Top 10

Top 10 Reasons why I love Trish:

1. She loves to give
2. She has style that is unusual and beautiful
3. Her tortillas rock the house
4. She has a knack of hearing God and not being afraid of sharing His wisdom
5. She's organic and went green before it was cool
   
6. She is totally in love with her husband
7. She is a closet "Walton Family" fanatic
8. She loves Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toff, Appa, Momo, and Zuko just as much as I do
9. She's not afraid to let me know when I'm wrong but in a nice, non confrontational way
10. She has great boobs!!

So, Trish, I love you and Happy Birthday today!!

Golden Corral & Zombies (who knew there was a connection?)

On Wednesday, I took off from work because I had a few doctor appointments. Tony took off of work also so he could drive me home after one of them. Since we were both off, we took the kids with us and ran some errands before the first dr. appt. First we went to go eat because we were all super hungry. We all decided on Golden Corral since it's so much cheaper during the day and they still have really awesome food. What we didn't know that so many old people eat at Golden Corral during the day. I mean, the place was packed with slow, wrinkly, old people who all evidently had emphysema because someone was constantly hacking up something. Really gross. But that's a whole other post...

Anyway, when the kids and I went up to the buffet to get food we kept having to wait because there would be a youth-challenged person in front of us or we would have to stop abruptly because a sight/hearing-challenged person would stop suddenly.

When Xander wanted seconds of his spaghetti (he says it 'pee-ghetti'), I let him go up there and get it himself. I was a little confused when I saw him racing back weaving in between all the age-advanced people with no food on his plate. When he got to the table he practically yelled, "Sister! Sister! I got a new game!! You run through this place really fast, but if you touch any of the old people YOU LOSE!" It was so dang hard for me to not bust out laughing. Good thing most of those people couldn't hear anyway because he was talking SO loud! I didn't really know what to say. Is that a bad game? I don't know. I just told him that isn't a good game because he isn't supposed to run inside.

But Xander doesn't stop there. On the way out he bumped into an old man who was not dressed so hip, a little bent over, and was just shuffling along. Xander looked up and yelled, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! ZOMBIE!!" and then took off running out the door. I don't think it fazed that guy any because he didn't stop and just kept on going towards the buffet line.

Now, that time did embarrass the heck out of me. I can only pray that he has a child that embarrasses him on such a regular basis as he does me. We might not be going back to Golden Corral for a while....

Life Lessons

Ugh! I have puppies! I am totally not an animal person. But Tony and (evidently) my kids are. So, now I have two very adorable and messy puppies at my house. One is supposed to be Alexis' but since they can't have pets where they live, I am keeping hers until they move or something. UGH!!

So, now I have two puppies. The kids are all excited about finally being able to have a pet that breathes and they can touch. (the ant farm didn't allow for much contact). But they are also finding out that having cute little rambunctious puppies isn't 24-hour nonstop fun. I make the kids feed and water the puppies, pay attention to them, and clean up after them.

The only fun part for me so far has been picking out the names. One puppy is white with tan spots and the other one is completely black. The white one is ours and the black is "owned" by Alexis. Alexis decided to name her puppy Shadow. It's cool because it fits.

Xander wanted to name ours Coco.

Why, you may ask? No clue. I think maybe after a character from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Anyway, I didn't care much for that name so Tony suggested we all come up with 3 name-candidates for the puppy. These are the ones we came up with:

Kalista:
1. John
2. Michael
3. Joseph
(I'm not sure if she thought this puppy would turn into her son or something.)

Xander:
1. Jaren
2. Eggan
3. E
(completely different from kalista's choices. and xander tried to pick Jaren again for his 3rd choice but i told him that was not allowed.)

Tony:
1. Plankton
2. Courage
3. Ustis
(he's as bad as the kids with cartoons.)

Jennifer:
1. Milo
2. Patrick
3. Sokka
(i can't help that i watch a lot of nickelodeon)

Through a lot of voting and dialing in to the American Idol vote counters, we finally decided on Courage. (from Courage the Cowardly Dog). No one really calls him that though. Kalista calls him Baby and Xander just calls him Dog. I don't call him anything because I don't want him near me. I don't know what it is. I just don't like animals very much. Maybe it's the fact that I have an allergic reaction every time one of them touches me. I don't know.

Anyway, the life lesson that has come out of this whole situation is that the kids are learning what responsibility is. This morning when Kalista & Xander came to my work, I asked if they had checked on the puppies yet. They said no so I told them to go make sure they're okay and if they need food or water. Begrudgingly, the started walking back to the house.

As they were walking out, Kalista said, "I love them and all but they sure are a lot of work."

Then I had a great idea. So, now I am thinking of buying them each a puppy as soon as they get into high school so it will give them an idea of what a baby would be like to take care of. Genius!!

Looking for Space to Rent

Since I have brought home my wedding dress, it has been stored on my bed, my closet, my closet door, my living room bar, etc etc etc. Also, I keep messing with it. I've already tried it on twice.

Here's the thing: I need somewhere to put it. It's so huge and my closet isn't. I'd like to put it somewhere where it won't get messed with a lot and is out of the way, somewhere where I can't fondle it every time I see it. So, if anyone has an extra closet or extra space I can hang it for the next 3 months, I'd be willing to rent it.

What's in a Name?

One day when Tony and Xander were playing, Xander said, "What's that Daddy?" Tony said he acted like it was no big deal and so did Xander. It made me feel a little uncomfortable for Xander to call him that. He doesn't usually call him Daddy or anything but it did get me to thinking.

I don't really mind the kids calling Tony Daddy but then I think about them calling Marcos' girlfriend Mommy. Makes me want to punch something. So, I've been trying to think of another name for Tony, like an affectionate name for him the kids could call him that isn't "Daddy". I thought of maybe Papa because that's what I used to call my father. Tony said he was okay with it.

Amanda gave some really good advice on the subject. She said to talk to the kids and see what they think and see if they want to come up with a name they would like to call Tony. I decided to talk to Kalista about it first.

Me: So, Kalista. I wanted to talk to you about something.
Kalista: Am I in trouble?
Me: No! It's about Tony. I was thinking that y'all might want to call him something different than Tony. Like I used to call my father Papa. You could call Tony that.
Kalista: Eh.
Me: Well, can you think of something else?
Kalista: What about Daddy? We could call him Daddy.
Me: Hhhmmmm...well, what about something different.
Kalista: Okay, what about Dad.
Me: Okay, let's think about this and talk about it later.

I don't know if I am just am being weird about this or if it's even necessary for them to come up with a name for Tony. I just feel like it would be better to have a more affectionate, familial name instead of his first name. I would really like some advice/opinions on this.

God is Good

Things have been a little bit tight financially lately. Things have just not been falling into place for the last couple of months. We went on vacation in June and I saved up money for that, but I still spent more than I should have. Tony didn't get a job as soon as we thought he would. I started paying my student loans and Tony's bills when he moved over here. I don't know if anyone else has noticed but full grown men eat a lot. So there was extra groceries. And then I accidentally paid my phone and car insurance twice this month which caused my account to be seriously overdrawn. Through all of this I hadn't been trusting God very much (not just with financial stuff as you know from my previous post).

But just since my spiritual break through last week, things have really started to change in all areas. I've been on the phone everyday trying to get the whole phone and car insurance mess figured out and today I finally saw the first refund to my bank account which made it go back into the black. Yay!! (Red numbers are never good when it comes to money.) Then I called my mom and asked if what she thought about sponsoring one of my kids for school supplies. I was really nervous about asking her because she usually doesn't do stuff like that. But she told me that she had already planned on buying BOTH of the kids' school supplies!! Yay x2!! All I had to worry about then was school clothes. Thankfully because my wonderful sister has two daughters with an overabundance of clothes, I am able to get some for Kalista for free. So now it's just Xander to find clothes for. He's a little harder. I looked at Goodwill for clothes for him but they just didn't have very much for boys. Rachel said it's most likely because boys are so much rougher on clothes so they don't get to make it to the secondhand shops. It was also hard because I just don't know very many people who have boys. Except Rachel! So I called her to see if her boys have any old clothes that she would mind giving me for Xander. She said she would look through the stuff she has and let me know.

Well, today at work I was looking out my window when Rachel pulled up. When she came into my office, she handed me some money telling me it was to buy Xander some school clothes. She said God told her to do it. I love Rachel so much. She is always so giving and a lot more graceful than I am. Over the years, her and Aaron have helped my family so many times. My heart is to one day be able to give like they do, and so many other people in our church family.

I really believe that all these blessings, and the ones still to come, are because I am dying to my will and letting His live in me. Even though I am scared, I am letting God take my hand and lead me. God is just so good. He saw my little need and took care of me when I finally let Him.

Vacay pictures

Yes, I know. I have taken waaaaay too long to post these. But it's not like I have anything else going on right now... So here for your viewing pleasure are some random pictures from our vacation to Crystal Beach.


Tony taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. (with my hair in the way)

Me taking a picture of Tony taking a picture of me.

I don't know what this is but it looks gross and cool at the same time. Tony just told me that it was a piece of wood with a bunch of clams on it. I'll take his word for it.

This is the view from the front door of our beach house. Try to ignore the wet, dirty towels and swimsuit.

Our feet joined in love.

I didn't know Tony took this picture of me. But I do like it. I look kinda mysterious...

These are neat statues of horns that are attached to a museum in Galveston. They were given to the city of Galveston from some famous jazz artist after a devastating hurricane that destroyed most of downtown Galveston. Okay, that's about the only educational thing you'll ever read in my blog.


Wet, sandy, salty, sticky hair. Yuck. I was about to spit too. Definitely not a glamor shot.

Xander is so cute!! I just love his smiles. But there has to be a reason why he is smiling so big...

And here it is ladies & gentlemen. Tim doesn't know that Xander's foot is so close to his open mouth. Hee Hee hee! That's why you should never be the first one to fall asleep!

Tony took this picture because he thought the seaweed looked like the shape of a heart. He's a romantic like that.

Tony looks really cool with that pink towel and my sunglasses on.

No Tony's were harmed in the making of these pictures.

I just like this picture because Xander looks like he's stabbing Kalista in the head.

One of the very FEW times Kalista & Xander were getting along on the road trip.

We saw this on the way down to Crystal Beach. It was so funny to see a huge semi-truck with this little Tonka Truck strapped to it's bed.

The Work In Me

God has been doing some MAJOR renovation in my heart, soul, and mind. I mean like some deep-rooted identity stuff. I know it's supposed to be good but dang it's hard when you're in the middle of it all.

Evidently, I have some "control" issues. I know, I know. That must be a shock to some of you. Especially you Amanda. But it's true. Really. Because of how my past relationship ended up, I am trying to control every little tiny bit of this one, which, in turn, is making it a lot harder than it should be.

I am starting to see organization once again in this mess I made. Why is it so hard to just let go and let God handle things? I don't get it. He's proven Himself trustworthy before time and time again, so why is it so hard for my flesh to trust Him to be who He said He is? In some areas, I have complete trust in God. But in other areas, such as relationships, I had a death grip on my control. But now that I have started loosening up, I have already seen changes. Isn't it so weird how that works?

Tony moved out Monday to a friend's house in Abilene. I know that it was the plan a long for him to live with someone else, but it still is a little sad to see him take all his stuff with him. I am just going to continue praising God and thank Him for taking care of every need we have. Even the ones I don't know about.

And the LORD said...

One day while the kids were playing in the little swimming pool in my backyard, Tony and I were sitting nearby just talking about nothing when I started hearing Xander tell Anoe the story of Ton & I's relationship. It went like this:

Xander: My mom used to be with my dad. but now they're not. my dad just leave. Then my mom is with Tony. Then they're gonna get married. Then the Lord says, "You may kiss the bride."

So, there you have it. The Lord says so.