Camping Trip

Here are some pictures from our camping trip. We went to William O'Brien State Park near Stillwater, Minnesota. We had great camping weather until Sunday morning when it got a little cold and rainy. But on Saturday we were able to take a good decently long bike ride. Ru LOVED camping and Isaiah tolerated it. He did do a good job sleeping which was the most important thing.

Ru and Lucy went hunting for ladybugs and came back with worms. Oh well at they didn't eat them.

Ru enjoying her roasted marshmellows. She triple stacked it !!

Alan and Isaiah hanging out by the fire.

Our new four person tent and while it is the biggest tent we have ever had it only weighs a mere 5lbs. Right Alan ?

PIzza Cutter

My new pizza cutter from Alan. What more could a girl want ?!?!

Easter pictures

It is the best shot I could get. He is struttin' his stuff. His tie is so cute !!! He is my little man.

Ru being beautiful !! I love the dress. My favorite. My mom and I searched high and low for this dress and she drove all over finding Ru's size. We both agreed that if "some other occasion" came up this would work out perfectly.

Ok so there is something that will make him smile. Candy !!

I had to get in another picture of Ru. She did such a great job. She calls this dress her "pretty dress".

Easter Pictures-The out takes !!

Isaiah drinking his chocolate milk

What happens when you take chocolate milk away to try and get a "good" Easter picture

Isaiah not wanting sister to hold his hand.

That is it !! HE wants his MOMMA and Ru is sick of all this picture taking !!

Easter pictures coming soon !!

Hi everyone !!

So I left the thingy majig at my parents that loads the pictures from my camera to the computer. So when I get that in the mail I will upload pics of the kiddos. They looked very cute :)

Ru likes to share and Isaiah likes to recieve !!

So this morning I was rushing to get to Target and gave my son Isaiah a granola bar for breakfast (I know I know throw me under a bus!!) Anyways, Ru wanted one as well but I didn't have another one so I told her I would buy some and give her one after we got done grocery shopping at Target ( it was a quick trip) So afterwards, I gave Ru her granola bar and knew Isaiah would want another one but refused to cave in. I mean really how many granola bars does a pint sized boy need!! So Ru is eating and Isaiah is wailing MI MI MI and grabbing at Ru's food. Very normal for Isaiah to do. In fact, at church he tried to grab a cookie from a complete stranger. And not a kid stranger a grown-up stranger. Anyways I digress. So, Ru after only eating half of her granola bar, hands the rest of it to Isaiah and tells him he can have it. Isn't that so sweet. I mean she could literally eat 2 or 3 herself. Little moments like that give me such a huge glimpse into the person the Lord is going to grow her up to be.

Restitution

I gotta story for ya. So a couple of friends and I decided to do this competition through the YWCA called Meltdown Madness. We get points for tracking what we eat, exercising during the week and then get points for how much fat we lose and points for how much muscle we gain. Anyways, so I have been doing this for a week and I weighed myself today. Here is the following conversation with my husband.

Rachel- Hey, I don't know if it was just the fact that I weighed myself in the morning and not in the afternoon like I did last week but I lost 2.5 pounds. Is that ok?

Dumb response #1 from Alan-(knowing Rachel is concerned about losing too much too fast) I bet it was just water weight.

Rachel- umm 2.5 pounds. I doubt it. Maybe some though.

Dumb response #2 from Alan- I think it is ok. The people on the Biggest Loser lose way more than that in a week and they are fine.

Rachel- umm thanks for comparing me to a 400 pound person. One of them is more than two of me !!! GRRRR

Dumb response #3 from Alan- YOU aren't going to be like THAT are you??

Rachel-You better stop talking before I push you into the grave you just dug yourself !!! ( I didn't say that but if I had thought about it I would have !!!) ( Then I gave my 2.5 pound less body a big hug and pat on the back) ( I didn't do this either but I would have if I had thought about it as well!!)

So before you think I am just bashing on my husband, he has read it and has approved of the legitimacy of the conversation-well at least for the most part :) Anyways, I started thinking about that whole conversation. When we were first married a conversation like that would have left him on the couch for the night !! But everyone who knows Alan knows that he is a very sweet and usually very sensitive person. And he also usually thinks before he speaks way more often than I do. I came away from that conversation not upset or mad or feeling down. I actually thought it was pretty stinkin' hilarious. What I was reminded of was that I feel super loved and taken care of by Alan. I also know he finds me beautiful and tells me that all the time !! And THAT is a great place for me to be. It might have taken the first couple of years of marriage to get there. But we are there and it is nice to realize it.

Fifth and Sixth Stop: The Lee's and the Cole's

Brian, Steph, teeny tiny baby lee (in utero !!) and big sister Jada !! Why did I not take more pictures of our visit ??

After visiting the Lee's, we headed for Steph and David Cole's house. Before bed Elli, Toby and Ru decided they wanted to watch a video. So cute !!


Elli and her mommy Stephanie.

Well, I had to get in a picture with Steph and I was not about to ask Toby or Ru to take it !!

Fourth Stop: Tia Amanda's House

My beautiful friend Amanda !!!

At the Children's museum in Colleg Station. Isaiah, Amanda's son Ephraim and Ru. Notice the change in Ru's hair. Amanda did such a great job with her pig tails !!

Amanda's daughter Naphtali and Ru painting.

This is my favorite picture. I love it !!

Third stop Continued

Ru and cousin Samuel

From Left to Right- Great Uncle Frank, Great Uncle Gene, Gram, Uncle Brian and Great Woofie.

Great Aunt Lisa, Woofie and cousin Samuel

This is the view from Gram and Grandad's back porch. SO beautiful !!

Third Stop: Gram and Grandad

The kiddos with their Great Woofie

Isaiah telling Aunt Natalie not to steal his cookie !!

Gram and Isaiah.

Grandad and Ru.

Second Stop: Grandpa Dub and Grandma B

Grandpa Dub dressing up at the Mayborn Museum in Waco.

Isaiah dressing up as well !!

Ru playing in the police car. This was her favorite.

Grandma B and Ru driving to school !!

First stop in Texas: Visiting Nana and Papaw

Ru and Papaw trying to fly a Dora Kite

Nana pushing the kiddos in a Barbie Jeep !!

What can I say? He likes talking on the phone !!

Papaw and Ru playing with bubbles. She used the whole bottle up in one day.

Ru update

Ru went to the doctors yesterday for a check up and some shots. She did really well !! She is in the 97th percentile on her height and 90 percentile on her weight. Well-balanced.

Poop, Friends and God

Well this weekend has been a doozy !! Alan's work hosted a big conference called Frost bike so he was gone Thursday through Sunday late afternoon. Usually that is fine but Isiah got diarrhea and so goes the weekend. In the middle of poop everywhere, the wash basin where the water drains out from my washer decided to clog leaving water all over the basement floor and poopy clothes and bed sheets to sit unwashed smelling up the entire house. It was horrible. And because we did not leave the house, Ru was restless and pretty naughty.

BUT, I have never felt more loved in the midst of this disasterous weekend. So many friends left encouraging emails, facebook messages and one friend, Leah, even called numerous times to make sure we were okay. And then, Ashley and Nick Absalom did about the sweetest thing ever. To avoid my kids eating totinos pizza for the second time that day, they brought over dinner and stayed to eat with me!! But it doesn't end there !! It had snowed a couple of inches and we obvioulsy had not plowed our sidewalks, so Nick got on all the winter gear and snow plowed them for us. Then Ashley took all my clean laundry and folded for me AND did the dishes. Not to mention they had to be in a house that smelled like poop and was messy. It was such a blessing.

What I was convicted about though was that through that whole mess I never once asked God to help me make it through or to lighten my load. I did what my flesh always tries to do- muster it up by my own strength. Yet again I failed and always will. What is so sweet and humbling about this situation is that God showed me mercy and helped me despite my sinfullness.

To all my dear friends, thank you so much for your help and encouragement and for letting God work through you to bless and teach me this weekend. I am so grateful and humbled.

New to Knitting

TA DA!!! My new hat !! 100 % HAND MADE !!! It kinda looks silly on so I just stuck with this picture. I must admit I really like to knit. I think I am going to move on to a scarf that matches. I made a hat like this for Ru but it was really bad. This one turned out way better!!

About Rachel

1.High heels or boots? Boots ! Hello it is winter. Who wears heels in winter. I don't wear heels anyways. I have two kids !!

2. What time did you get up this morning?5:45 for a dentist appointment. I couldn't sleep and the appointment was at 7. They said if you miss an appointment then you can NEVER make an appointment with them again. Weird

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?Slumdog Millionaire

4. What is your favorite TV show?The Biggest Loser

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?A bannana and half a bagel
6. What is your middle name?Renee
7. What food do you dislike? HMM....chicken livers !!

8. What is your favorite song at the moment? No sweeter name than the name of Jesus

9. Favorite sandwich? So tough but probably the Muffaletta at Jason's deli.

10. What characteristic do you despise? Rudeness

11. Clothing? Khaki corduroys and a sweater

12. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? INDIA


13. Are you an organized person? Not at all. Have you seen my the inside of my kitchen cabinets!!

14. Where would you like to retire to? Only Jesus knows

15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? A month ago. Some sweet girl friends met me for breakfast and then my amazing hubby took me out on the town while our friends watched our kids OVERNIGHT!!!

16. What are you going to do when you finish this? Get Isaiah up from his nap.

17. Furthest place you are sending this? I don't know

18. Person you expect to send it back first? I don't know

19.When is your birthday? January 17th

20. Morning person or a night person? Night

21. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2

22. Pets? NO, I have kids and that is enough

23. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I don't have any cavities !! WOO HOO !!

24. What did you want to be when you were little? a doctor

25. What is your favorite flower? White Roses
26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?March 7th. I am going to Texas WOO HOO!!

27. What was the last thing you ate? rice krispy treat

28. Do you wish on stars? Heck no. I live in the city. When am I going to see stars !!!

29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red

30. How is the weather right now? 40's YAY !!

31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom

32. Favorite soft drink? Diet Dr. Pepper and IF I am in Texas I go to Sonic and get a Diet Dr.Pepper with Vanilla.

33. Favorite restaurant? W.A. Frost ion St.Paul, MN. Square One in Bryan,TX

34. Hair color?Black

35. What was your favorite toy as a child? I have no clue.


36. Summer or winter? Fall !! But if I had to choose them SUMMER.

37. Chocolate or vanilla? Are you kidding me. Chocolate of course. Who would answer vanilla ??

38. Coffee or tea? Coffee- French Press to be exact

39. Do you want your friends to do this also? Of course

40. When was the last time you cried?Monday

41. What is under your bed? Toys, Ru's underwear and Ru's books.

42. What did you do last night? Watched some t.v. and stressed about my dentist appointment

43. Salty or sweet? Sweet, no contest

44. How many keys on your key ring? 10

45. How many years at your current job? 3 years

46. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

47. Positive or negative? Negative. What can I say, the glass is half empty

48. How many people will you send this to? whoever reads the blog

49. How many will respond? I don't know

50. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Of course

Dentist

i don't have any pictures up yet but Ru had her first dentist appointment today!! She did a great job. She had a little trouble with the flouride being put in her mouth but overall it went well!!

I too had an appointment and did awesome as well :)

Teaching my kids the big lessons in life

Preschool Fun

One day at the end of preschool, the kiddos went sledding. Ru was so sad when we had to leave.

All of the kiddos at SHINE .

A fun indoor activity !!


Ru has had so much fun at preschool !! I don't think she is going to like having the summer off. She is my social butterfly !!!