 through foster care. How exciting!

Looking ahead to Orphan Sunday we will be hosting a viewing of the documentary, 'Stuck.' We have invited a couple different agencies to set up a booth as well as a local adoption attorney, and other local church ministries as well. Looking to be a great event to raise awareness of the Orphan Crisis. Head on over to Both Ends Burning to learn more about the documentary.

Fishin' with Grandpa

The last half of the weekend that we were in Hog Country we spent with Brian's family.  It was Natalie's first official fishing trip and Grandpa was so excited!
So was she=)  The kids also enjoyed playing with the wagon around Grandpa's place, hauling rocks, pushing it, etc.

But it was the fishin' that we came for!

So we geared up and headed to the pond. We had two goals: Help NJ catch a fish and keep JZ from plunging into the water=)

Grandpa showed Natalie the box of worms and tried to get her to hold one. As you can see she wasn't convinced at first. She finally came around and let it wiggle in her hand for a bit.

Then it was time to cast the line and wait.

And she did it. She caught her first fish! She was giddy.

Then she did it again and again and again. I think she caught a total of 10 or so fish! The catfish pictured above was by far her biggest! We were all quite impressed and she just loved it. Meanwhile her mother caught this.....

It's literally a minnow. I thought it best to release this one.

It at least gave us a pretty hearty laugh!

JZ did pretty well, but we were all trading off to keep him happy...and dry.  Grandpa shouldered most of the work in keeping him occupied. He looks pretty content to me=)

Once Natalie got bored with the fishing, she and I looked for crawdads. I love the picture of her hand on my shoulder. My buddy.

We had such a wonderful weekend and thankful for the nice weather so NJ could fish!  Great memories

Hog Country

Joaquin's maiden voyage with his car seat turned around facing forward!  Too bad it didn't help=/

This past weekend we took a little family mini vacay up to Fayetteville. We decided we wanted to take the time to enjoy things we don't normally get to in the rush of our football weekends.  We spent the weekend with one of my college roommates and her family.
One of the events we have been dying to go back to is a baseball game. The U of A has a beautiful baseball stadium! It would have been a really great idea to take a picture of it.....but I didn't=)  This is the only picture I managed to get. Because of the youngsters we sat in the grassy area so they could run and we could have a picnic dinner. We were quite impressed at how long the kiddos made it as we didn't leave until the bottom of the 6th inning.  I think Kim and I saw 2 plays!

On Saturday we grabbed lunch from one of our favorite sub shops, Loafin' Joe's and headed to the football stadium for another picnic.  We were trying to soak up as much of campus life as we could. What I didn't remember was all the hills and how old I apparently am. Good grief I thought I was going to die!

At some point in the midst of the chaos of eating with my children I wondered, "What about this idea sounded good to me?" Joaquin was ALL over the place and kept falling down on top of food because of the terrain, NJ was having a meltdown for I don't even remember why and I don't even remember eating my sandwich. You know, the one from our favorite sub shop. Well, maybe next time I'll enjoy it.

After we ate we headed to the stadium where we found a nice shady spot at the top to chill out and "watch" the scrimmage game.

Again, two young children in a football stadium is not really conducive to seeing much of the game, but it was fun for them to experience it all. Now Natalie will understand where we are going when we tell her about the games.  Just another opportunity to soak them in Razorback spirit!

Joaquin actually reached out for Kim several times over the weekend, but here he was just looking for a free ride!

We left the scrimmage early (no surprise there) and proceeded to find mine and Brian's names on the Senior walk. Excuse the terrible photo with my shadow, but Natalie is pointing to my name etched in concrete showing I graduated with my Master of Arts in Teaching.  I hope one day her name is on there as well. Sniffle.

Although our time went quickly and was a bit of chaos it was so good to be back on campus.  It was also good to catch up with Kim and her family!

I love Hog Country.

One day I hope these three girls have this picture posted in their dorm room on the U of A campus=) Maybe Natalie and Audrey will be second generation roomies!