I've Been Tagged!

Thanks Erica! I never mind sharing some of my favs so here goes:


8 TV Shows I Watch: 8 is bacially all that I do watch. We haven't picked up any new shows in ages so nights can be a lot of flipping for us.


1. The Office - my most fav
2. ER - die hard fan since the beginning. I predict Ray and Neela will hook up by the end.
3. CSI - on Thursday night. I am sad to see Grissom leave but will hang around and see if I still like it.
4. American Idol
5. Nip/Tuck - OK, I know, this is something I should NOT admit to watching but I can't wait for new season to premiere early January
6. Friday Night Lights - can't wait for this to return early 2009 either
7. CSI: Miami - terrible show but I am caught up in the character's lives. I will not let Shane watch this with me as he has nothing but negative comments to say.
8. House Hunters on HGTV


8 Favorite Restaurants: This should be easy as I love good eats.


1. America's - the churrasco steak and au gratin potatoes are so good. And, I can never decide between the Tres Leches of Cheesecake for dessert.
2. Lupe Tortilla's - love the beef fajitas
3. Perry's - Yes, I have expensive taste. Try the chocolate truffle sauce with your steak, au gratin potatoes and fried asparagus - YUM!
4. Collina's - absolutely my favorite pizza in town
5. Goode Co. Barbeque - can't wait to try the new location off of 290
6. Bake Shoppe - of course. Shane and I eat there for lunch at least twice weekly. We keep them in business.
7. Olive Garden - absolutely my favorite salad and the chicken parmigiana with fettucini alfredo is awesome.
8. Peach Tree - unfortunately, the Peach Tree is in Boerne, TX but if you are ever there..GO!


8 Things that Happened to Me Today: Well, not a very exciting day but, here goes:


1. Watched Boo and Moose play then cuddle on chair....so cute!
2. Had breakfast at the Bake Shoppe - Surprise!
3. Baked 2 batches of pecan balls
4. Baked a cheesecake
5. Laughed at Boo scare herself and then run across the room for cover
6. Griped at Jacob for getting dirt on his clean jeans which I wanted him to wear to church tonight...another load of laundry going right now.
7. Watched Christmas Eve Sarajevo to Christmas lights on YouTube - too cool. If you have a chance, check out the house with music to lights in the newer section of Prestonwood.
8. What can I say, this has been a boring day...updated blog

8 Things I look forward to:


1. Watching Shane and Jacob open their Christmas presents
2. Eating an awesome meal Christmas Day
3. Getting a call from our adoption agency that our new baby is either here or on his/her way
4. New Year's Eve fireworks with my neighbors
5. Going to CO in March (my favorite place on earth) and watching Jacob ski down the mountain
6. visiting Riley soon at her new home (Oh, how I miss her)
7. Celebrating our 17th anniversary at America's and then Sonoma's - good food, good wine
8. Did I say new baby? I can't wait to smell him/her, see him/her, hold him/her. I just can't wait to do it all over again!


8 Things I wish for:


1. The economy to rebound and for my retirement to more than double very soon (keep dreaming, huh?)
2. For Jacob to seek God in everything he says and does
3. For Shane and I to grow old gracefully together
4. For Jacob to become a godly man, to get a good education and mostly, to do whatever he wants to do in life...even if it is BMX or the drums
5. A bigger home
6. A new car (not necessarily new just one that runs good and is bigger than what I have now)
7. To return to work someday
8. Pure joy and happiness!!!

Cauley Family Christmas

Every year, on the Sunday before Christmas, we get together with Shane's Dad's side of the family. Shane has quite a large family and I love these get togethers as my family is so small. This year, Shane's dad, Thomas, came with his girlfriend, Linda, and her daugter, Alicia, who is 6 months pregnant...Congratulations Alicia! Shane's brother Tommy and his fiancee, Farrah also came. For those of you who don't know, Farrah is the owner of Sonoma Retail and Wine Bar located on Richmond Avenue. If you haven't been there you have to go, especially if you are a wine lover. Tommy and Farrah are getting married early March. Shane has been asked to be a groomsman. It should be a fun adult night! Shane's sister, Christy, also came. Her boyfriend, Leo, was there for a short while until his allergies to cats became so bad that he had to go. Shane's brother Bill, his wife Rebecca and their kids Jessica, Chris, Cody, Brittney and Caden were also there. In special attendance was Shane's grandmother Nanny. Nanny recently moved to a nursing home in The Woodlands. She really seemed to enjoy being with us all.

We had a huge feast of a meal and then opened presents and took pictures. We always say we should do this again in a few months and never seem to make it work. This year I am going to make sure this happens as we all enjoy being with each other so much.

Every year we all say how much we miss Shane's stepmom, Elaine. She passed away March 13, 1998 due to a car accident at the intersection of 249 and 1960. Elaine was very special to me even though I knew her the least amount of time. She couldn't wait for Shane and I to marry and as soon as we married she was already talking about grandbabies. My first pregnancy and loss occurred right after she passed away. Knowing that our children are in Heaven with her has always been a comfort to me. I also enjoyed the long conversations that she and I would have every time we visited.

The last time we had a picture of all of us was the Christmas before she passed. This year, we managed to take another one.

The Conklin Clan: in back, Caden, Bill and Cody, in front, Rebecca, Jessica Brittney and Chris

Us with Nanny

Shane, Tommy, Christy, Bill with Nanny and Thomas (Grandpa)

Tommy and Farrah

Missing is Shane's stepsister, Stacy, her husband Andy and son Jonathon. Stacy has had a hard time for many years. I won't go into the details but please pray for her healing. Our hope and prayer is that sometime soon she will be healed and able to join our family again. Also missing is Grandpa Thurman and Lillian. They were out of town this weekend and not able to make it.

You may be reading this post on Christmas Day. I hope your day is blessed! Merry Christmas to all!

Craft Project

So, I am not very good, at all, at crafts as most of you know. I don't have a creative bone in my body. Jacob decided that we needed to make snowflakes and hang them from the ceiling. We made 18 snowflakes (a number insisted upon by Jacob) and hung them in the entryway, around the stairs and in the dining room. Here is the result of our project. It looks really neat and I am very proud of myself :)

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Here are some updated pictures of Boo. She is now 16 weeks old and into everything. She really loves to watch the computer screen as she is doing now. Since her coloring is dark, she is not very photogenic.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE TO EVERYONE!!! We will be going to the 5pm service. Shane will be playing drums, of course. Afterwards, Jacob and I will go to my parents to visit. Shane will have one more service to play. Jacob is so very excited about Christmas morning. He is begging to open one present Christmas Eve. I think we will let him.

White Elephants!

Last Friday night we had our small group friends over for a Christmas party. Every year we have a white elephant gift exchange. We usually bring 2 gifts per family...one white elephant and one nice gift. This year the kids decided to join in on the gift exchange...it was total chaos to say the least. Not helping matters was the fact that I messed up the numbers that people picked to see when it was their turn...we had 2 7's, 2 8's, etc. What can I say, my mind was on other things!

Anyways, I let Jacob take my turn. His first gift was Christmas theme coasters, teacup towels and a soap dispenses. He wasn't too excited about that so I stole his gift and let him have my turn again. The picture shows you what he got the next turn....a girly license plate. His face shows his disgust. He (and the other kids) must think we are all crazy exchanging gifts like this. We are thinking that next year we will let the kids have a real gift exchange, something they would like to receive and we will have our own.

Grandma Dolly's Funeral

On Friday night, I decided that I wanted to go to Dolly's funeral. I was having a hard time commiting to going (sounds weird, huh?) as I was so overwhelmed with a party that night and Shane's family get together here on Sunday. Once I stopped cooking and cleaning and took a moment to myself, I realized that there was no where I would rather be than at her funeral. So, I made plans to drive to LA with my parents Sunday. I let some of Shane's family know that I would not be here on Sunday and to please make themselves at home as Shane would most likely need the help. Well, I guess God had other plans. On Saturday, I started running and fever and could barely keep my eyes open. On Sunday, my endometriosis pain kicked in. I knew I could not spend 2 days in the car with fever, fatigue and pain; so, I stayed home.

The viewing is right now and the funeral is in a few minutes. Please pray for my parents and the rest of my family as they endure this hard day.

Here is Dolly's obit:
http://www.chauvinfuneralhome.com/index.cfm

As usual, there is always an error on an obit. Dad's middle name is not Edward...it is Eugene. Funny how obits always seem to have some name mishap.

We Miss our Puppy!

Last Saturday we said goodbye to our dog Riley. It was a very sad day for us. I cried for days before we took her to her new home and for days afterwards. Now I am hapy for her but I (we) miss her and can't wait to visit her soon. We knew that Riley could have a better home than ours which is why I listed her on the border collie and aussie rescue websites. Border collie's do not do well in cookie cutter homes. No matter how much I walked her or played ball with her, it just wasn't enough. We had 2 requirements for her new home...lots and lots of land and another dog as active as her. We found it! Riley now lives on 5 acres in Alvin with another dog named Major. He is a 100 lb. german shepherd/wolf-hybrid mix. Her new owner is Barbara. She also has a 5 lb. yorkie named Maggie (who thinks she weighs 100 lbs.) and 2 horses.


We took her out for a visit a couple of weeks ago. I was so nervous that she and Major would start fighting or she would pee on their carpet. Instead, she and Major ran and played and ran and played (once Riley even jumped over him). All 3 dogs got along and she seemed to take to Barbara. One week later, we took her there for good. The closer we got to their home, the more excited she got. Once we were there, she ran right up to Barbara to say hello and then straight to the backyard to see Major.

According to Barbara, the dogs play, play, eat and sleep. Just the fact that she is eating is a good sign. She will also get to go on trail rides with the horses and camp out.

It is very quiet around here...something new to get used to. I miss her sweet face and her loud tongue and her way of "talking" to you. It is very hard to get rid of a dog that you have had for a year. I don't regret rescuing her and training her as she is now a happy girl. I do hope that I don't find any more animals for a long time. It is hard to fall in love and say goodbye.

Luckily, she lives fairly close to the BMX racetrack in Pearland and we will be able to visit her occassionally. I can only hope and pray that she is not missing us (I think Major is keeping her busy playing) and that she will be so excited to see us soon.

Here are some pics of our last day with her. I know we are smiling on the outside. It was a bittersweet day.

Grandma Dolly

All, please pray for my family as I have lost another Grandmother. Dolly was my dad's birth mother. She placed my dad for adoption when she was in her early 20's. She managed to keep dad a secret for 57 years. She told no one about him, not even her husband. Dad found her 11 years ago and a loving bond was formed. I will never forget mom and dad sitting Shane and I down to tell us that they found her. I was so suprised. They exchanged letters and phone calls for a few months and then mom, dad and I flew to Louisiana to see her. Her home and family are in Houma, which is about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. When we drove up to her house she came out to meet us, hugged me with tears in her eyes and told me I looked just like her sister Amy. (Now, I have met Amy and she is quite a few inches shorter than me and has very dark hair. Maybe in her younger years she was tall and blonde???) We spent one day there visiting Dolly and met her daughter-in-law Nancy and Nancy's 2 children, Jeff and Katy, my cousins. We flew home the same day. Many trips came after that for my parents.

One very special relationship came between my parents and my dad's half-sister Georgie. Georgie lived in Germany for 30 years and taught American students at the army bases there. My parents flew to Germany and Georgie took them all over Europe. Dad and Georgie became very close. Georgie passed away June 2005 from cancer. We all converged on Houma to spend some time with her before her passing. Jacob remembers this trip well. She passed away just 3 weeks after we were there. Dad then became Dolly's only living child (her other son, Danny, passed away in the 70's from leukemia). Georgie also had a best friend, Marsha, who lives in Orlando and works at Disney World. We have visited her each time we have gone there.

Her services are Monday morning. My parents are driving to LA Sunday to attend. I am still undecided as we are having Christmas here on Sunday. It is something I need to pray about as my heart wants to be there.

We were blessed this summer when Nancy had to evacuate Dolly due to Hurricane Gustav which hit Houma head on. They were here for over a week. We enjoyed the time we got to spend with them. It meant so much to me for Jacob to be around Dolly as we knew her health was failing. She had a great sense of humour and definately had her wits about her 'til the end. I wish that we had lived closer and I could have spent more time getting to know her. Her passing is very sad for all of us. Please pray for us and for my family in Houma.

Upside Down

We have been very busy. Shane with work and me with Christmas shopping, wrapping, baking and planning for three big meals coming up in the next week. And did I mention that we have company coming. Just breathe! That's what I keep telling myself. But all I want to do is curl up on the couch and watch a movie or movies. Anyways, before I run off to the store to get some silver polish, I wanted to share a link to a neat video on YouTube. It was made by Ed Young Jr.'s church in Dallas...Fellowship church. The video starts as words you might hear from an nonbeliever's mouth and then it is read backwards. Very neat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFxCxqBygxQ

I am waiting for someone in this family to upload some pics of our last day with Riley so I can share with you her new home. We are all still sad but she is doing great. In the meantime, Boo, the kitten has discovered the Christmas tree and my curtains. Cute! Annoying! My curtains are now tucked up high so she can't climb them. The tree has to fend for itself. I am sure the needles are not sitting well in her stomach. Moose, on the other hand, is still not sure whether or not Riley is coming back. She has ventured downstairs a few times for just a few minutes and then quickly runs back to safety. She will be fine in a week or so. Sidney is tolerating the new addition to her territory but has no intention of sharing her mommy's lap and I don't blame her.

Jacob's Drum Recital

We had a busy weekend, with one very sad event that I will talk about in my next post. On Friday night, Shane sat in as a professional drummer with the Memorial High School orchestra. A friend of ours is the conductor. Shane played drums on one instrumental song and another song with two guest musicians, our worship pastor Paul and one of the praise team singers, Courtney. I wish I had a recording of that. They sang The Prayer, partly in Italian, and it is a beautiful song. Shane sat in the back behind the orchestra. We couldn't see him, just hear him. Jacob was a trooper for the most part. One song was very long and he kept saying "Man, this is a long song. When is it gonna end?" jut a little to loud.

On Saturday morning, Jacob had his drum recital. Jacob has been taking lessons for three semesters now. The semesters follow the school year. We do struggle getting him to practice and sometimes think about not letting him take lessons the next semester. But he begs us to let him continue. So, we do. We don't want him to get burned out but he loves it. It usually takes a recital for us to realize just how well he is doing. We are so proud of him. Most people are amazed that he plays that well for a seven year old. Anyway, here is the link to YouTube. Randy, no comments on how long it is, please :) I did have some technical difficulties with my new camera but I managed to record most of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm8dDx7uY20

Enjoy!

Give Thanks!

Ok, so this post is just a little late and I do have much more to talk about; but, today I just wanted to share this. On Thanksgiving morning, Jacob woke up early and was very quiet in his room. Later on that morning as I was busy cooking, he told me that he got up early to read his bible as he wanted to remember important things to thank God for. He specifically looked up Genesis 1 as he wanted to thank God for the things that He created...mountains, sun, stars, etc. It brought tears to my eyes to think that he would even think of doing this. I told him that when you get older, you get so caught up with life that you forget the simple things and what could be more simpler than the beginning of everything. Well, not simple for us but simple for God as He just spoke everything He created into existence. So sweet and innocent (although this is changing thanks to school, riding the bus, etc.). I pray daily that Jacob would think before he says or does anything. And I pray this prayer with him...that whatever comes out of his mouth, he would think before he says it...Is this pleasing to God? Of course, this goes for me too :)

I hope everyone is having a blessed December and not getting too stressed out about presents, parties, etc. I know I am and I am trying to remind myself to be calm, breathe, smile and so on. Have a blessed weekend!

Update!

For those of you wondering if anything else has been going on in our lives...well, yes, there is always something going on in our lives. Jacob got his 8th win at BMX this past Saturday and now moves up to the intermediate class. The kids in that class are fast. Shane is already madly calculating what he has to spend to get Jacob's bike more lightweight and how to teach him how to use clip-in pedals. Apparently, if he is going to win any more races, this has to be done. I remember when I was told that all we had to do was get him a BMX bike and that would last him for a long time. Well, it lasted all of 6 months and now we have to spend that amount again to make him more competitive. We wouldn't do this if he didn't love to race and we didn't love watching him.

We still have our border collie. The couple that wanted her (and we wanted them to have her as they were going to be awesome for her) ended up taking in another dog that needed a home asap or was going to be put down. I am grateful for their hearts but angry that we missed that opportunity. After they said they wanted her, we received several inquiries who we told she had a home. Since then...no inquiries. I worry that Christmastime is not a good time for people to be looking for a dog. I hope I am wrong. We are ready for her to go to her new home and for our cats to have the run of the house.

I am looking forward to the holidays and having Jacob home more. I sure do miss him when he is at school all day. He, of course, is very excited about no school, presents and playing outside with his friends. The boys on the street are very into Star Wars right now. They all get their light sabers out and pretend fight. Jacob and I have seen all 6 movies in the last 2 weeks, but, not in order...which drives me crazy. I get confused and can't remember who anyone is. He knows all the characters and what color light saber they use.

Thanksgiving day we are having lunch at Shane's parents house. After dinner, we hope to be able to drive up to Magnolia and visit some of Shane's dad's family. His Nanny is not doing real well and we want to see her as much as possible. Speaking of grandmother's, my dad's mom from LA is now in hospice. Her cancer has spread throughout. Please pray that she will not suffer from pain. She is 91 years old.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

I know you are all wondering where we have been. Well, life has been a little crazy for us. Back in August, my surgeon told me that we had to transfer our frozen embryos asap as I would need a hysterectomy within six months. We decided to go for it. It took a while for me to wean off of a few of my meds before I had permission. About a month ago, I started taking estrogen and a week later progesterone injections. For whatever reason, my body does not tolerate hormone replacement very well. The estrogen fuels the growth of endometriosis and makes my life miserable. Throw in the progesterone and you have one grumpy, nauseous, extremely tired, unhappy woman. I have spent the last two weeks practically doing nothing as I have felt so bad. I had days where I couldn't keep any food down and I thank God for Chick fil'A milkshakes.

On the 7th we had the embryo transfer. We had two frozen embryos but only one survived the thawing process. It was maturing great and was already hatching. Hatching is when the edges of the embryo start to separate in preparation for attaching to the uterine lining. The transfer was not a pleasant experience. While I was out of the room, Shane told my doctor about the movie "Baby Mama." One of my favorite scenes is when the doctor tells Tina Fey's character "I don't like your uterus. I just don't like your uterus." Since I can relate to this, I thought it was pretty funny. So, when I returned from the bathroom, my sweet little Indian doctor looked at me and said "Laura, I don't want to make you laugh (I had a very full bladder for the procedure) but I just don't like your cervix." After the procedure, I rested for a couple of days and then resumed life as normal. At least, I tried to. I had to go to the doctor for blood work on the 14th and again this past Friday for the pregnancy test.

My doctor called last night and told us the results. I had not taken a home test and since I was feeling so sick could not have told you if I "felt pregnant" or not. After all that misery, I am not pregnant. We have added two more children to our rather large family in Heaven. This was our last chance to try for our own biological child. I did have mixed emotions about having to spend months on bed rest as I did with Jacob; but, the thought of getting to experience pregnancy again, especially with Jacob, was exciting. Unfortunately, that is not what God had planned for us. We are grieving, of course. I want to ask God, if You can move mountains, why can't You make me pregnant again? Is it such a big thing to ask? I loved this baby that was inside of me. I know that is hard for some to understand, but I truly felt love for my baby even as a blob of cells. I know that the pain will diminish and life will continue on as usual. And, I have a beautiful mini-me to love and I thank God for him each and every day.

For a long time, we have questioned what God's plan was for us. Were we to have another biological child or adopt? Now that we know the answer, I am relieved and ready to close the door to infertility and move on. I will never again have to give myself an injection. I will never again have to drive across town for bloodwork and wait all day for the results. I will never again have to endure the pain of losing a baby that we conceived. That is not to say that I can forget the past 13 years of infertility. I will always be an infertile woman and it will always hurt. But, we are very much excited about the adoption and now that we are finally done with any and all infertility treatments, maybe God will allow it to finally happen. The fact that I can have another baby is so reassuring. To me, it doesn't matter where the baby comes from. I know I will love him or her no matter what. In fact, I already do love my baby and I look forward to meeting him or her soon.

Please pray for us as we grieve our loss. Pray that God will give us a beautiful baby soon. We are excited to see God's plan unfold in our lives. We are waiting!!!

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope.
Psalm 130:5

All About Me

This is one of those "getting to know you" e-mails that I received. Here are my answers:

1. What is your occupation right now? Full-time mom and CPA...although I do spend a lot of time at my computer doing nothing important, Shane says

2. What color are your socks right now? I'm in my usual flip flops

3. What are you listening to right now? Shane on a con-call and Sadie scratching herself

4. What was the last thing that you ate? soup and sandwich at Egg & I

5. Can you drive a stick shift? NO!

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my Mom

8. How old are you today? 38 and a couple of weeks

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? BMX and motocross and no I don't live in a trailer

10. What is your favorite drink? iced tea

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? highlights only

12. Favorite food? mexican

13. What is the last movie you watched? Baby Mama...too funny

14. favorite day of the year? Thanksgiving

15. How do you vent anger? I keep it in

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbie dolls

17. What is your favorite season? spring

18. Cherries or Blueberries? neither

22. Living arrangements? Shane and Jacob, 3 cats (Sidney, Moose and Boo) and 2 dogs (Sadie and Riley...for another week than 1 dog...boo hoo hoo)

23. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday when Riley's new owner called to say that they want her

24. What is on the floor of your closet? You are so lucky that I just spent hours cleaning my closet....shoes, yoga mat

26. What did you do last night? Watched 27 Dresses...the election just depressed me

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy cheese

29. Favorite dog breed? Labrador

30. Favorite day of the week? Friday

32. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds

33. What is your favorite flower? tulip

I am so glad Halloween is over with. Since Shane and Jacob are camping, I just put a bowl of candy at the front door, turned off the lights and spent the evening yelling at the dogs to quit barking at every noise they heard. Riley likes to "tell" me when she hears something and it is quite annoying. She usually won't stop barking until I get up and see what is so exciting for her. Border collie's are so so smart and are very vigilant about keeping their owners informed of the happenings around them. If only she knew. I listed her on the BC Rescue and Aussie websites as up for adoption. This was not an easy decision as we love her very much but I believe it is the best decision for our family. Since she has been listed for over 2 weeks, I was losing hope. But, today I got an e-mail from a retired couple that are interested in her. It sounds like the perfect home, especially since they are looking for a "project" dog. They are coming to meet her tomorrow. Please pray that if this is the right home for her, that it will work out.
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Although I am enjoying my time alone, I do miss my guys. They are having lots of fun doing outside stuff...things I don't enjoy unless the weather is perfect. I have been a slob this weekend and have promised myself that I will clean house tomorrow morning. Today, I spent the day with my cousin Elan and her baby, Daniel. He said my name...it was so awesome. It sounded something like Awwaww but we knew he was trying to say Laura. He is precious and loves to gab. We went through her baby blothes and I brought Jacob's home with me just in case the baby we bring home is a boy (even it the baby is a girl she will at least have something to wear).
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Lastly, I can't tell too many details as to some things that are happening in our lives. I would just like for you all to pray that God would grant the desires of our heart. We must trust in God's timing but it is ok to pray for specific things and although I can not share what that specific thing is, please pray with and for us. There is so much power in prayer and that is all we can rely on at this time.

I've Been Booed!!

This is what we received on our door last night at 9:30. Thanks for ringing the doorbell after Jacob's bedtime Kass boys. It was the laughing that kind of gave you away. The note said:

YOU GOT BOOED!!

When you get booed

You always need to boo someone back

When you do it

You have to have stuff in a sack

There is a boo sign in the bag

Hang it on your door

So people will know that you got tagged

When everybody gets booed on the street

We will have a party

But you won't have to have an invitation

To come to the celebration!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Directions:

1. get a trick-or-treating or Halloween basket

2. get stuff from the store and put in the bag

3. put the basket in front of the door and ring the door bell

4. RUN and HIDE until they answer and get the sack

5. after that, you are done booing people

6. Remember, make sure you make as many copies of this for as many people as you are booing and same for the "boo" sign

7. also, make sure that you don't boo people on other streets

Cute, huh? I wonder who we will boo tonight?

I'm in Charge!

Well, I wasn't supposed to be in charge of the rock climb, but I became in charge. So, last Saturday our church held our annual fest festival, which is free to anyone and everyone and advertised in our area, including the elementary schools. The festival has games, inflatables, music and free food. We spent the first hour or so walking around and having fun. Then we got to the rock climb. It was an inflatable but you actually had to walk up on it to get to the climbing area, which means that there were lots of kids on it jumping while they waited their turn to climb. It was total chaos. There were two employees from the inflatable rental company working the climbing area and no one was in front handling the kids. As you can imagine, when you open up something like this to the public, you get all sorts of people, including people who don't watch their kids (a huge pet peeve of mine). Well, the employees were begging the kids to stop jumping as it was making their jobs hard and asking the kids to stand on the ground and not get on the inflatable, etc. Was anyone listening? Were the parents listening? Well, some were but most were nowhere to be seen. The guy asked me if I could help. Since I attend the church and it was apparent to me that no one else did, I stepped up. I asked the kids to all stop jumping, over and over again. Then the guy asked me if I would get all the kids off of the inflatable. After an embarrasing climb up on it, I asked everyone to take 10 steps back and asked all the kids to get off and form 2 lines as there was 2 rock climbing areas. Did they? No! They looked at me like I was an alien. It took me about 5 minutes to get all the kids off and into 2 lines. Then I proceeded to sit my butt down and block the entry. You can imagine the looks I was getting.

Before I could get the kids off, there were two bigger boys who just came and cut in line (this was part of the problem...cutters). I asked them nicely to get off and in line. Their mom decided that she didn't like that I asked her boys to back up and came over and told me so. After I had everyone settled and in line, she decided that she wanted to cause some trouble so she laid into me right there in front of all those people. "Just who put you in charge?" "Who do you think you are telling my kids and all these other kids what to do?" And, so on for about 10 minutes. I tried to tell her that the employees asked for my help and I was worried that some of the little kids were going to get hurt. Then, I tried to just ignore her, but then she asked the question I just couldn't help but answer...."Who do you think you are telling these kids what to do? Their parents should be watching them." My reply, "You mean like you were watching your kids?" See, her kids were the worst behaved ones! They were cutting, pushing and making the little kids fall over.

Then I remembered I was at church, my church and I needed to act like a christian. About this time, Shane walked up and started listening in. I looked at him and said "help me, please." Then, he proceeded to go back and forth with her for about 5 minutes. It wasn't until he said that he was sorry that she was inconvenienced that she shut up.

I don't take c*&p from people real well, and I was so proud of myself for the way I handled the situation. So, I ended up staying there and being the doorman for another hour or so while Shane and Jacob walked around having fun. I don't mind as it was a church volunteer event. Clearly they needed more help.

The fun didn't end there. Some parents got into it later on about whose kids were cutting, etc. I tried to stay in my own zone and stay out of it. Church event? You wouldn't think so. Man, it is really hard to show grace when people act like that.

Update

Sorry I have been so quiet for the past week. I guess there hasn't been too many exciting things happening around here, but I will catch you up. Last night, Shane and I took Jacob to Mountasia as a reward for making straight A's on his report card. He also had a perfect conduct card, which he had been working hard at for the past 3 weeks. He gets in trouble for "talking at inappropriate times" or basically whenever the teacher's say to be quite. We played miniature golf first. Jacob lost his ball in the river on the 3rd hole so Shane and I took turns hitting the ball after that. Jacob doesn't really try to play. He just swings as hard as he can...hence the ball in the river. Then Shane and Jacob rode go-karts and did the batting cages. After they played in the arcade, we went to Fuddrucker's for dinner. Jacob begged to play more games, but we were gamed out and said no. It was a fun night and practically no one else was there. A weeknight is definately the time to go.

Jacob raced BMX last weekend. He raced two 8 year olds. Since there were only 3 of them, it was an all points race. Basically, that means that they all three race both motos and the main. Jacob is not used to racing one right after the other and it really tired him out. He ended up getting 2nd place overall. We are proud of him because he tried his hardest.

We have a busy weekend coming up. The church's annual fest festival is on Saturday. They will have games, inflatables and other fun stuff for the kids. On Sunday, Jacob and I have to be at church at 8am (this is very early for me). We are participating in doing a cardboard testimony during a song in each service. I won't spoil the fun and hope that someone will be recording it so I can share it with everyone later on. Here is a link to one that another church did. It is very powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

Someday I will have Shane show me how to get the video pasted into my blog so you can watch it there. After the services, the church will be celebrating its 35th anniversary. I can't believe that I have been a part of that church for 35 years. My parents co-founded the church when I was 3 years old (yes, I am 38!!). I do not know most of the people there now. It is kind of weird. But, the church is so big. Through small group, women's bible study and Shane being a part of the worship ministry I have come to know many people, but it is still only a few as the church is so big.

Hope everyone has a blessed weekend!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a good day in more ways than one. It was my birthday so Jacob couldn't wait for me to open the two handmade cards that he had made in school. My alarm went off at 6:55 am. I usually like to hit snooze a couple of times but as soon as it went off, I heard, "Mommy want to open your cards?" Not just in a morning voice, but in a morning, I have been waiting and up for a while voice. I begged him to let me hit the snooze button but just couldn't make him wait any longer as he was being so cute. I will keep these forever. Here is what they said:

I just wanted to say that your the best for everything youv done.

so happy birthday mommy!

Love: Jacob

Mom, did you now your the best.

thats why I'm giving you this very speshil card!

Jacob Cauley

Now how cute is that??? I feel so blessed to have him. My God is eternally faithful. I know that He will bless me again with a baby through adoption and I can't wait. In fact, I am tired of waiting but I have to wait on His perfect timing. Maybe He thinks I have my hands full with all of these animals :)

I also had lunch with a friend, Mary Ruth. God has blessed her too. After many years of trying to conceive, she is now 20 weeks pregnant.

Jacob and I picked up Shane at the airport at 6pm and then drove to eat at Red Robin...it was yummy.

The other good thing was seeing Moose and Boo play together. Moose has been very intrigued by Boo and finally decided to interact with her. She was letting Boo attack her tail and then racing her up the stairs. It looks like they might become buddies, which is what we wanted for Moose...another kitty to play with. Now, if we can just get Riley to a good point with the cats, then all will be good. That will take a while, of course. But, that's ok.

Hope everyone has a fun and blessed weekend!

Animals and Birthdays

OK, so we are having some issues with finding Riley a new home...meaning, we love her and don't want to lose her. The problem is that she is high maintenance with her issues and it is hard to find the time to deal with that. After talking to the trainer that she stayed with last June, I am going to work harder with her. As for the kitten, she is up for adoption. She is so precious, playful and loving but three cats is just too many. And, having to separate Sidney, Riley and Boo is a lot of work. As you can imagine, I am the only one doing this and it is a lot of work.

Anyways, Boo is slowly getting used to the upstairs. I have had her downstairs a few times. She doesn't do much...too many new sights and sounds. But, she does like to lay with me on the couch and watch tv. When she is out, Riley must either be outside or in her crate (the sight of Boo is just too much so I sometimes have to cover up her crate to calm her down). See, I didn't know that dogs were supposed to chase and kill cats. I have never had a dog that did this. I found this great article that talked about cats and dogs and how they were never meant to live together. Apparently, if they can live together in harmony, then you are lucky. So, that is what we are working on...harmony in our home. I have a feeling that this may lead to spending even more money on Riley at the trainer's, but, oh well.

I have sent out an e-mail to everyone I know to see if they either want Boo or will e-mail anyone they know who might be interested. She will be a great cat to someone. I really don't want to have to go to adoption day at Petsmart or Petco to find her a home. I hate the thought of some stranger taking her and possibly using her as bait for a dog fight. There are some horrible people out there. Some people will take kittens to use as food for their snakes...how awful!

Here are some pictures of her. She won't be still enough to take many, so I had to hold her some.

Today is my birthday!!! I think I stopped being excited about it when I turned 30. It would help if the sun would come out...that always brightens my mood. I have an appointment with my allergist, lunch with my friend Mary Ruth and another appointment with my physical therapist. After Jacob gets home, we are going to pick up Shane at the airport and then off to Red Robin for my free birthday burger.

I am Sad

Things have been pretty busy around here and some things have not been so good. First, the positives. We had a good weekend. Jacob's Nana took him to see Green Eggs and Ham at Jones Hall. It ended up being more of a symphony and Jacob said he kind of liked it. Basically, he had to sit still and quiet for too long; but, his Nana said he was good and enjoyed her time with him. While he was gone, Shane and I planted some new plants and mulched in the backyard. One thing to check off of our long to do list. Shane took Jacob racing that night and he got a second place win. He was upset as he tried his hardest but after 6 wins in a row, I think he needed a dose of reality.

Other positives are that our yard guys took out all of the yucky 80's monkey grass in our front yard. This is something I have wanted to do for years. It took them all of one hour and only cost us $50. It would have taken us all day to do that. Now, we have to decide if we want to replace some plants now or wait until spring. I am thinking wait until spring.

We also have being having a blast with our kitten. Jacob named her Boo. She is so cute and fun to play with. This weekend we started letting her explore the upstairs and some downstairs. She is getting more comfortable with the bedroom door open and this morning started wandering around the other rooms upstairs. Moose just sits and watches her. She is not happy but not mad either. Sidney just hissed at her and ran away. It will take time but they will accept her eventually.

Now for the bad things that have happened. We found out our sweet gum tree (which is about 4 story's tall) is diseased and needs to go. It shades our entire house all afternoon and evening. I can't imagine what our electricity bills will be like with it gone. I opted to have him cut off the diseased part (about the top 1/3) of the tree. We may get another 1-2 years out of it. There is nothing that we can do or that we could have done. Sweet gums are just prone to diseases. The cost $350. He is also going to trim the trees out front for another $550. Some of them were damaged in the hurricane and have limbs hanging up high. Oh, and the cost to remove the whole sweet gum...$1,350 plus $300 for stump grinding. Hopefully by removing it in stages, we can spread out the cost.

And for the saddest part of our lives right now...Riley. We exposed her to the kitten as the trainer had said to do...let her see the kitten and don't hold the kitten over her head. Still, Riley looked at Boo like she was prey and went after her when released. Boo is ok, thankfully. It just really made us wonder how Riley will be around babies and toddlers. She has growled at Jacob in the past and is unpredictable in her behaviour, even after all this time. I think her past is just too bad for us to trust her with a baby. We love her but we don't trust her. I listed her with the border collie and aussie rescue groups as up for adoption. I am hoping and praying that she will have a new home soon...one with no cats and older or no children. It's not just the baby issue, it's also that the cats hate her and their quality of life has suffered too. Jacob is upset. Shane is mad that I spent money on her and upset because he too loves her. But, we agreed that this is what has to happen. That, or she will have to be put down...which I can't imagine having to do. Please pray that she will find a new home and fast. For now, I am keeping her either outside or in her crate when Boo is out.

That's all the news for now. I have been so busy that I have no new pics of Boo. Shane is off in CA eating expensive meals for dinner and enjoying the cool weather. Meanwhile, it is raining here and I need to go run some errands but just want to crawl back in bed. I love sleeping in the rain.

Weekend Update

So, it's Tuesday and I am just now getting around to blogging for the first time in a while. Things have been pretty crazy around here...nothing exciting, just busy. On Saturday, I took my parents to the airport. They are going to the condo in CO...so, so jealous. Then we had pictures taken of us at church. They came out real good. Afterwards, was lunch then on to see Shane's grandmother, Nanny, at her new home. She is in a nursing home in The Woodlands. She is doing well after her fall in August and I must say that her nursing home is the nicest one I have ever been too. After we visited her, we went on to Armadillo BMX so Jacob could race. It was the first race in a few weeks and he took 1st place...his 6th in a row. Once he has 8 first place wins, he moves up to the intermediate class. That day ended with a big meal at the Cracker Barrel.

Sunday was spent at church in the morning and working on our flower beds in the back yard that were damaged by Ike. I hadn't even realized that some of my plants were totally missing...smushed by the downed trees. I am so hoping that they come back on their own.

Things are very busy right now. I feel like I have a million projects going on at once. This weekend I hope to have Shane get a few honey do's done around the house and I would really like to add some mulch and missing plants to that poor flower bed.

Tomorrow, the kitten comes to live with us. She is almost 6 weeks old and very cute and playful. I will have to keep her isolated from the other cats for a few days in hopes that they will accept her. We will see how this goes with Jacob as her "main" room will be the guest room. Then once the other cats are used to her smell, I will open the door and let them all meet each other. This may be traumatic for Sidney as she thinks that I am HER human and no one elses.

That's all for now. Tomorrow I will post some pics of kitty. Shane is on his way home from Atlanta and I am off to take Jacob to his drum lesson.

News Reporters and Ike

Well there is not too much to talk about right now, which is why I haven't posted in a while. I gave Jacob a challenge...if he could speak politely (meaning yes mam, no mam, thank you, etc) and obey me immediately for a day, then I would give him a dollar. He failed the first day. The second day he did better and earned his dollar but I didn't really spend all that much time interfacing with him. The challenge continues for a few days and then hopefully my positive reinforcement will be worth something. He was born a very stubborn, independent child and he still is.
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So, this was something that I searched for on YouTube after the storm. You know how you always hear about newscasters out in the field doing stupid things during storms? Well, they never let you down, including the infamous Wayne Dolcefino and Geraldo. Here are some links that I found. Some are funny and some make you grimace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW0M-DvkEn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7-8Rv62LU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYl9mgFhe2o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms_8dchieU4

I hope everyone is enjoying our awesome weather!

Wookie the Kitten

This is Wookie. Well, that is the name that Ursula (the woman who so generously is taking care of her) gave to the kitten that I found a little over a week ago. She also has a dog named Doofus, a cat named Piranha and two deceased animals named Pickle and Burger....funny but inventive (all in addition to her other rescued animals). Wookie is doing so good and growing. Her colors are changing to more of a lighter grey with brown. She has two orangish streaks on each side of her face. She is in excellent health and shows no signs of feline leukemia. She is now 4 weeks old and is no longer being bottle fed.

I went over on Friday and got to see her drink out of a bowl and play around. Well, they don't really play at 4 weeks, just kind of move around and explore their surroundings. She loves to be held and petted.

In two weeks, her care is being handed over to me. I have to find her a home or Shane has to fall in love with her and let me keep her...like I need any more animals, huh? I don't really know that I want another cat so I have been in contact with some animal rescue groups that will let you foster the animal and then bring them in to Petsmart or Petco on Saturdays for adoption. I can assure you it would not be hard to adopt her out as she is so cute and loving. But, that will be hard for me as I fall in love with animals so easily. I will also be sending out another e-mail plea to all I know to see if anyone is interested in adopting her. Here are a couple more photos of her:

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Other news: The weather here is awesome...in the mornings mostly and in the shade the rest of the day. We enjoyed Sunday after Shane came home just being outside with Jacob. I also took Jacob shopping for some winter clothes. He was so cute, trying on everything and then checking himself out in the mirror. He kept saying "It's good" even when the pants were too short on him.

Shane left this morning for San Jose. We miss him when he is gone but I sure do get a lot done.

Funny story: Jacob spent Saturday night with his MiMi and PawPaw. They were watching a tv show on the space shuttle Challenger. Jacob asked his PawPaw when it (meaning the disaster) happened...PawPaw said a long time ago. Jacob wanted to know how long ago...PawPaw said about 20 years ago. Jacob asked...where the dinosaurs alive then? Cute huh? I don't know when they actually start to get the whole time thing.

Why Me?

Why does this always happen to me? Stray animals, animals that are dumped. You name it, they find me. Sadie is the only animal that we actually looked for and purchased. Sidney needed a home or she would be euthanized. Pepper was dumped at Lowe's (she now lives with some good friends of ours). Moose was dumped in our neighborhood because she was pregnant and someone didn't want to deal with her. Riley, well, I can understand why someone wouldn't want to deal with her. But, she is a sweetie and we love her.

Now, the new one....a three week old kitten. Last Saturday as I was enjoying having my TV turned on and relaxing in the easy chair, our doorbell rings. It seems that these two horrible women, who live one street over from us, heard a kitten meowing. What do they do? Do you think they try to warm it or feed it or even notice that it looks a little too young to be away from its mommy? NO! They give it to some kid riding by on his bike. He takes it home to his mommy, who says get it out of here. Shame on her too! So, the kid starts riding around on his bike with the kitten and showing it off. They decide, hey, let's go show Jacob. Well, as soon as I saw it I took it from them. They showed me where the two ladies live. I go over and have some words with them...no, they weren't very nice words, but hey, they deserved it.

So, I took the kitten to the only person I knew who would know what to do with her as all the vets were now closed for the weekend. Ursula is a wildlife rescuer. She currently has 9 baby squirrels (she was hand feedling them all but they are being weaned now), a baby bluejay that my dad found and a dwarf rabbit. She didn't look too happy to see me but could tell right away that the kitten needed food and warmth. I am glad to say that she has fallen in love with her enough that she is now keeping her until she is weaned. Then, it is up to me. Jacob, of course, is begging to keep her. I wouldn't mind another kitten, but Shane would. He has "issues" with my new hobby...taking in or finding lost animals a home.

So, if you know anyone who is interested in a kitten, please let me know. She won't be placed until she is weaned...anywhere from 2-4 weeks. She is grey with some brown...very cute, in excellent health and very sweet and loving. She doesn't even realize that she is a cat.

Also, the SPCA needs families to foster some of the lost animals that they have. Some may find their owners within a few days. Some it may take a couple of weeks. If we didn't have a houseful, I would definately foster. They have cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and some slimy critters. They are also hand feeding 900 baby squirrels...yes, 900. Can you imagine?

Did you know that when you hand feed a kitten that you have to burp it afterwards? You rub its back until it burps. You also have to stimulate pee and poop...who knew! I imagine that its the same with squirrels.

My worst fear is that there are more kittens from the same litter lost too. Most likely the mom was moving her babies after the storm and one just got away from her. This is not a feral cat. It is a house cat. Shame on the owner for letting its pregnant cat even outside at all so close to its due date. I wouldn't mind having some words with them either.

OK, off of my soap box. Please pray that we find kitty a home. I am going to take some pictures of her today so that you can all see how cute she is. Of course, cute kittens grow up to be cats.
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Other news, Shane left yesterday for the church's men's retreat. He loves this weekend. He gets to fish, hang out with his buddies and play drums several times and, of course, worship God. I love it because he always comes home a little nicer and more appreciative of us.
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Can you believe Christmas is approaching? Today mom and I are going to our first craft show. We love to go to these and get ideas. Sometime we even buy stuff. You can get some great gifts at them for teachers, grandparents, etc. People that like the little stuff. I like to get ahead on my shopping so I don't have to panic after Thanksgiving. I don't have a big family, but Shane does.

Have a blessed weekend all!

Before and After Photos

We finally are up and running after Ike...meaning we have cable tv, internet service and phones back. Here are some before and after photos of our home and yard:

Picture of our back yard landscaping before Ike

Picture of backyard before Ike (the other side of the yard is a fort which fared well except that it now has a lean to it)

After Ike....where are my trees?

After Ike...what a mess!!!

Picture of front yard before Ike

Picture of front yard after Ike

Another view of front yard before Ike

We lost a tree but were able to prop it back up

View coming down our street

Tree down in our neighborhood...and there were many more

Big tree down on Jones Rd. in Norchester

We pray for no more hurricanes this season. Some people are still suffering. Some schools are still out. Jacob started back today. I feel like the school year is starting all over again :(

Happy to be Home

We came home on Friday. Our awesome neighbors had done some clean up work in our yard and hauled all of our trimmings to the street. The city has hired clean up crews that drive big trucks with claws on them and they use the claws to pick up the trimmings. Apparently, they have driven down the streets on either side of us but not ours, yet. I will be glad to see all of those bags and trimmings gone. Luckily today the regular trash pick up came and got all of the rotting meat and other food that we had thrown out of our fridge and freezer.

We ended our week in Canyon Lake with a trip to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. It is so nice. It took us an hour to drive through and see all the animals. I wish I had some pictures to show you but we forgot our camera when we rushed out of Houston. The highlight of the safari was the zebras sticking their heads in the car. One even took Shane's food bag out of his hand and ran off. The ostriches were also pretty in your face. I rolled up my window when one came over. He was mad at me and started pecking at the stickers on my car. I highly encourage you to visit the Wildlife Ranch and the Caverns...wish we had more time to do both. Here is a link to both:
http://www.naturalbridgecaverns.com/
http://www.wildliferanchtexas.com/

Since we have been home, I have been feeling better. We have had some great times sitting outside with our neighbors. The other side of the street didn't get power until Saturday night. After it came on, what did we do? We had a power party outside in the dark. We didn't stay too long as we were both worn out. My parents didn't get power until Saturday night either. They live in Norchester and they came home as soon as they could. You don't realize how much you love your home until you are forced to stay away from it. I get tired of hearing and reading about people saying we must be crazy to live near the coast or even in a hurricane zone. I will admit, sometimes I wonder. But, this is home and we don't want to live anywhere else. Well, except for Colorado but they have blizzards. At least you can put your fridge/freezer goods out in the snow there.

Take care all and anyone who doesn't have power is welcome to come and stay here. I just extended an invitation to some friends who have been without power for 10 days. He works for Centerpoint and she had been taking care of the boys all alone. I know they are struggling right now. Keep them in your prayers.

Return to Houston

As I said in my previous post, we have been hunkered down in Canyon Lake at Shane's dad's lake house. We love it here. It is quiet and peaceful and the weather has been awesome. But, we are eager to return home. Shane has caught up on his work and is prepared to teach a class on Monday and Tuesday at HP. So, we are planning on driving home Friday.

I am sure some of you are wondering why we want to return. Well, our yard still needs some clean up work and we have missed out on opportunities to help friends this week. The other side of our street is still without power. They have been able to use our washer/dryer and cook at our house, charge cell phones, etc. We also have one big empty fridge/freezer. I am eager to give it a big cleaning before we start to fill it up. And, our cats are there and I hate to leave them for too long as Sidney has separation anxiety that usually ends up costing us $$ at the vet.

We have had some fun. In addition to going to San Antonio and walking on the Riverwalk and seeing the Alamo, we have taken Jacob to Landa Park where we played at the playground and Shane and Jacob fished. After that, we went to eat at the Gristmill in Gruene (awesome meal) and peeked through the windows at Gruene Hall (wish we could have gone in but couldn't as Jacob was with us). Today, Shane and Jacob will be having some more fun either fishing or going on the boat.

As for me, I am sick with fever and sore throat...maybe the same illness Jacob had last week. I am taking it easy which means that Jacob is watching way too much tv...I feel like a bad mom but I need to get some rest which is hard to do in a strange bed. So, I look forward to my own bed and getting well soon. Please pray that I will get well and that whatever it is that I have does not get into my sinuses, which would mean more antibiotics.

This may be the last post for a while as we still do not have internet service yet. Take care all and hope to catch up soon.
Laura

After Ike

I know many of you won't read this post for a while but I thought I would let everyone know what is going on with us. We rode out Ike (not a pleasant evening) and were able to clean up most of our yard the next day or so. I will post pictures of our yard, before and after, when we return home and have internet access. It was a mess and I have a call in to our tree guy as we have some large branches hanging up in our sweet gum tree. Over all, though, we were lucky.

We left town on Sunday to come up to Canyon Lake. There was lots of traffic going into Houston and we saw lots of ambulances and buses headed that way. We just decided to not be miserable when we could come up here and live fairly normal lives. There is dial up internet access here so Shane can work (although slowly) and Jacob and I are trying to keep ourselves busy. Our neighbors are watching the cats and we brought the dogs with us...they love the property here. The deer are out now and I am watching them while I am typing. Shane and Jacob are fishing at the lake.

Our power is back on at home but no cable yet; so, no TV, phones or internet access. We were going to return home Wednesday but are thinking otherwise at this point.

Yesterday we just needed to de-stress. So, we drove into San Antonio, ate on the riverwalk and took Jacob to the Alamo...something he has been asking to do for a while. We had a good time but we are anxious to return home. Jacob is bored and just wants to go home and play with his friends. I just want to take a nap...yeah, right!!! I am trying to think of things to do to entertain Jacob up here but they all seem to be things that I like to do and not him...like eating at the Peach Tree in Boerne or going to the outlet stores in San Marcos. We'll see. We may go to Austin to visit my close friend Cassie and her son Aidan, one of Jacob's best buddies.

That's all for now. Will update more when we return home.
Laura

Sad Sunday

When I got up yesterday, I was so looking forward to finally getting to church to hear an uplifting message. Well, my day didn't quite turn out that way. I was woken by Shane letting me know that my dear, sweet friend Jeanette's dad had passed away the night before. My heart ached for her and her family and that is how I went to church. Well, it got even worse...the sermon was on death, Ecclesiastes 8:10-17. It wasn't necessarily a depressing sermon. It was just on a topic that I didn't want to hear about the first Sunday (three weeks exactly) after my Grandmother died and after the news that I had that morning. After the sermon was over, they played a video titled "99 Balloons." Shane had told me it was a tear jerker but I never bothered to ask him what it was about....the loss of a child. And, as many of you know, we have been through this in more ways than one. We have never lost a born child but ones that had been created in God's sight and the losses were painful. During and after the video there was not a dry eye in the room. I could hear sniffles all around me, including my own.

Here is a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0

Both the video and sermon are about living life to its fullest no matter what your situation is and turning over all your troubles to God.

After the video was over, I thought ok they are going to play a song and I will have that time to pull myself together. It didn't quite go that way. The song that they played was "Still" by Hillsong United which is based on Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"...one of my all time favorites but in the state that I was in, I just couldn't pull myself together and had to leave the room (keep in mind that I sit in the front). Here are the words to that song:

Hide me now

Under your wings

Cover me

within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar

I will soar with you above the storm

Father you are king over the flood

I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul

In Christ alone

Know his power

In quietness and trust

If you aren't familiar with the song, please listen to it. It is a beautiful song.

After church we went home and I made one of my favorite desserts to take over to Jeanette's parents home. We spent more than our allotted time with them and their family but I think they were lifted up by our visit. The service will be this Friday. Please keep our friends in your prayers as they go through this difficult time.

Weekend Update

My grandmother Dolly and Aunt Nancy started heading the direction of home today. They will be staying with Dolly's brother outside of Beumont for a few days and then on to Lafayette, where her sister Amy lives. They still don't know if there is electricity at Dolly's house but they do know that there is no electricity at Nancy's house; so, the authorities are not yet letting people into all of their parrish yet. We enjoyed having them here and will have to plan a trip to Lousiana to visit them soon. I think we will wait until after hurricane season is over though :)

Today, Jacob's Nana, aka Shane's mom, took Jacob to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They watched an IMAX movie on Dinosuars which Jacob really liked. Then they walked around the museum. While they were gone, Shane and I went to see Tropic Thunder at the movies and the dinner at BJ's. The movie was funny but was very vulgar and had lots of bad language. I think Shane and I are not used to rated R movies so we were somewhat offended but still laughed a lot (in other words, we are getting old).

I am slowly getting my energy back after surgery. I am feeling better but having to watch what I eat, meaning I am back on my gluten free diet.

I wish there was something more exciting going on in our lives to talk about...maybe soon. I hope everyone is enjoying the first "fall" weather. We spent some time outside with the dogs tonight and Jacob and Shane played football.

Hugs to all!

Louisiana Refugees

This is my Louisiana family and a couple of them had to flee Gustav and are staying at my parent's house here in Houston...my Aunt Nancy and grandmother Dolly. Dolly is my dad's birthmother, who he found about 11 years ago. They live in Houma, LA, where the eye of Gustav passed over. Nancy's husband stayed behind and says that they will be needing a new roof and gutters. We are not sure yet how Dolly's house fared as the streets are unpassable. There is martial law there and they have been told that they can not return home until Friday.

I had planned on joining my parents the next time they went to stay with Dolly but now get to enjoy visiting with her here at home.

These pictures were taken three years ago, right before Katrina hit. My Aunt Georgie (Dad's half sister) passed away from cancer about 3 weeks after these pictures were taken. We made the trip to spend some time with her as we knew the Lord would be calling her home soon. She was a very neat lady and I wish we had had more than a few years with her.

After we stayed in Houma for two nights, I convinced Shane to stay in New Orleans (a city that I love) with Jacob for the weekend. Shane has never particularly cared for NO...too much drinking for him but there are other things to do there. We went to Cafe du' Monde and had beignets and saw a mugging. The next day we went to City Park (ruined during Katrina) and the Aquarium (many sea life passed away there) and saw homeless people lying and urinating on the streets. I may never get Shane to go back there, but I would love to. If you can find where the locals hang out, you can have a great time eating authentic New Orleans's food...or you can just go to Dolly's.

This is Nancy with her son Jeff and daughter Katie and her new husband.

This is Jacob and I standing behind Dad, Georgie and Dolly.

We have been truly blessed by Dad seeking out his birth family. Dolly had one other son (Nancy's first husband and the kids dad, Danny) who died of leukemia after serving in Vietnam. Georgie lived in Germany at the time that my dad found Dolly and my parents toured Europe with her. She also had a very close friend, Marcia, who works for Disney in Florida and we enjoy seeing her whenever we are there. Allthough we are enjoying their visit, I know they are anxious to get home and see what has happened there.

Recovery

It's been three days since surgery and I am able to somewhat see straight today. I hate general anesthesia. It makes your world blurry, hazy for a few days and all you can do is lay around and watch tv. It gets better each day, although, I am very tired today and will have to nap. Yesterday, I couldn't nap until late and was woken up by Shane about 30 minutes later. Today, I will tell the boys not to wake me if I am sleeping. Yeah, right!

So the night before surgery was bad. For some odd reason, I can not digest the bowel prep. It just sits there until I throw it up and then I panic that they won't do my surgery the next day. Luckily, the plumbing started working around 5am (9 or so hours later than it should have). We had to wait a little while for my surgery to began as I was second in line for my doctor that day. It wasn't too bad. They let Shane come sit with me in the pre-op room for a little while and he got to enjoy me getting my Demerol shots. They also have full wireless there so Shane was able to work all day.

Recovery was not fun. I had trouble getting a breathing pattern established, not unusual for me and I had the shakes real bad...nothing more Demerol won't help. We finally left the hospital after 6pm as we waited for traffic to die down. I actually felt no pain at all until about 10pm that night. Since then, I hurt when I move but laying down isn't so bad.

What they found was more endometriosis and adhesions. My uterus is fine on the inside but pretty ugly on the outside. It was attached to my bladder and they left it that way. My fallopian tubes were attached to my pelvic wall and my right ovary was attached to my uterus...these they unattached. I also had endo on my large bowel..this is a new spot for it to grow. I think and pray that this is what has caused me so much misery the last few months and will be better now.

My doctor said it is time for my uterus to come out. And, when that happens they will take my ovaries, tubes, etc, too. I have to admit that I can't wait. First, though, we have to transfer our remaining two embryos. And before that can happen, I have to check my thryoid. Not having enough thyroid hormone when you are pregnant can be very bad to the baby. I am quite sure that some of the problems Jacob has (tics and anxiety) is because I was hypothyroid when I was pregnant with him and didn't know it.

Prayer Requests: pray for quick recovery so I can be a mom and wife this week. Pray that my thyroid will be ok enough to transfer the embryos and that God's will be done with the embryos. Pray that this will all happen quite fast so that I can have the hysterectomy within the next few months.

Surgery Tomorrow

The hospital has told us to be at the hospital at 9am tomorrow. That is not the best time as getting there that late means that I am the second surgery for my doctor that day; and, as I well know, that means we may be waiting for a while. If all goes on schedule, though, I will be in the preop room about 10:30am and in surgery by 11:30am. The surgery should take around 2-3 hours. We should be home late afternoon (hopefully, not in traffic as I will be in pain).

Please pray that the surgery is not delayed for any reason as I will be dehydrated andd not feeling well at all. Please pray for Shane as he will be sitting around waiting for a long time. Please pray that tonight will not be too bad on me. I have already started the dreaded bowel prep, in fact, I accidentally started it an hour early. Please pray that the surgeons will be able to remove all endo that they see and not leave any. Please pray that they will not have to remove my uterus as we do stil have two frozen embryos waiting to be transferred. Please pray that my pain will be minimal. Please pray for my parents as they keep Jacob the next night or two and that Jacob will be ok with this. He seems to understand (I think he is just excited about spending the night at MiMi and PawPaw's.)

Special thanks to my prayer warriors and my friends that are bringing me yummy meals afterwards.

First Day of Second Grade, Etc.

Jacob started second grade today. He was dressed and downstairs at 6:45 am...25 minutes before I told him he had to be downstairs. The best thing was that he brought home NO homework and says he won't for at least a week. I hate when they push too much on the kids too fast. Of course, there were lots of papers for me to fill out...my homework, as Jacob called it.

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Tomorrow I start my pre-surgical diet. It is just very bland food like chicken, pasta, pound cake. Enough to keep you pretty full. I have my day planned out though to keep my mind busy and not on the next day when I get to do the dreaded bowel prep, which is worse than the surgery or any pain afterwards itself. I will spare you the details as many have done it; but, my body doesn't tend to take to it very well and it will be a tough night for me.

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If you are wondering about any adoption news. Well, there isn't any. We have not heard from the agency. Last month was tough as I wondered why we were not being picked. I think I know why now...God knew I was going to be having surgery and that He would be taking my Grandmother home. The last few weeks have not been conducive to having a newborn; but, I am sure we would have made it work. Now, I have to get my energy back from the surgery and get started on some projects around the house (Shane shudders when I say this as he knows how much work I can come up with...that's a whole other blog). I am praying though that the baby will come soon...I am ready! Please pray for patience.

Weekend at Canyon Lake

We spent last weekend at Canyon Lake. Shane's dad has a house and boat there. We spent both Saturday and Sunday on the water and had a blast. Our friends, Larry and Jeanette, their daughter Kendra and son Ethan, came with us. Larry bought a wakeboard, which only Shane was semi-successful on. We also had a huge tube, called Big Bertha and skis. Big Bertha said she could hold 4 people but 2 adults was barely comfortable. The boys loved tubing the best and would beg us to pull them forever.

On Saturday evening, Kendra watched the boys so we could eat out at Clear Springs Cafe...great food. Before that though, we got caught in a bad storm on the lake and had to cross the lake in the rain. Not much fun and wouldn't you guess that that day was the first time they had seen rain in days, if not weeks. Here are a few pics from our weekend:

Kendra climbing tree outside of house

Larry and Big Bertha on shore....she was too big to take when we wanted to pull someone behind the boat; so, we took turns hanging out with her in a cove.

Ethan and Jacob

Jeanette and Kendra on boat

Jeanette is an awesome skier!!!

Shane on skis...he's good too.

Jeanette and Shane in the kitchen