Planet Vargas

The End Is Just The Beginning

2011-05-17T13:53:00.072-05:00

Ok everyone, this is gonna be a long one, so go get yourself a snack, a cup of coffee, or whatever you'd like and settle in :)

Our story today brings us to the end of a 10 week journey...and starts us on a new one...

On Tuesday, May 3rd, our caravan (10 of us! Me and Karina, my parents, my sister and her family of 6) left Illinois and drove 11 hours to South Carolina where we stayed with some friends of the family overnight and then the next morning we finished the drive to Ft. Jackson, where our caravan turned into 13 (my brother and 2 kids joined us).

Wednesday, May 4th was Family Day. As we pulled onto the base, my heart wanted to jump out of my chest...knowing I was THIS close to my husband for the first time in 10 weeks was almost more than I could hold in! I wasn't exactly sure how the morning would go, but knew it could be nothing short of awesome! So as we pulled up to Hilton Field where the ceremonies would be held, I began to see hundreds of people that were there for the same thing as me, to see their loved one, and it was like we were instantly one big family. Once we found our seats on the bleachers (which my awesome friend Debi saved for me!), you could feel the electricity of anticipation in the stands, we wanted to soak in and savor every moment, but knew our soldiers were just across the field just behind the tree line. While waiting for everything to begin, I started seeing the familiar faces of "friends" I had met on Facebook who had a loved one in the same D Company that Abel was in. It was amazing to finally meet these people face to face and to express our appreciation to each other for the support over the past 10 weeks. Finally the ceremony began and there was a tactical demonstration by the soldiers and some other stuff I can't seem to remember right now, I'll have to watch the video later :), and then that's when the "fireworks" and smoke bombs started going off and out of the tree line and through the smoke came our soldiers, running towards us, then stopping in perfect formation. I spotted Abel right away, of course it helped that he told me the night before where he'd be :) I don't remember anything else after that except for hearing those precious words, "Go meet your soldier!" As we're making our way down the bleachers, I've got him in my sights the whole time, we get down to the field and I can't find him, then suddenly I hear my nephew Tyler yell, "he's over that way!" and then it was like the Red Sea parted and there was a clear path to him, and then like in slow motion we're running to each other. Karina had been crying since we started down from the bleachers and now finally seeing his face, I lose it and we give each other the biggest, tightest hug EVER! I could not let him go. I just kept hugging him and kissing him and Karina couldn't stop touching his face, and saying "Dada! Dada!" It was a moment that has been burned into the most precious part of my heart and mind and one that I'll never forget. I don't know how long we stood there like that, but I could have stood there till it got dark and not have cared :) But there were other people wanting to see him of course! So family hugs were given all around and introductions to fellow soldiers made. It was so awesome to get to meet these guys that Abel had shared the last 10 weeks of his life with, some I knew by name because he was so close to them, others, I remember seeing their faces from pictures on Facebook. It was an honor and privilege to meet them and their families.
The rest of the day we spent on base with him, as they were not allowed to go off post that day. But we had a great day, we all went to eat lunch together and then we got some family time, just the 3 of us together, most of the rest of the day. We spent some time at the park and at the rec center...just talking and listening to each other, finding it hard to believe that we were finally together! Dinner was spent with the whole family together again at the park and then he had to report back to his barracks...graduation would be the next morning.

So Graduation Day arrives and even though I had just gotten to see him all day the day before, I again was feeling this anticipation and excitement like I was gonna see him again for the first time :) You could see them way out on the end of the field in formation and ready to go. Again there was this electricity in the stands and it was with such honor and pride that I stood there and looked out to where my husband was marching towards the stands and could not help but feel God's words speaking directly to my heart saying, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future". All of the memories of the past 10 weeks of God's faithfulness flooded over me and I felt so excited about all that is to come. After the presentation of special awards for some of the soldiers, and after a short speech from one of the commanders, he presented to us the newest American Soldiers! The place went wild! They were all bussed back to their barracks and we were able to go meet Abel there and all I had to do was sign him out and he was MINE!!! :) (For a few days anyway!) So after doing his final check out and him saying his last goodbyes to all his buddies, we were finally able to take him with us. First thing we did was go eat some good Mexican food!! :)

After leaving base we headed down to Savannah, GA where the whole family spent the night and then the next morning we went our separate ways...Me, Abel and Karina were heading 9 hours over to Gulfport, MS and the rest of the family headed to Hilton Head, SC for some vacation time. Once we arrived in Gulfport, we drove to the Naval Construction Battalion Center where he would call home for the next 7 weeks. We were on base with him for 3 days, and also got to go to the beach in Gulfport, and we were a family again. :) We got to spend a total of 5 glorious, awesome, precious days with Abel. Days that I will not soon forget. Some people sing/say, "I left my heart in San Francisco"...I left mine in Gulfport....

And now this ending is just the beginning...

Philippians 1:6
"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"

Enjoy the pictures... :)

This was on the way to Family Day, we had one last chain and Karina tore into that thing! :)

Arriving at Hilton Field

"Victory Starts Here" the motto for Ft. Jackson

Tactical Demonstration

Waiting "patiently" :)

My new friend Debi, who I met on Facebook, was there for her son Ryan, who was very good buddies with Abel. If you've read my blog before, you remember Ryan as the guy holding up the sign of how many pieces of pizza he ate :)

Battalion Commander - LTC Glen Blumhardt

Here come the fireworks and smoke bombs...that can only mean one thing...they're about to bust out from the tree line!!

Here they come!!!! These pictures don't do it justice!!

Running towards the grandstand...

Stopping in perfect formation...

I put an arrow above Abel :)

The Reunion :) Almost there!!!

So close!!!
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Karina was looking at him as if to say, Dada is it really you??!!

"Yes, it's really me!"

There comes a little smile :)

Buddies...Vargas & Thiel (Debi's son)

Yay!! Happy Family :)

Buddies Trautman & Vargas

Trautman & Vargas Families

My sweet Facebook friends :) Me, Debi, Jennifer, Jasmine & Michael...there were so many more people who we met but these are the ones who managed to find each other for a picture :)

Karina, Fuzzy & Daddy :) Fuzzy was with us the whole time that Daddy was gone :)

Karina surprised at how short Daddy's hair was :)

Going to get some lunch

Abel's barracks, they had the brand new, nice ones! Other companies were in these trailer-type barracks :)

This was his Regiment the 2-39th

Victory Tower

Daddy time at the park

Video games with Daddy :)

Dinner time at the park

Karina & Grandma at Graduation Day

Proudly wearing my bracelet I made in honor of my soldier!

Graduation Day!!!

Presenting the newest American Soldiers of the United States Army!!! HOOAH!!

The Army Band

Here's my Soldier!!

Going to the barracks to sign out...

The whole Family!! 14 of us!!

So happy :)
I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!

All the letters from Basic...

He's so handsome :)

Naval base in Gulfport

Last few pictures together before saying goodbye...

Helping Daddy pack his bags

His home for the next 7 weeks...

This Is The Stuff...

2011-04-30T10:00:00.002-05:00

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am 4 days away from seeing my husband!!!! Unbelievable!! I can't believe I have made it through 71 days and now I am within 4 days!

This past week I've been having a love-hate relationship with time...I love that it's passing so quickly, but I hate that it is because I am having a hard time getting all my stuff done.

And speaking of getting stuff done, I had my week planned with everything I needed to do before we leave, shopping, hair appointments, church, all kinds of stuff. So on Wednesday I was going to go do all my last minute shopping for the trip and Karina and I get in the car and I put it in reverse and heard a crunch and I thought I had run over something but I didn't see anything so I keep backing up and hear this grinding sound and thought, Uh-Oh!

So long story short, I called my dad, described the sound and he tells me the breaks probably went out and not to drive it. Ok...Great. So in all these 9 weeks that Abel has been gone, I haven't had any problems with the house, the car, anything. Until 5 days before I leave. Really? Yes. So I called the mechanic and he says I can bring it in but he can't look at it till Friday or Monday. Really? Yes. Then my mind started going into what I call "GPS Mode" because I had to start saying "Recalculating, Recalculating" :) Ok, what was I going to do now? I have to get all of my stuff done and somehow get down to my parents house in Champaign by Monday. Hmmmmmm...borrow a car? Rent a car? Well, after a few phone calls, I had some really great friends step up and so VERY kindly let me borrow one of their cars till Sunday night when I will have my great sister in law take me to meet my family halfway, and they dropped my car off at the mechanic for me. So it all worked out in the end :)

In the middle of all this going on, I was at home and had the radio on and this song comes on by Francesca Battistelli called "This is the stuff"... Here's some of the lyrics:

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

45 in a 35, sirens and fines while I'm running behind...

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world

As I'm listening to this song, God just spoke to me again that all these "things" that happen in life, like having a broke down car 5 days before I leave :), that I needed to take a step back from my little "mess" and remember how BIG I'm blessed. This "stuff" is definitely NOT the stuff I would choose to happen to me to remember how I'm blessed, but it is the "stuff" He chooses to use, and I have to remember that verse from Isaiah 55:9 (the Message) that says:
"I don't think the way you think.
The way you work isn't the way I work."
God's Decree.
"For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think."

And also Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Lean not on your own understanding."

I don't know why my car broke down right now, but I know how "BIG" I'm blessed! God has shown Himself to be so incredibly faithful and has blessed me beyond what I deserve. I am humbled.

So the next time you have a "little mess" or experience the stuff that drives you crazy just remember how BIG you're blessed! :)

Blue Is My New Favorite Color

2011-04-21T22:02:00.007-05:00

Well, Blue is now my new favorite color, (thanks mom!) as in I love that Abel is in Blue Phase!! He's been in Blue for the last 2 weeks and on Sunday I got a glorious 1 hour and 10 minute phone call, another 30 minute phone call today and 3 letters in the mail today! Blue is the last phase of Basic Training and they get so many more privileges because they've EARNED it!! On Sunday in our long phone call, it was so nice to just have a relaxed conversation, instead of going down my check list of things that I had to let him know and hoping we had enough time to get it all out. I am SO VERY THANKFUL that God knew just what platoon to put him in with just the right Drill Sergeants because there are many Companies who have not been allowed ANY phone calls home except at the very beginning of Basic to let their loved ones know they arrived. God knows I couldn't have made it through...not without some major stress anyway!!! :)

So they've done lots of things from throwing grenades, doing 10 mile marches with an added 50-60 lbs of gear on, missions in the humvees, combatatives, machine guns, and having pizza parties! They even had one day where they went through a course called Omaha and they went through scenarios with LIVE fire, up until then they were just shooting blanks, oh my... good thing I pray for massive protection for him EVERY DAY!!! :) On Monday - Thursday of next week they will do Victory Forge and then come back, spend the next few days cleaning the barracks and get their stuff in order and then graduate!!! Abel is one of the squad leaders, which puts him in charge of 10 guys in the platoon and during Victory Forge, they're required to plan and successfully execute a mission, so he said they were having a fun time planning all that.

I can tell he's ready...he told me that on Family Day he wants Kit Kats, M&M's, and Reese's PB Cups, and on graduation day he wants to go eat somewhere GOOD! :) That's my man, always thinking about the food! LOL :)

I'm so thankful that God has brought me through this whole journey without losing my mind! I have learned so much about myself and what I can do with His help and when I just "lean not on my own understanding, but in ALL my ways acknowledge HIM, HE will direct my path."
13 more days...I can do this!! :)

Here's some pics of them at their pizza party. They each got their own pizza, pop and candy...and the next day they had to do their final PT test (oh wow) and had to pass in order to graduate! And the next day he ROCKED his PT test and passed with flying colors!

These guys have apparently named themselves "The A-Team" LOL!!! I do love the "brotherhood" that Abel tells me about that they all have.

Abel said he only ate 4 slices :) Unlike his buddy Ryan here who obviously ate way more than that!! But he passed his PT test too so it was all good! LOL!!

Our "Baby" is 5!

2011-04-21T20:43:00.009-05:00

Wow, I cannot believe I'm saying this but, on Monday our "baby" turned 5 years old! There are so many things I love about this girl, and to list them here would take up an entire page, maybe more :) But I am so proud of her and the sweet, loving, snuggly, smart, creative, tender child that she is. She has gone from a seriously shy little girl, not wanting to even talk in preschool, to an at least somewhat outgoing little girl who now loves to do show and tell in preschool, and who was devastated when I told her that there is no school during the summer! :)
Especially during these past 8 1/2 weeks having daddy gone, with it just being me and her, she at times has been my strength, and now I am hers, she is really feeling the toll of having daddy gone and is easily prone to tears these days. But in only 1 1/2 short weeks we will be with him!

I always take a picture of her in her birthday crown, so here's the progression from when she turned 1 till now.

Happy 5th Birthday Karina Lizette!! Mommy & Daddy Love you!!!!!!

One more thing...

2011-04-11T17:18:00.004-05:00

I just got a letter from Abel right now and he said that on Friday last week the were having a Battalion testing that day and one of the Drill Sergeants (DS) had to pick 7 soldiers from each platoon (28 total soldiers) to represent Delta Company to show the Sergeant Major how effective BCT has been on each of these soldiers and guess who was chosen???!!!! That's right! Abel was! This particular DS felt Abel had done such a great job to be chosen as one of 28 out of 210 soldiers to represent his Company and to go against the other A,B,C,E and F Companies!

He has really embraced this whole process and not just done what he needs to to get by, but has excelled at what he's doing! Way to go ABEL!!!! So proud of him!

Close Call...

2011-04-11T14:52:00.014-05:00

So you know how you never pay attention to the news unless you hear about something that will directly affect you? Well, yeah that was me last week. Usually, unless Abel is here to tell me the latest news on CNN or local news, I don't really pay attention, sad, I know...but last Wednesday when I started hearing all the buzz about the government shutdown, my ears perked up. (See, some of you are going, "government shutdown? Huh?) Why? you ask? Well, the Military would be directly affected by the shutdown, since they are obviously run by the Federal Government, and all pay would be stopped to every branch of the Military, including those that are currently deployed, and delaying pay until the shutdown ended. Senseless. Completely senseless. They had to reach a resolution by midnight Friday night. For about 2 minutes, I let all the "what if" scenarios run through my head and then I caught myself and was reminded of a scripture that was sort of "drilled" into us (in a good way) at my MOPS group this week:
Isaiah 41:10 "So do not FEAR, for I am with you; do not be DISMAYED, for I am your God. I will STRENGTHEN you and HELP you; I will UPHOLD you with my righteous right hand."

Ok, God, I said. Thank you, I'll trust you even if it happens, because I know you've always had our backs.

Friday, a surprise call from Abel came in the afternoon, awesome to hear his voice, but he began telling me that his unit/company had just had an "emergency" meeting about the shutdown, and how it would affect them. Now mind you, these guys have NO outside news from anywhere, no tv, newspapers, internet, nothing, (all just part of the Basic Training process) so Abel had no idea what was going on, so I had to explain it all to him. And once again, I was reminded of Isaiah 41:10, and shared this with him.

Well, 10:30 on Friday night I turned on CNN and Breaking News Reports were that a deal had been reached...wow! Thanks Congress, nothing like waiting till the "11th hour", but nevertheless a deal was reached.

I know God gives us times in our lives like this as opportunities to see how our attitudes towards it will be and then sometimes in the "11th hour" it all works out and sometimes it doesn't. I just have to remember that His timing is always better than mine or anyone else's.

Moving right along...
Sunday morning brought another phone call! Yay! During church no less :) had to slip out...thank goodness I still keep my phone plastered to me :)

This week they get to move on to Blue Phase, the last phase of training!!!...he was excited because they get to learn how to throw grenades this week! Can you imagine all the testosterone flying around there right now?! LOL!! Next week they go to Victory Forge, a 6 day "rite of passage" trip, full of combat scenarios, live fire, camping, etc... and then the week after that is GRADUATION!!!!! I could totally hear the "relief" in his voice knowing the end is in sight!

If you want to send Abel a Birthday card you still can...his birthday is this Friday the 15th. Also don't forget, no letters after the 22nd.

Well here are the most recent pictures...

Getting ready to get fitted for their Dress Blues...the nice fancy uniforms that Soldiers get to wear...unfortunately because the country is at war, they will not get to use these uniforms for graduation, they will have to wear their ACU's (Army Combat Uniforms) That's ok though, he'll still look awesome!!
Waiting....

This picture doesn't have Abel in it, but it gives you an idea as to what the uniforms look like. Nice!
In line for chow...so serious :) 4th Platoon! Go Head Hunters!! They obviously have a lot of fun :)

The guy directly to the right of Abel is one of his good buddies Chris, and also the head of the guy right between their heads is Steve another good buddy.
Wow, all decked out in full gear...

Until next time....

Ask The Expert

2011-04-06T00:54:00.002-05:00

So tonight I was watching this show on TLC called "What the Sell?!" love that name! lol! It's about this mom and her daughters that own an antique shop and people come in all the time to sell stuff to them. On tonight's episode, there was a lady who came in with a beautiful necklace which she's had for about 30 years, and it was passed down to her by her aunt, who got it from her aunt. So it's been in the family for about 60-70 years. She has had it for all these years and has never worn it, so she decided she wanted to sell it. It was kind of a gaudy piece, very costume jewelry-ish, but she thought she could at least get about $300 for it. The women who own the shop are hilarious and they're making comments about the necklace and that they'd probably give her $30 for it, but one of the sisters steps up and says, "you know, I want to call in the expert for this one, you never know". So in comes this British dude with his little gadgets to determine whether the pearls are really pearls and the diamonds are diamonds or if its just all fake. He's also using is eye magnifying glass, looking for the "signature" of the maker. He's keeping everyone in suspense...everyone's expecting it to be a dud...but, as he holds the meter gadget on one of the diamonds, it beeps, meaning it's the real deal, and so are the pearls. Not only are those the real deal, but the piece was made by Cartier, and he estimated the value at $10,000! Needless to say, the woman was floored and said she was going to keep it! Duh!! :)

So, why did I tell you about this episode of "What the Sell?!" sorry I just wanted to say it again! :) Well, because as I'm sitting there watching this, I cannot help but feel like a lot of times we (I) try to look to "others" or "things" to tell us what we're worth, and most of the time what we or they think we're "worth" is not very much. So often we try to rid ourselves of something that we think is of no worth or value to us or anyone else so we sell ourselves short, thinking that all we have to offer is just a dud, instead of looking to the Expert, the One who created us and finding out we're worth more than we ever could have imagined. In fact, we are worth SO much, that he took the one thing that was of greatest worth to Him and paid to have us as His own.

Is there something you're trying to get rid of that you think is a dud and isn't worth anything at all? Could it be a disability? Past hurts? Broken relationships? Whatever it may be, God, our Creator, Designer, Maker, can take ANYTHING that you think is worth NOTHING and make it SOMETHING beautiful. Ecclesiastes 3:11a says: He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Can your Creator's "Signature" be found on you? Maybe today you need to ask your Creator how much you're worth...you might be surprised at His answer! :)
Psalm 139: 13, 14, 17 says it beautifully:
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

2011-04-04T16:04:00.005-05:00

After a conversation with my sister last night, she said it perfectly: "There's light at the end of the tunnel!" We're on week 6 of 10!!

I felt like last week was my "hump" week, with it being the halfway point and all. It kinda seemed to drag on, and I was kinda feeling like I hit a wall, but again the words from the Josh Wilson song, Before The Morning kept ringing in my head:
Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming
so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning

I was reminded again at how God has been so faithful to us through this journey. Not just our lives are being changed, but other people's lives are being touched and changed as well, not by anything we've done, but all because of Jesus.

I got a call from Abel last night, he was the only one who got a call, apparently all their Drill Sergeants (DS) left early last night so they weren't there to facilitate calls. He said there was one DS from a different platoon so he asked if he could call home and the DS said yes. So, I don't know if it was a matter of him just asking and no one else thought to ask or what. But hey all you can do is ask right?! And I'm glad he did!

He is doing so good, I can hear it in his voice.

He said that everyone is doing great as a platoon, they had another really great week. This week they are getting fitted for their Dress Uniforms (the really nice dressy ones), and also this week from Tues - Friday they are doing Victory Hammer, where they'll be out "camping" (which by the way he hates camping! LOL!) and doing their combat scenarios and all that good stuff. Then, the following week, they should be moving to Blue Phase (YAY!!) and then the week after that is when they do Victory Forge, which is another camping thing, except 6 days that time, it's their "rite of passage" and then after that's done they will be practicing for graduation! So I know for him time is gonna zip right on by and hopefully for us too. We have a busy April coming up.

He told me that he's lost about 11 pounds and today he was gonna have to go get fitted for new uniforms because his didn't fit him anymore. The uniforms were already a little big when he first got them and now that he's lost that much weight, he needed new ones. :)

Abel's birthday is coming up on the 15th so if you think about it, it would be really nice if you could send him a card :) Mail has been pretty quick getting to him so if you send it one week before his birthday, I'm sure he'd get it on time. I'll post his address again at the end of this post.

Also, he said to stop sending letters after April 22nd, because they don't want them getting mail after they've graduated and because they'll be out almost all that last week anyways.

Thanks again for walking with us through this journey...stick around cause there's more excitement to come!!

Here's his address once again...be sure to address it in blue ink and put a big blue 4 on the back of the envelope.

SPC, Vargas, Abel
D co. 2-39th Inf Reg
4th Platoon (Head Hunters)
10400 Hampton Pkwy
Ft. Jackson, SC 29207-6820

Most recent pics :)

Chow Time

Combat Drills and PT Tests and Shooting, Oh My!

2011-03-28T17:47:00.005-05:00

Seems as though mail coming out of Ft. Jackson was behind, I only got 1 letter last week, then today I got 3 letters and a postcard! And best of all last night I received a phone call :)

He is doing so great and said that this past week they had an excellent week as a platoon. He said everyone is really starting to work together and they've been "weeding out" all the troublemakers and sending them to other platoons. I guess that kinda sucks for the platoons that are getting them, but I guess different Drill Sergeants (DS's) have "certain" techniques for "certain" people :) That's why they've had some guys added in to their platoon as well. He did say that the DS's are easing up a bit :)

Over the past week and a half they have done combat drills, martial arts, and fighting techniques with their weapons. They also had shooting qualifications and had to qualify at least as a marksman in order to graduate and he qualified!

He also told me that the whole D Company was held back from the next phase, which is White Phase. They still get to progress with their training, but don't get as many privileges as they would if they had moved on to White Phase. And just to give you some perspective on how big a Company is, there is first of all an Infantry Regiment (his is the 2-39th), and in each regiment there are 6 Companies, A-F (he is D Co.) then each Company has 4 Platoons, 1-4 (he is 4th platoon). There are about 52 soldiers in each platoon. SO, in D Company there are approximately 208 soldiers. So of the 52 soldiers in his platoon, 26 of them did not pass the Physical Fitness Test, which includes sit ups, push ups and a 2 mile run. Also a graduation requirement. And he passed! He said the people who didn't pass have been "counseled" to improve and be able to pass by the next PT test this week or else they will get "recycled" and will be delayed in their graduation. See the "old guy" is doing better than them youngins' :) So proud of him!

He's been going to church every Sunday and this past week he went to one of the Hispanic Church services and said it was AWESOME! One of the best parts for him was that they sang "Revelation Song" in Spanish. So glad the Army allows them this time :) Also he said one of the guys in his platoon accepted Christ this past Sunday so they were all excited about that too. I'm so thankful for all these opportunities had to experience. It just proves to me once again God's faithfulness, that we are right where he wants us to be.

He is so excited to finish and to graduate (as am I!!) We're exactly half way through...5 weeks down, 5 to go!

Thanks to a great friend for a great idea, Karina and I made what I like to call "The Daddy Chain". It's a countdown for the days left till we get to see Daddy! We're at 37 today :)

"May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace."
Numbers 6:24-26

Have a great day everyone!!

Life Is Not A Snapshot

2011-03-23T23:48:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was just one of those days for me. I really struggled throughout the day and there wasn't really anything specific that happened it was just "blah". I was feeling alone, overwhelmed being the only parent, frustrated, and had a terrible headache. After 4 days straight of receiving letters from Abel and a 15 minute phone call on Sunday night you would think I would have been on a high, but it was almost like when you have a sugar rush and then you hit that really miserable low. Yep, that's what it was.

As I prepared Karina for bed, I could feel the tears coming and as we laid down in her bed to pray, I lost it. And Karina in her sweet little voice said, "mama, just think good things about daddy and you'll be ok". She is such a gift to me during this time, God knows I couldn't have gone through this without her :) So I pulled myself together and finished praying and put her to bed. I went to bed at 9:45, which I NEVER do these days...it's usually midnight or well after by the time I go to bed, but I couldn't sleep so I went and got my devotional book and it was all about God being near to the brokenhearted, and not only is He near, He is here. Well, that was all I needed to hear, and everything else just drifted away. I also had the words of a song running through my head:

"would you dare, would dare to believe,
that you've still got a reason to sing,
cause the pain that you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming
so hold on you gotta wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain that you've been feeling
it's just the dark before the morning"

I absolutely do have a reason to sing, and as I read Psalm 42 verse 8 literally jumped off the page at me: "Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to the God who gives me life."

Today, I just felt joy. Joy that no one except my loving, heavenly Father could give me. I may feel discouraged and lonely and frustrated at times, and I think we all do, but you can still have joy because Joy that the Father gives is not just an outward expression of feeling, but it is and inward state of being.

I was also given a gift today that added to my joy, more pictures of my incredible man.

Love, love, love this smile!!

Here he's on the practice shooting range, preparing to qualify for the next level

Ok, now this one just makes me laugh, part of me wonders, was it a fluke that he happened to be "itching" his nose, but my gut, says, uh NO! If you know Abel you'll agree with me that this was totally on purpose!!

So with the title of this post being "Life is not a snapshot", there's another verse in the song I mentioned, which by the way is Josh Wilson, Before the Morning, and I've got it on my play list here on my blog, so you can click on it to hear the whole song. But anyways another part of that song is:

"My friend, you know how this all ends
and you know where you're going,
you just don't know how you get there
so just say a prayer.
and hold on, cause there's good for those who love God,
life is not a snapshot, it might take a little time,
but you'll see the bigger picture"

And as I look at the pictures that I've posted of Abel at Basic, I realize that even though these are "snapshots" of his life right now, there is definitely a bigger picture, which God is revealing, ONE SNAPSHOT AT A TIME.

If you are experiencing a hard time in your life, just know that it's just "the dark before the morning". May you experience His Joy, unspeakable, FULL of His glory today.

Have a great day everyone!

Time Out For Mommy!

2011-03-16T21:35:00.002-05:00

Well, this past weekend I gave myself a time out! This time not for being bad :) I had the incredible opportunity to attend a conference for moms called Hearts at Home in Bloomington, IL. A group of us girls went on Friday and Saturday, and just had an absolutely fabulous, fun time getting away and finding rest and refreshment, and inspiration as wives and mothers. The days consisted of a morning main session, then 4 workshops and then an evening session. On Friday morning, the in the very first main session, we had the privilege of hearing Jennifer Rothschild speak. She has an incredible story, going blind at age 15, she was able to grow up, get married and successfully raise 2 boys. (If you'd like to read more of her story, her website is www.jenniferrothschild.com) The 2 main themes in her message were "walking by faith and not by sight" and "even though it is not well with my circumstances, it is well with my soul".

Now, just to back it up a little bit. On Thursday last week right before I left to go my parents house the night before the conference, I got 2 letters from Abel in the mail and as I'm reading them, my heart is just breaking for him, at this point he still hasn't gotten any of my letters yet, he's so frustrated with his platoon because they're all just a bunch of boneheads, making everyone get in trouble all the time, he's even thinking about asking if he can get transferred to another platoon and still hasn't gotten to talk to a Chaplain yet. But in the same token, he is also talking about how he knows that his life's purpose right now is to be exactly where he's at and that God wouldn't have brought him this far to abandon him now. At this point though I start to feel the heaviness he's feeling. So I quickly finish packing my things into the car and start to head south. The whole hour and a half drive I'm just crying and praying for him for God to give him favor and and to reward all his hard work and just asking to give him strength and to protect him. So I arrive at my parents house and I knew the question was coming, "have you heard from Abel?" And I knew once the question came, so would the tears. And they did. Lots of them.

So the next morning, very early in the morning, 6am early :) , we left for the conference and I went with a heavy heart. And then here comes Jennifer Rothschild with her message. Here I am, totally walking by faith right now, not by sight. I am walking in faith that God has got my back during this time that I cannot physically see or talk to my husband at this point in time. And I am walking by faith that God is gonna provide EVERY single need that I have. And He does. Also here I am in the midst of my husband going through all these feelings, and me bearing this burden with him, it is definitely not well with my circumstances, BUT it is well with my soul. I've spoken before about the peace that I have and it is still there, sometimes I just need a reminder (aka a kick in the pants!). SO, here I am sitting there listening to Jennifer, with tears streaming down my face, mascara completely gone, eyes puffy, AND it's only 9:00 in the morning, first session. Boy do I have a long day ahead of me!! Haha :) BUT I know, it is well with my soul.

So, fast forward through the day, all the workshops were so great, and then we had dinner and then did a little shopping in the exhibit hall and all of a sudden I feel my phone in my pocket buzzing (which I have on me 24/7) and it's not stopping, which means there's a phone call coming in. I pull it out and see that 803 area code and KNOW it's Abel. My heart skipped about 5 beats I think as I answer the phone and I don't know how loud I was but I yelled, BABY!!!!!!! All my anxiety melted away just getting to hear his voice (1st time in 2 weeks!) and as we talked he began to tell me how everything was so much better, that their platoon was working together now and it was all becoming so much better. He also had received 5 of my letters and said that it just helped him so much. Also the best news he gave me was that he himself had also been praying for God to give him opportunities and to give him favor and look what happened, he was made Platoon Leader! I don't know what all that means, but I don't care, I just know God is faithful! :) So our conversation lasted all of 8 precious minutes, but it seemed like 28 minutes just getting to hear his voice. I ended that conversation and walked away with such a peace and a calm...mind you I was crying like a baby...again! One woman even walked up to me with such sweetness and said, "are you ok??" I explained and she gave me a warm hug :) But God just reminded me again and again during the weekend how faithful He is if we will just surrender our control to Him and let Him do His work in HIS timing. And allow our souls to find calm and rest in Him even when our circumstances dictate otherwise.

Monday when I returned home I had 2 more letters in the mail waiting for me and they just reiterated how great he is doing now. My heart was happy.

Also this week a short video was posted on FB from his unit and some of the things they have done so far and what do you know, I got to see my man in action! In my previous post I talked about how he did Victory Tower and in the video it shows him repelling down the Tower. You'll see him around the 50 second mark where it's labeled "Victory Tower", he's the first one! You can click here for the video :) http://www.vimeo.com/21030826

Thanks for stopping in again, I wish each of you a great day!

Jackpot, Twice In One Week! :)

2011-03-09T13:45:00.007-06:00

Is it possible to hit the jackpot twice in one week? Well my friend yes, it is! I was about to bust out of my skin today when I found these pictures of Abel on one of his unit's Facebook Pages. I was brought to tears to see my sweet husband as I've never seen him before! Enjoy the pictures!

Here he is, back row, on the right
On Facebook this picture was in the photo album, "Gas Chamber" so I'm thinking they had just come out of the gas chamber and were pumped that they made it! :)

Here he is running his little heart out! (On the left)

In this one he's in the top row, all the way to the right, 2nd from the end

You might be wondering, "why did you take this picture, and where is Abel?" Well, anyone who knows Abel knows that he likes to get in any picture that he can and if you look in the top left corner of this picture, you will see half of his face. I knew it was him just by the expression on his face! Made me laugh!!!!

Jackpot!

2011-03-08T15:55:00.003-06:00

So, I felt like I hit the jackpot yesterday! I got two letters in the mail from Abel yesterday. One envelope had 3 letters and the other had 1. I have never in my life looked forward to getting the mail each day than I do now! I definitely took for granted the convenience we have in technology, not anymore!!

Overall he is doing well, but he said it is very tough mentally. In this phase, they try do discourage them and "tear them down so they can build them up the Army way". Not exactly fun, but what are you gonna do, right? :)

In one of the letters he was telling me that most of the guys in his platoon are young guys that basically have no respect for authority and they are constantly getting "smoked" meaning they're getting in trouble and they make them do a ton of push ups or other physical stuff, not letting them shower, etc. He said there are a couple of older guys like him in his platoon and he said they all understand each other and try to stick together but are all feeling the same way about these young kids, because they all get in trouble as a platoon. He said he was having a really hard time with this at first, but he said one day something just clicked in his heart and he is pushing through it and keeping his focus.

He said he likes his Drill Sergeants and actually likes Basic Training, except for what I explained above...one of the days they did Victory Tower which he said he LOVED! He was a little nervous about this because he's kinda scared of heights, but he said "it was sooooo fun!" Basically they have to scale up one side of this really tall tower and then repel down the other side. He also said they got their M16's (their own gun) and are learning all about them and that this week they'll get to go use them, he said "I can't wait!" :) He also said that they've done obstacle courses and some combat survival classes but said it wasn't very interesting. :) He said he can't wait to get out of this phase that they're in the "Red Phase", so he can move on and do what he came to do! So proud of him!!

So please be praying for him:
1. For the guys in his platoon, that they would get their act together!!!!!!!
2. For his mind that it would stay sharp and that he could keep his focus on his goals
3. For his strength, health protection and stamina
4. For his feet, literally. He said his feet are killing him, trying to break into his boots.

Address!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-04T18:28:00.003-06:00

Well, I got the standard Army welcome letter today. It had Abel's address and the graduation dates confirmed for May 5th woooooo hoooooo!!! The letter was just the standard, but our names and the graduations dates were written by him and my heart skipped a beat just seeing his handwriting on the page :)

So if you'd like to write to Abel, here's exactly how you need to address the envelope:

SPC Vargas, Abel F
Delta Co., 2-39th Infantry Regiment
4th Platoon (Head Hunters)
10400 Hampton Pkw
Ft. Jackson, SC 29207-6820

Also it said that his platoon color is BLUE so when you're addressing the envelope please write the address in BLUE and then on the back of the envelope write a big "4" also in BLUE. This helps them to sort the mail faster.

I know he'd love to get any mail, even if it's just a short note that says we're thinking about you :)

Peace In The Waiting

2011-03-03T13:53:00.003-06:00

Waiting...that's what I'm doing, waiting, wondering. When will I get that next phone call, the first letter. Why is waiting so hard?!
It's been a little over a week since Abel left for Basic and though I think I've experienced a roller coaster of emotions, I feel peace in the waiting. I have to honestly say I would never be able to go through this time without Jesus on my side. I cannot tell you the immense peace I have felt. Never in my life have I had this peace.

John 14:27, "I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give you isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid."

Peace that the world gives, what does that mean? Usually when the world defines peace, it means the absence of conflict. I looked up the word "peace" in Merriam-Webster's dictionary, and two of my favorite definitions that it gave were:
1. A state of tranquility or quiet.
2. Freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions.

Jesus never promised us a life without conflict, but in the midst of all of that, he gives us peace, i.e. tranquility, quiet and freedom. And true peace isn't found in "positive thinking" or in good feelings, it comes from KNOWING that God is in control.

Philippians 4:6,7 says, "Don't WORRY about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I've started to connect with a lot of people on Facebook who also have loved ones at Ft. Jackson right now in Basic and the bottom line in so many people's posts seems to be worry. Understandably so. Many of them have very young sons and daughters who have never been away from home. Many of them have husbands or wives who this is the first time being apart (ME!), but I just pray that I can be an encouragement to those people and point them to the Ultimate Peace Giver!

So as I think of my husband today, I pray PEACE over him. Not the peace that the world gives, but the peace, tranquility and freedom that comes from knowing God is in control. God is in control of his loneliness, his fears, his tiredness and fatigue, his pain, his weakness. And God is also in control of his peace.

If you think about Abel today, please just say a quick prayer for him, I know he can feel every on of them!

Let The Journey Begin...

2011-02-26T13:38:00.000-06:00

Well, friends, our journey has begun. Abel is officially in Basic Training and we are a military family!
When the new year arrived, I thought, wow, ok we've got 9 weeks before he has to leave, that's a good amount of time and then, it felt like I had only closed my eyes for a second, and it was already time for him to leave. Over the past month, we really tried to do as much as we could together, knowing soon it would just be Karina and I. We made the most of every moment we had together and felt our love for each other grow so much stronger. We did lots of simple things together, but we also did a few special things.

We went to see Toy Story 3, Disney on Ice
COTTON CANDY!!!! Yummmmmm!!!

Mezmerized :)

Of course Woody & Jessie had to come :)

And frozen yogurt afterwards...so good!

Then another special thing we did was we went to Build-A-Bear and got a special bear for Karina. They have an army bear, complete with his little uniform, just like daddy's. So we got this for Karina so that each night when we pray for daddy she can give it a hug and and a kiss and daddy will feel her hugs and kisses.
She named him Fuzzy :)

The day he had to leave, he had to report to the Army hotel by 6pm and then he could check out and spend some time with us before we had to leave him. We spent the day together and went out to lunch with his sister and brother in law and their daughter...

And this was our last photo together, moments before we had to say goodbye...

That was an extremely, extremely hard moment in my life. Saying goodbye to my best friend, the man I have shared 14 years of my life with, and have never been apart from for more than a week at a time. Having said that, it was also the most peaceful time of my life. I have never felt more peace in my life than I do right now. Yes he'll be gone for 4 months, yes, it is hard being away from him and yes it is going to be hard being the only parent right now, BUT the reward at the end will be more than worth it.

So, he arrived at Ft. Jackson on Tuesday night around 8 pm along with buses full of other recruits, and had to go through security and didn't arrive at their station until about 2 am. They had to be up by 4am. This whole week was spent in Reception, where they went through medical, dental and vision exams, given shots, haircuts, uniforms, boots, paperwork, etc...He was able to keep his cell phone with him throughout the week of reception but had to turn it in today when he arrived at Basic, they are supposed to call on Sunday to let us know they arrived, and then after that, phone calls will most likely be few and far between.

The first day he was extremely tired having not slept hardly at all, but I could hear the excitement in his voice as he just wanted to "get on with it" :)

While he was in Reception this week, the Head Drill Sergeant that they had turned out to be a very vocal Christian. During one of their formations, he told them this, "you are here for a reason. God brought you here to do something great. It was not a coincidence that you're here. Some people and even your family asked why you are doing this, but they don't realize that God has a great plan for you. When you're out on the course and you feel like you can't go on, ask for His help!" Abel said you never hear him cussing like most of the other Drill Sergeants do and he told them all that that was the reason why, because he has God in his life. Even though Abel will not have constant interaction with this Drill Sergeant, he told all the guys that anytime they feel like they need to talk to someone or need someone to pray with to just let their Drill Sergeant know and he would be happy to do it. Wow! I just thought that was so awesome!

Here's my Soldier! So proud of you babe!!

His dog tags (I had to blur out the middle cause his SS# was on there!) :)

So now, it begins for him...

Weeks 1-3: Red Phase

Soldiers meet their Drill Sergeants and begin training. While often considered a difficult week for Soldiers due to the adjustments, it is actually pretty easy compared to later weeks. Most classroom-type training occurs in this period where Soldiers learn about:

Ballistics and Rifle Marksmanship Fundamentals
Personal financial management
Law of Land Warfare
Uniform Code of Military Justice (Military Law)
Dismounted Land Navigation (using a map and compass)
Fundamentals of Physical Readiness
Nutrition
Rappelling and navigating rope bridges
Drill and Ceremonies (marching)
Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) Defense (often referred to as the Gas Chamber)
Fieldcraft
Patrolling

I'll keep updating as much as I can. He's supposed to call me tomorrow with his address so if anyone is interested in sending him letters or cards, I'll post the address as soon as I get it. I've heard from SO MANY people who have gone through this, that for them to get something in the mail is like they've struck gold :)

Please keep us in your prayers :)

Carla

Happy New Year!

2011-01-10T13:47:00.000-06:00

Well, Happy New Year Everyone!! We've made it through another year, and let me tell you, we barely made it through! It was a very difficult year for us BUT God has also been very good to us this year.

So it's sort of cliche to say, "a new year a new beginning", but for us this cliche could not be more true! Some of you may have already heard some of you this is brand new news. We have officially become a Military family.

Believe me this is not a snap decision, or a decision out of "desperation" as some might do, this has decision/process has been almost a year and a half in the making. We wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing at the right time. So through much prayer, seeking God and weighing all our options regarding this opportunity, we finally felt that this was the right thing to do. So here's what we're doing: Abel enlisted in the California National Guard and will be doing his Basic Training in Ft. Jackson, South Carolina for 9 weeks and then will go to job training in Gulfport, Mississippi for 7 weeks. When he's done with all his training then we'll be moving to Southern California where his unit will be. With joining the National Guard he will be serving one weekend a month and 2 weeks a year, so, he will still need to have a "monday-friday" job, so again we're weighing all our options and one of those options is working for the US Border Patrol. He'll be taking his exam for that next week. Abel's ultimate goal in enlisting is to become an officer and to specialize in intelligence.

We (and when I say "we", I truly mean WE) are so excited about this next phase of life. Never in million years would I have believed anyone if they told me this is where we'd be at this point in life, and even thought I know it is going to be extremely hard while he's gone, the end result is going to be so rewarding. Abel and I have never been more on the same page about any decision in our married lives and it feels so good. And to see my husband SO incredibly happy about his job and what is to come, makes my heart full and proud and happy. We joke around that he's gonna be the "old guy" at Basic (he is almost 34 after all!), but I know he's gonna kick butt! He's ready for this, physically and mentally. He had his first Drill weekend with the Guard in December and they already made him squad leader! He goes again next weekend and this time he's coming home in his fatigues, I think that's when it's gonna hit me that it's even more real!

I'll be keeping you updated as things progress...thanks for taking time to read about our lives!!

Traditions? What Traditions?

2010-12-28T11:19:00.000-06:00

So the presents are opened, toys are scattered around, bits of wrapping paper still appearing out of nowhere, tree is still up, but Christmas day is done, traditions were carried out...or were they?

Earlier this fall, even before Thanksgiving had come upon us, I started thinking about Christmas, and all the significance, joy, wonder, beauty, fun, family, candy (yes!!!) and everything else that comes along with the season, yet I was very bothered and frustrated about one thing. Traditions. What were ours and why couldn't I think of one single tradition we carried out. Now, I KNOW of many traditions, yet if someone asked me, there was not one that I could say, "we do _____ every year at Christmas". We've been married 10 years and have a 4 year old, you would have thought I would have figured it out by now! (But after a conversation with my mom and sister 2 days before Christmas, things all made sense...keep reading down below)

Well, time went on and Thanksgiving passed, still feeling like even then we didn't have any traditions, and then during the first week of December, I attended my MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) and the speaker we had that day, was all about...say it with me...TRADITIONS! Coincidence?? I think not! Not only was it about bringing traditions into your family but bringing back PERSPECTIVE to Christmas, WHO it's really all about, and simplifying the holidays. It feels strange to say, but I really felt like a burden had been lifted off of my shoulders and like everything started to become clear. I certainly can't explain things like she did, but she shared with us that by passing on traditions to our children, it makes them feel safe, loved and knowing their place and role in their family. Things that may seem silly when they're children, they'll want and expect when they're adults.

Some of the things she shared were fun and simple things to do, and some really held the significance of why we do what we do at Christmas.

Here are some of the things she mentioned that we started:

1. New jammies on Christmas Eve (fun!)
2. Milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve (fun!) Now I know for some of you, you don't do Santa, and honestly, we don't promote it either and it doesn't over-shadow our Christmas, its just kind of something that happened, but it is fun and Karina definitely knows what Christmas is about (more to come about that in a bit)

3. Get a Nativity Set Devotional. The lady that spoke at our MOPS group that day explained how she loves to decorate for every season and of course at Christmas she put out her Nativity Set and she stopped one day and stared at the scene set out before her and wondered, do my children know the difference between this "decoration" and the significance it holds as compared to all my other decorations throughout the year? So God gave her the idea to write a devotional to go along with all the pieces of the Nativity, and instead of putting it out all at one time, each piece, (the angel, the shepherd, the donkey, sheep, etc..) gets put out one at a time and has a story/devotional to go along with it, and eventually building up the anticipation to the ONE who it's all about...Jesus! So, I bought the Nativity Set and Devotional to go along with it and we started it on December 1st and did it every other day all the way up to Christmas (you can do it that way or start it on December 13 and do every day). Karina (and Abel and I) absolutely loved this. She was so excited who would get to come out next, and hear the story of the character she would ask me EVERY day, "do we get to read the story tonight??" We also read the Christmas story in the Bible ever y time we did the devotional, just so that she would know the story and not just hear it one time on Christmas. By the time the week of Christmas rolled around, she could tell you the story if you asked her, and also when I would read the story, I'd leave out words to see if she was listening and knew what they were and she definitely did! I also heard her in her room yesterday playing out the manger scene with her little dolls and animals, and she had it all right! I stood there, with her not knowing I was listening in, my heart swelling as this precious child knew who this Jesus is and the real reason we celebrate this season.

4. Birthday Cake - It's Jesus' Birthday so we made a Happy Birthday Jesus cake!

Another area she talked about was gifts. She stressed, "Be Free From The List!!!" Something they have implemented is that they get their children 3 main gifts, coinciding with the 3 gifts that Jesus received at his birth, gold, frankincense and myrrh. We tried this with Karina this year and it was a little hard for her 4 year old mind to completely grasp the concept, but I wanted to start it now. If your kids are old enough, ask them to make their list according to the following:

Gold - it represented something very valuable. For your kids this represents something that they REALLY want, something they consider valuable. For Karina it was a little piano. She has been talking about a little piano for a long time and every time you asked her what she wanted for Christmas, it was this little piano.

Frankincense - it represented something about who Jesus would become. For your kids, it represents something that will help them grow spiritually. For example, it could be a Bible, or a CD that they like, or a movie that helps them learn important life lessons, etc. Karina wasn't really sure what she wanted in that category, so we're planning on going to www.adventconspiracy.org and getting a gift card that donates clean water to people all over the world, you can choose the project you want to donate to and then you can follow that project and see who's getting the water. I highly recommend visiting this website.

Myrrh - it represented a gift for Jesus' body (it was used for embalming). For your kids, this also represents something for their body. For Karina this year it was the jammies, but it could be anything from clothes, shoes, slippers, lotions, perfumes, etc...

Now, does this mean that your kids ONLY get 3 gifts??? Absolutely not! But it does mean that you can be free from getting your kids useless junk that will most likely go on the garage sale next summer, and it helps you to get your children, meaningful, thought-out gifts that represents your relationship with them. So ask your kids to make a list according to the 3 gift above and then anything else you get them is just bonus for them and you never have to worry if you got them "enough".

Sooooooo....back to the conversation with my mom and my sister that made it all make sense. Two days before Christmas, my brother in law asked my mom and dad what their favorite memories of Christmas were as kids and neither one of them could really answer the question, because, they really didn't have any. (I honestly don't have too many either unless I look at pictures and it kind of jogs my memory) As we talked more, we came to the realization that since both my parents come from a very conservative background, where they lived a much simpler life, no tv, probably no radio, basically where the ways of the world were very much discouraged. Christmas for them was not really as we know it today. Obviously there was not the commercialization of Christmas back then as it is today. So for my mom and dad growing up, for the most part Christmas was just another day where they had a big meal sometimes with aunts, uncles and cousins, and no one went to work. I don't think that it's not that they didn't "celebrate" Christmas, it's that their way of expressing it was not in the area of gift giving, or celebration like we know today. So anyways, since there really were no traditions being had during their growing-up years, why wouldn't it make sense that there were none to pass down to us? (Now, please understand me, I sincerely mean it when I say I hold no regret or grudge to anyone in my family, grandparents or parents, nor do I wish my childhood any different, it was wonderful and FULL of memories. God specifically puts us into the family we are born into for a specific purpose in life, so I believe it's our response to that which determines what we decide to do with our own families.)
So it all kind of came together for me, meaning that we've had to confront some emotions that are not so easy, BUT I'm already so excited for Christmas next year because, Traditions are to be had!!!!!

I sincerely hope that each one of you had a wonderful Christmas and continue your celebrations into the new year with blessing, favor and happiness, whatever may come your way...I'll let you know what's coming our way in the next post! Stay tuned!

P.S. I'd love to know what some of your traditions are, please leave a comment on this post or on facebook...I need more ideas!!! :)

Tea For Two

2010-12-02T21:33:00.000-06:00

We all have one. We've carried it around for years. Neglected. Ignored. Haunting us. Yes, it is that one (or maybe more than one) box that you've had since you've been married that has never been unpacked, sitting there unused, yet you refuse to get rid of it, because "maybe someday I'll use it". Well, 'tis the case of the unused tea set for me. This particular tea set has been with us now for 10 years, through 8 moves, has been on 4 garage sales (it won't sell), and yet it still remains in the box, unused. "Someday, when I have a big enough house, I'll display it, someday" I said. I finally decided I'd give it to Goodwill...someday.

Someday has not yet arrived, and I am so happy it has not, because today that was all made history, the tea set came out of the box! I have recently been focusing on what my priorities in life are, and really doing a mindset shift of sorts and deciding what really matters in life. Does it matter that I have a cute little tea set still in perfect condition in the box, never being used? NO! Does it matter that I have decided to set aside a time each week to have a tea party, with this tea set and my precious little girl, and not care if the tea set gets ever broken? YES!

Today I told Karina we were going to have a tea party today and she said, "oh with my little play tea set?" "No," I said, "with mama's tea set, you know the one I have it the garage?" Her face lit up with excitement and she couldn't wait to get the tea set out of the box. I taught her how to pour the tea and hold the cup, although it practically covered her face, but she was thrilled to be having tea with mama. All too soon, this little girl is going to be into clothes and friends and I'll wonder, "will she still want to have tea parties with mama?" (I swear I've only blinked one time and she's already almost 5.)

Also in refocusing my priorities, I know I've been carrying around "boxes" for a long time, waiting to be opened up and used. I've known for a long time that they're there, neglected, ignored, unused. Sometimes, I've felt like they'd be better off given to "goodwill" better used by someone else. Well, I think some of my "boxes" are about to be opened (to come in a later post) and I am very excited. My Heavenly Father wants to have a tea party with me and I still want to too.

What's For Dinner?

2010-06-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

For about the past year or so I have been planning out my dinner meals usually two weeks at a time, this time it happened to be three weeks out. I like doing this method because #1 it saves me money (I make a list, it keeps me from just aimlessly wondering the aisles of the grocery store) #2 it saves me from having to go to the grocery store every few days, and #3 it saves me from standing in front of the fridge for an hour every night wondering what I'm gonna make for supper!
So today on Facebook I posted that I just planned my meals and some of you asked to see my list of meals. So, not only will I give you my list, I will actually give you the recipes along with a picture! If you're anything like me, when I'm trying new recipes, I like to see what the food is supposed to look like! Some of the weeks I don't have 7 meals simply due to the fact that we won't be home one of the nights or I plan on having leftovers. Also, you might notice there's not red meat recipes...we're not big red meat eaters :) So here goes!

This week's Menu:

Tuesday:
FRESH MOZZARELLA & TOMATO PIZZA (aka Margarita Pizza)
Italian style pizza dough (either homemade or store bought dough)
4 oz fresh mozzarella cheeze
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
1/4 cup thin strips fresh basil leaves
1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 Tbsp small capers, if desired
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 425. Grease cookie sheet or 12 inch pizza pan with oil. Press dough into 12 inch circle on cookie sheet or pat in pizza pan, using floured fingers. Press dough from center to edge so edge is slightly thicker than center.
2. Cut cheese into 1/4 inch slices. Place cheese on dough to within 1/2 inch of edge. Arrange tomatoes on cheese. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, 2 tbsp of the basil, the oregano and capers. Drizzle with oil.
3. Bake about 20 min or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp basil.

1 serving: 140 Calories, 5 grams fat

Wednesday:
SIMPLE SAUSAGE PASTA TOSS
8 oz uncooked multigrain spaghetti
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 lb Italian turkey sausage links cut into 1/2 in slices
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cans (14.5 oz ea) no salt added diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, toast bread crumbs in oil over medium heat; remove from the heat and set aside.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 min longer. Stir in tomatoes and olives. Cook and stir until heated through. Drain pasta; add to skillet. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Servings: 1 2/3 cups each = 340 calories, 10 grams fat

Thursday:
SLOPPY JOES & CORN ON THE COB
Ok so I don't really have a recipe for this, so here's what I do. I brown about a pound of ground turkey, saute some green peppers and onions combine these and then mix in ketchup, bbq sauce, mustard, and about 1 Tbs brown sugar. I don't have an exact amount on any of these so just do it to taste.

Friday:
GRILLED LATIN HALIBUT WITH GREEN SAUCE
2 1/2 lb halibut or sea bass steaks about 3/4 in thick, cut into 6 serving pieces
1 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 jar (16 oz) green salsa (salsa verde)
1 ripe avocado, pitted peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp chopped ripe olives
Sour cream if desired
Fresh cilantro leaves if desired

1. Heat gas or charcoal grill. Brush fish lightly with oil, sprinkle with seasoned salt.
2. Place fish on grill. Cover grill; cook over medium-high heat about 10 min, turning once, until fish flakes easily with fork.
3. In medium bowl, mix salsa, avocado and olives. Serve over fish. Garnish with sour cream and cilantro.

1 Serving = 270 calories, 10 grams fat

Next Week's Menu:

Monday:
MANDARIN ORANGE CHICKEN (sorry no picture)

3 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
3 Tbs lower-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs fresh minced garlic
1 tsp chili garlic sauce or chili paste
3/4 cup canned unsweetened mandarin oranges in juice
3 (4oz) trimmed boneless, skinless chicken breast

1. In a large, resealable plastic bag or container, mix the juice concentrate, soy sauce, garlic, oil, and chili sauce or chili paste. Gently stir in the oranges and their juice. Add the chicken, submerging it in marinade. Seal the bag or container and marinate in the refrigerator at least 6 hours or overnight, rotating once or twice.

2. Preheat the oven to 400. Transfer the chicken to an 11 x 7 glass baking or casserole dish in a single layer and pour the remaining marinade on top. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 to 30 min or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.

Per serving: 183 calories, 4 grams fat

Wednesday:
CAZUELA DE QUESO , ARROZ Y MAIZ (Cheese, Rice and Corn Casserole)

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 cups white rice, cooked
1 can (11 oz) corn with red and green peppers
1 cup mexican style finely shredded four cheese
1/4 cup cilantro
(the recipe doesn't call for shredded chicken but I like to add it, as it gives it more of a main meal feel)

1. Mix the cream cheese, milk and egg. Add the rice, corn and 3/4 cup of the cheese and 3 Tbs of cilantro.
2. Place in a greased, glass pan and bake at 350 for 30 min.
3. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle remaining cilantro on top.

1 Serving = 190 calories, 10 grams fat

Thursday:
POTATO & CHORIZO EMPANADAS (sorry no picture)

Filling:
1/2 cup diced and peeled red potatoes
1/2 cup low-fat chicken broth (divided)
1 oz chorizo sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 Tbs water
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Dough:
2 cups flour (divided)
6 Tbs cold water
1 tsp cider vinegar
2 Tbs powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortning

1. Filling: In a sauce pan cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for about 6 minutes until potato is tender, drain.
3. Place 1/4 cup broth in a skillet and add chorizo.
4. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 min
5. Add onion and bell pepper and cook for 2 min
6. Add cooked potatoes and 1/4 broth and cook until liquid evaporates.
7. Chill chorizo mixture while preparing dough
8. Dough: level flour with a knife in measuring cup
9. Mix 1/2 cup flour, water and vinegar, stirring with a whisk to combine
10. Preheat oven to 400
11. In a separate bowl, mix: 1 1/2 cups flour, the sugar, salt, stirring with a whisk
12. Cut shortening into dough with a pastry blender or a knife, should resemble coarse meal
13. Add this mixture to wet mixture and toss until everything is moist
14. Chill dough in freezer for 10 min
15. Place on floured surface and roll out into a triangle
16. Using a biscuit cutter or a glass, cut into 4 inch circles
17. Spoon 1 Tbs filling into circles and leave a 1/2 inch border, seal dough with fingers
18. Combine water and egg and brush mixture over dough to help seal
19. Place on baking sheet and bake at 400 for 20 min or until golden brown.

1 Serving = 182 Calories, 10 grams fat

Friday:
SOUTHWESTERN CHICKEN SCALOPPINE
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp red pepper sauce if desired
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1. Between pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper, place chicken breast half with smooth side down; gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining chicken. Cut chicken into smaller pieces if desired.
2. In a shallow dish, mix flour, cumin and salt. Coat chicken with flour mixture. Reserve 1 tsp flour mixture.
3. In a 12 inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 3 to 5 min on each side or until golden brown and no longer pink in center. remove chicken from skillet; cover to keep warm.
4. In a small bowl, stir reserved 1 tsp flour mixture into broth. Gradually stir broth mixture and red pepper sauce into skillet. Heat to boiling; stir in lime juice and cilantro. Serve sauce over chicken.

1 Serving = 260 Calories, 12 grams fat

Following Week's Menu:

Sunday:
BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast
1/3 cup bbq sauce
1 pizza crust (store bought, or homemade)
3 Roma tomatoes, sliced
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oven to 450. In a small bowl, mix chicken and bbq sauce. Place pizza crust on ungreased cookie sheet; spread chicken mixture over crust. Arrange tomatoes over chicken; sprinkle with cheese.
2. Bake 8 to 10 min or until cheese is melted and crust is browned. Sprinkle with cilantro.

1 Serving = 300 calories, 11 grams fat

Monday:
CREAMY TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE **I don't usually like Tuna Casserole BUT this one is really yummy!!**

5 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 can (10.75 oz) reduced fat reduced sodium condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup fat free sour cream
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup 2% milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 cans (5 oz each) light water packed tuna, drained and flaked
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup finely chopped onion,
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper

Topping:
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
1 Tbsp butter, melted

1. Cook noodles according to directions on package.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, cheese, milk and salt. Stir in the tuna, peas, onion and pepper. Drain noodles; add to soup mixture.
3. Transfer to an 11x7 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine topping ingredients, sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 min or until bubbly.

Serving: 1 1/3 cup = 340 calories, 8 grams fat

Wednesday:
TURKEY BURGERS
I have no recipe for this either. I usually just mixed ground turkey with some parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix and grill!

Thursday:
CHIPOTLE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS (sorry no picture)
1 jar/can enchilada sauce (red or green)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
8 corn tortillas
1/2 cup shredded Chihuahua or Monterey Jack cheese

1. Mix 1/4 cup sauce into meat
2. Spread 3/4 cup sauce over bottom of 9x9 baking dish

3. Spread out tortillas on baking sheet and lightly brush both sides with oil. Bake at 300 to soften (about 3 min). Remove and stack to keep warm
4. Turn oven to 400. Roll 1/4 cup filling into each tortilla. Place side by side in baking dish and cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15 to 20 min.

Friday:
OPEN FACED MEATBALL SANDWICHES

Meatballs
Sauce
Whole grain buns
1/4 cup low fat mozzarella cheese

Meatballs:
3/4 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs or lightly crushed wasa light rye crispbread
1/3 cup fat free milk
1 lb ground turkey
3 large egg whites
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp grated reduced fat Parmesan cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly mist a medium baking sheet with olive oil spray. Set aside
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs or crushed crispbread and the milk. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes or until the milk softens the crumbs. Add the turkey, egg whites, parsley, cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. With clean hands or a fork, mix well. Divide the mixture into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, place the meatballs on the baking sheet.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 min or until no longer pink inside.

Sauce:

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow or white onion
2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/3 canned crushed tomatoes
1 Tbs no salt added tomato paste
1 Tbs water
1 tsp honey
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp dried basil

Lightly mist a medium nonstick saucepan with olive oil spray. Set over medium heat. add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3 to 5 min or until almost tender (do not brown). Reduce the heat to low. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, honey, oregano, italian seasoning, olive oil and basil. Stir with a wooden spoon to mix. Simmer for 5 min for the flavors to blend.

Place meatballs on the bun and spoon sauce on top. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place under the broiler till browned.

Serving = 377 calories, 7 grams fat

Happy 4th Birthday to Karina!!!

2010-04-20T10:46:00.000-05:00

Can it be??? 4 years have passed since our precious girl came to us??? Now, I see each day through different lenses than when she was 1 or 2. Time passes so quickly that I sometimes forget how tiny she was, or how sweetly her fresh baby hair smelled, or how she would grab my necklace when I rocked her to sleep. And while those memories are forever written on my heart, I put my new lenses on, and see the wonderful little 4 year old that she is. How independent she is, yet still so dependent on us. How sweet and tenderhearted she is. How helpful she is. How she sweetly says, for no reason at all, "mommy, I love you!" How she tells us she loves Jesus. Each day is such a precious day that we are given with her and with each precious day, more precious memories...We love you baby girl!

Every year on Karina's birthday I take a picture of her in her "Birthday Princess" crown. Here are some pictures of each year.

1 year old2 years old
3 years old
4 years old

This year for Karina's birthday, we had her party at Build A Bear. She was sooooo excited about it and so were all her little friends. They have such a fun little process and all the girls loved it. Get ready for a bunch of pictures!!

Build A Bear!!
Teegan & Karina

Everyone picking out their bears

Me trying to help Karina pick out which bear she wanted. She was the last one to decide...hmmm I know someone else like that...(daddy) :)

Success!! Everyone has a bear!

Karina's turn at stuffing the bear

Stepping on the pedal to give it some fluff

The "squeeze" test: making sure it's fluffy enough to squeeze :)

Jillian's turn

Teegan's squeeze test

Daniela's turn

Squeeeeeeze!

Laila's turn

Jalese's turn
They each got a heart to put inside their bear, but first they had to kiss it and rub it and hug it and I don't know what all else, but it was cute :)

After they each stuck a heart in their own bear, everyone got another heart, including the mommies and daddies, and they all stuck it in Karina's bear so her bear has like 16 hearts! It was very cute :)

Hearts are in, time to sew up the bears!

"Bath" time!

The Dads, doing their thing...waiting for the women :)

What girls do best - Accessorize!!

The finished bear, whom she named Giselle :)

Getting Giselle a birth certificate

They were all sooooo cute! L-R: Daniela with a Panda, Jalese with a Kitty, Teegan with a Bunny, Jillian with a Pony, Karina with Pink Bear, and Laila with a Purple Bear

Silly girl

A mass of bears and kids

All done! Lets go have some cake!!

Opening some presents

mmmmm...cake!

The Cake

This Is What Little Girls Are Made Of...

2010-03-31T20:05:00.000-05:00

So this is how little girls play with boys toys.... :)

Mommy Time

2010-03-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I had the great opportunity to attend a conference called Hearts At Home. This is a conference held annually in Bloomington, IL and it is for stay at home moms, working moms, moms with little ones, moms with teens, or really just any mom. I got to go with 4 of my great friends and fellow mommies. We left Friday night and went to Champaign (we had to stay at my parents house because Bloomington hotels were completely booked due to this conference as well as Special Olympics being there at the same time) and got to go out to a nice dinner...just the girls! It was so nice! And then we headed over to my parents where we played games and stayed up waaaaay too late, seeing that we had to get up at 6am the next morning :)

So Saturday was the conference and I learned this last year, but for some reason, it totally left my brain and that is this: I always think, ooohhh yeah, I'm gonna pick workshops where they're gonna give me the formula to make my child behave, be thankful, grateful, obey, blah, blah, blah. Well I was humbly reminded once again, through ALL my workshop speakers that it FIRST starts with ME, in MY heart and by MY example. If I want my child to be thankful, I need to model thankfulness, etc, etc. If we're not doing it, how could we possibly think that they will???? Ouch that hurt!

I learned so much again, and pray that it will soak it deep into my heart so that it can flow out of my life into the precious little life that God chose to bless us with.

The following are some notes from the main sessions and workshops that I attended. If you don't want to read them, please feel free to skip the rest, but I guess for my own reminder and benefit I will go ahead and share it. If you'd like to get an audio copy of any session from Hearts at Home, you can go to: http://www.catapes.com/viewresults.cfm?cid=146 to order an MP3, CD, or DVD.

Also here are some websites/blogs from these particular speakers:
Jill Savage: www.heartsathome.org then click on Jill's blog on the right
Sharon Autrey & Laurie Hilliard: www.momandlovingit.org
Susie Larson: www.susielarson.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Jill Savage - "The Power of Words"

4 Types of Words Our Families Need To Hear:
1. Power of Affirming Words
- Speaks life to the person receiving them
- Could change the trejectory of someone's life
2. Power of Accepting Words
- Says somebody's feelings and opinions count
- Says you're valuable
3. Power of Appreciating Words
- Gratitude for their character
- Make sure these words get out of your heart to your mouth!
4. Power of Apologizing Words
- Soothes the hurts that we cause
- Brings life
- The frequency of these words help us tune into whats really going on in our own heart

Here are some scriptures she gave regarding the power of our words. I took them all from the Message Bible, I love the way it puts it.

Ephesians 4:25 - "What this adds up to then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ's body we're all connected ot each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself"

Ephesians 5:4 - "Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect."

Philippians 2:14-16 - "Do everything readily and cheerfully - no bickering, no second guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-give Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof I didn't go to all this work for nothing."

Proverbs 12:18 - "Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise"

Proverbs 18:21 - "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit - you choose"

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Sharon Autrey & Laurie Hilliard - "Am I Doing This Right? - Reaching The Heart"

Proverbs 22:6 - "Point your kids in the right direction - when they're old they won't be lost"

Train: to aim at an objective or a goal.

What's most important?
- the mind? (education)
- their body? (sports, dance, etc.)
- what are 3 things you want your children to be known for when they grow up?
- the heart? (Prov. 4:20-23, 1 Sam 16:7)
- sometimes we get so mixed up in DOING that we forget to BE

How do we build these relationships with our kids?

*Talk along the way
- write notes (in their lunch boxes, gym bags, etc)
- journal (exchange a journal with each other, writing notes, or questions back and forth to each other)
- messaging (texting, email, whatever gets you into their world)

*Laugh along the way
- Lighten up!
- say "no" with a smile
- have some fun! (ex: 5 minutes after the kids have gone to bed go in and turn the light on and say "we're going to go get ice cream!")
- Get into their world
- get down on their level, sit on the floor and play with them
- be weird with them!

*Be patient along the way
- If you find yourself struggling with a child:
- pray "Lord, give me YOUR eyes"
- Speak their love language
- Introduce them positively (if you have a child that is shy, don't say "This is ____, but she's/he's a little shy" Instead use something positive like, "This is _____, and she/he is mommy's super helper today")

*Pray along the way
- Pray the 6 "P's"
- Passion for God
- Purpose
- Peers/Pals
- Partner
- Purity
- Praise in good times and bad

*Protect along the way
- In relationships
- With their time
- From media (tv, movies, internet)

*Practice along the way
- If it is not real to us, HOW will it be real to them???
- Use spiritual applications - use nature as object lessons (ask God to help you think of things)
- Scripture memory
- Model it
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Susie Larson - "Growing Grateful Kids"

**We cannot impart what we do not possess!**

5 Ways To Cultivate Grateful, Thankful Kids:

1. Model Thankfulness
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
- Don't commit the sin of comparison
- Don't wait for life to get better to celebrate
- Your children will pick up on your perspective
- Refuse worry - it will steal your grateful heart
- Spend time with God, get His perspective
- Start a thankfulness journal
- Say it out loud
- Each day let your children hear your thankfulness
- Teach your children to pray out loud
-Ask your children, "what are you most thankful for today?"

2. Practice restraint
- Just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should buy it
- Partial fasting - nothing should overpower you except the presence of God
- It's not just about practicing restraint, it's about giving God room to work
- Don't do the easy thing, do the RIGHT thing
- Ask God, "what do you want me to lay down so you can work in me?"
- Say no to yourself and stick with it
- Prayerfully ask God to give you a heightened sense of your child's tendencies
- Show your children the muscle of self restraint

3. Take Time To Play
- In good times and bad, life is a precious gift and it's worth celebrating
- If we take ourselves too seriously we miss out on the celebrations of life
- Take time to get together with girlfriends who make you laugh till your gut hurts
- Have friends over for game night
- Build a blanket fort with your kids
- Ditch the housework for the day and go to the park
- During bedtime prayers ask them what they are thankful for

4. Teaching Forgiveness
- Forgiveness is the rebar of the family
- Forgiveness is not an occasional attitude, it is a state of the heart
- Own and admit one's offense
- Humbly ask for forgiveness
- Take responsibility and make reparations
- Regularly pray Psalm 139
- Pray daily for those who you find it difficult to forgive
- Daily receive fresh mercies
- When you blow it with your children, use yourself as an example

5. Give A Blessing
- We need to tell our kids what we see in them
- Ask God for a blessing if you've never received one from your parents
- Remind yourself that you are the object of God's affection
- Speak Blessing
- Speak blessing on your kids
- During difficult discipline seasons, recast God's vision for their lives

If It's For Free It's For Me!!

2010-03-09T13:16:00.001-06:00

In the past 6 months I have tried to become VERY frugal. I don't mean cheap, I mean FRUGAL :) And one of the ways I do that is by going to "frugal blogs/websites". There are so many blogs out there that people dedicate themselves to finding those crazy good deals and freebies. I request freebies all the time and several times a week I get my freebies in the mail. I get things like sample size lotions, shampoos and conditioners, tampons (all great for my travel bag), sample size coffees, teas, snacks, cereals, etc, etc. All these samples usually come with a really good coupon to try their product.
And I also love coupons, they are my best shopping buddy :) I love the thrill of the hunt! Finding the best deal out there. On an average, I save between $20-30 dollars just with coupons (this doesn't include things I find on clearance or on sale) each time I get groceries. I know it's not that much, but hey, something is something. Now, I DON'T use coupons just to say I used a coupon, that would not be frugal. I try to find the best scenario, if using a coupon doesn't make me come out ahead, it doesn't get used. Here's another bonus about coupons, at most stores, you can use a Manufacturer's coupon (ex: one that you cut out of the newspaper etc...) AND a store coupon for the same item. I do this all the time at Target, for example: you have a manufacturer's coupon for $1 off cheerios and a target coupon for $.50 off cheerios, you can combine these coupons and get a box of cheerios like a dollar. :) If you didn't already know, you can print Target coupons by going to their website and scrolling all the way down to the bottom and there's a link that says grocery coupons and then just select the ones you want and print. Some of this is probably old had to a lot of you, but I just wanted to share in case someone didn't know :)
Here are a couple of websites that I visit all the time to check out the latest deals around:

http://hip2save.com/
She always has great deals and she's funny :)

http://www.totallytarget.com/
I love this one because I shop at Target all the time and this one is all about Target and the good deals.

Today, when the mail came it was like I hit the jackpot :)
Here's what I got:

A huge sample of Rachael Ray's dog food "Nutrish" AND a coupon for a FREE BAG!

A sample box of 3 tampons, always useful :)
Crest whitening strips...hey, who doesn't need whiter teeth right?? Along with coupons.

A Target coupon book with 24 great coupons. Especially since Target is my absolute favorite store!
A gift card from Chase Bank when you open up a checking account. I kid you not, just 3 or 4 days ago, Abel and I both agreed we were going to switch banks, to that's right, Chase. AND now they want to give me free $....done deal!!
A coupon for $10 off a $20 purchase at Office Max. Again, I kid you not, 2 days ago we ran out of ink in our printer and I had a coupon just like this but it was expired. Lo and behold, a new one in the mail today!!
And last but not least, a $5 off a $25 purchase at Toys R Us...hey, $5 is $5 :)

At Least She Knows Her Letters

2010-02-23T14:21:00.000-06:00

So today I hear Karina calling me into the bathroom, all excited, "Mom!! Come here!! I see a letter!" "What do you mean?" I say. "Look mom! my poo made the letter C!" Sure enough, there was her poo in the shape of the letter C. Hey, at least she knows her letters...just sayin' :)

Picture of the Day

2010-02-20T10:07:00.000-06:00

Abel and his dad playing Boxing on the Wii = hillarious!!

Random Picture of the Day

2010-02-19T17:12:00.000-06:00

I LOVE this picture! This is my nephew Luke. My sister and her kids and my Mom were here for the day yesterday and we went to a children's museum and they had this impression thing made out of plastic peg like things. He was doing all kinds of crazy stuff :)

Another Year "Older"

2010-02-17T17:41:00.000-06:00

Well, yesterday I turned 32! Yikes!! But honestly I still feel like I'm about 25 or 26. One of my friends today could not believe I was 32 :) Nice to hear! So I had a GREAT birthday. It started out in the morning, still laying in bed, Karina came into our room and with the sweetest smile said, "happy birthday mommy, I love you!" Melted my heart. Then Abel and Karina sang Happy Birthday to me and then I got my present...a digital SLR camera! Woo Hoo Baby! I have been wanting one for a very long time and have to admit, I have been very jealous of my sister (who has the same one I got) and all the awesome pictures she takes with her camera. Well, now I've got one too! I was so floored, I had no idea that was coming! Good job Babe!! Most of the day was just spent at home, but it was with the 2 people I love most in this whole world. Later in the evening we went out for dinner at the Maccaroni Grill. When we lived in Dallas this became my favorite restaurant to eat at. They are pretty popular there so you really were never too far away from one, but up here they are very few and far between. The closest one to us is about 45 miles away. But oh baby, it was worth it. They have the softest, warmest, most delicious Italian bread, fresh out of the oven, complete with olive oil for dipping...mmmmmmm....so good!
Then on the way home one of my great friends texted me and said there was a surprise waiting for me at home at the back door. So we got home and she had gotten me a couple of knives from the Food Network, awesome! She knows I love to cook and she does too so it was from one cook to another :) Also some popcorn tubs because we love "amish" popcorn and I think she was hinting that she wanted me to make her some :)
So it was a great birthday!!

Here are some of the pics I have taken with my new camera. I am sooooooooo amazed at the difference in the quality of pictures it takes. I can't wait to learn all it's features. So hopefully, and I say "hopefully" I will post more often now that I have my new toy :)

First picture from the new camera

Yoyo just being cute :)

Yoyo doing what he does best: being lazy

My beautiful roses from Valentine's Day

Just being random...trying out the camera

Beautiful girl :)

This series of shots is so funny...I don't know what she was doing except for just being silly :)

Fun project we made at my MOPS group today

Gift from my friend

9 Years = WOW!!

2009-09-23T14:46:00.000-05:00

Ok first my apologies for the gap between posts. Once again, I have no excuse. Much has happened in three month's time but there's too much to update, so let's move past that, start anew and get to the good stuff!!!

So last week, on September 16th Abel and I celebrated 9 years of marriage! It has been awesome and hard and fun and trying all rolled into one. Not that it has been hard and trying with each other, mostly just with circumstances that have come our way.

Anyways...to celebrate our anniversary this year we went on a cruise to the Bahamas! You know how I love a deal, so because I had so many frequent flyer miles we were able to get 2 free airline tickets and then because we could book our airline tickets any time with no fee, we were able to get a last minute deal on a cruise for way cheap! So we went from Friday to Monday, visited Nassau, Bahamas and Royal Caribbean's private island, Coco Cay. We had a wonderful time, shared a table with some great people and had awesome food!! Oh yeah and we also, ran into a tree with a scooter, snuck into the Atlantas resort beach and then had to be rescued with another scooter because ours died...read on...

On the bus trip over to Port Canaveral to get on the ship

First view once we got on the ship

Pulling into port at Nassau, Bahamas

Atlantis Resort, Nassau, Bahamas

Lighthouse at the end of the beach in Nassau. I love the contrast in the colors of the water!

Nassau

A guy painting one of the other boats that was in the port

Atlantis Resort
Lobby of Atlantis
Aquarium in the lobby of Atlantis. They had about 7 or 8 huge windows like this in the lobby.

This is the beach we snuck into at Atlantis :) Sooooo beautiful and refreshing!
Throughout the resort they had areas where random fish would be swimming around and this one happened to have a bunch of stingrays in it.

Ok so here's the story of us running into the tree with the scooter. In Nassau, you have to drive on the left side of the road. So Abel is driving and we're making our way over to Paradise Island where the Atlantis resort is, and the whole time I'm reminding him, "stay on the left, stay on the left". We get to an intersection and we need to turn left. The light turns green and he proceeds but he's not turning into the left lane, so here I am going, "you gotta stay on the left! You GOTTA STAY ON THE..." BOOM!! We're jumping the median going right between a palm tree and a light pole!! Sad to say, my leg had it out with the tree! It felt like someone had stuck a hot iron on my leg from my knee to my ankle! At the time it was SOOOO not funny, but later that night we were definitely laughing at ourselves!! So we ended up going to Atlantis, but then at the end of the day our scooter wouldn't start and we had to have someone from the rental place come and rescue us :)

View of the ship while in port

You'll recognize this if you've ever been on a cruise! The stateroom attendants usually make animals out of towels each night when they make up your stateroom.

Two monkeys :)

One of the nights they had a midnight buffet and had a whole pig!

Random :)

When we got to Coco Cay, we had to take the tender boats over to the island, this is a view of the ship from the tender boat.

Pulling into Coco Cay

Walking along the shore, there was this random bird standing there as we rounded the rocks he was just standing there.

Iguanas, bathing themselves in the sun

Our table for the length of the cruise, minus Scott and Maggie...where were you guys???

Top row: Lauren, Allison, Abel

Bottom row: Dewald, Chantell and Me

Abel, trying his hand at steering the ship (just kidding)

Deal or No Deal?

2009-06-29T15:44:00.000-05:00

I LOVE garage sales, love having them, love going to them, even better I love getting great deals at them. Up here in our neighborhood, for some reason the garage sales are few and far between (oh how I miss you, Champaign garage sales!) Every once in a while you'll find something that you like/want and it's an ok price and you'll pay what they're asking. Other times you'll find something that you really want/like and bargain with the people and they actually bargain with you!

A couple of weekends ago, I went to a little town called Peotone, IL about 20 minutes south of us because they were having their town-wide garage sales. It was rather cold and rainy that day but I decided to go anyway. My thinking was that if this little town was anything like Champaign, they would have their garage sales rain or shine...well, they sure did! And I scored big time on some stuff but my favorite place I stopped was at this one house where they didn't have anything priced. Now normally, this would bug the crap out of me and I would just walk away because I hate looking through stuff and finding something I like only to find out they want like triple the price I'm willing to pay. However, in this case, the wife had left the husband alone to tend to the garage sale and "left him in charge". Uh-oh, big mistake! They had boxes upon boxes of clothes, shoes, toys, etc..almost everything brand new. So I, with a few other ladies were rummaging through boxes of clothes and shoes and they whispered to me, "he only wants a quarter for each piece!" Jackpot!! So I definitely found some clothes and then, I spot this Ice Cream maker (some of you know the "famous" ice cream that me and my sister make) and I ask him how much he wanted for it and says to me in the most country accent you can imagine, "uhhhh...I don't know, my mother in law left it here...I guess like 3 bucks?" "SOLD" I said! (I paid $50 when I bought mine new!) I knew my mom wanted one so I got it for her, she was happy :) Among other things I found was a $3 tricycle for Karina, you know the old school red ones. Pairs of almost brand new shoes for 50 cents a pair...It was a great day!

Then last weekend we went to a community wide garage sale about 1/2 hr from us and found an almost brand-new patio set for $35. And ever since we had been with my sister and her kids that week in Indiana, my nephew Luke had this scooter and she wanted so bad to ride it, but it was a two wheeler and she couldn't balance on it. So at this one garage sale we found a 3 wheel scooter and it just happened to be Disney Princesses :) for $5.

....Love garage sales :)

You Want Me To Wait HOW Long???

2009-06-19T19:15:00.000-05:00

So me and Karina, mom, Donneta and the kids came back from Indiana to my house on Thursday morning with plans to go to Shedd Aquarium, downtown Chicago, for the day because it was FREE! So as soon as we got home, we quickly packed lunches and headed for the train station to go downtown. We get off the train and walk over to the Aquarium and HOLY COW! Everybody and their mother (and father and sister and etc, etc etc) was there! I'm not lying when I say that the regular line was at least a mile long. It snaked around and around and around and we never really saw where the end was. There were two lines to get in, the regular line and the stroller line. So obviously we get in the stroller line, debating whether we really wanted to even stay when a staff member comes up and says, "ok folks, you're looking at a 2-2 1/2 hour wait and it is very full inside..." at this point I'm not even listening to her anymore and I'm envisioning 4 kids having a serious meltdown after only 20 minutes! So we unanimously decided that NO we would not stand in line because that would be a (come on, say it with me...) DISASTER! Oh yeah, and when the lady was saying all this, she also said that they had actually stopped letting people in at that time because it was so full! That sealed the deal. So instead we decided to go down by the lake and eat our lunch on the grass and then we headed down to Buckingham Fountain, Millenium Park, a coffee stop and then back on the train home. It ended up being a really fun afternoon even though we didn't get to see the fishies and the kids didn't even complain about it! Fun was had by all!

On The Train

Karina & Kolton on the train

Eating our lunch in front of the Lake

Karina and her Papi

La Familia Vargas

Grandma with the kiddos making silly faces

Me and Abel acting like dumb tourists in front of Buckingham Fountain

Kolton and Karina having a "moment" at the Millenium Park splash area

Luke "riding" the bikes

Karina eating her "smoovie" before we got on the train

Who Says Small Towns Are Boring??

2009-06-19T14:34:00.001-05:00

This past week me and Karina took a road trip with my mom, my sister and her three kids to my hometown in Middlebury, IN. Most of you know this is a very small town and only about 3,500 people. Most all of my extended family lives there including my brother and his family and both sets of grandparents. The week was pretty uneventful but relaxing, until Wednesday. We had plans to go out to my uncle Myron's coffee shop and get some bags of coffee and then we were going head out to my grandpa and grandma's house for lunch. So we were in my sister's van driving on a back road when her battery light and "check charging systems" light came on. Now this light had come on at the beginning of the week but then went off and we weren't having any problems. So within about 5 minutes of the light coming on, all of the power stuff in the van went off, blinkers, flashers, lights and then it started sputtering and then just died all together! So here we are, 3 women and 4 children, stranded in the country. So my sister, Donneta, starts trying to call someone and her phone dies...great. Well we have 2 phones left. So we called my uncle who lives not too far down on the road we were on and he came and gave us a jump start. Also Donneta called my nephew Tyler and him and his mom Cheryll happened to be on there way home and were going to come by and follow us out to my brother Todd's workplace so he could check it out. So after only being able to drive about 20 mph, we finally get to Todd's shop and they decide it's the alternator. Wonderful. So I'm sitting there in the van with all the kids while everyone else is out under the hood of the van and I turn my head and all I see is my nephew Kolton's stark naked body right in front of me! He had wet his pants and just decided he needed to remove his clothing! So now, we have a broke down van, a dead phone and a naked kid! So Todd give us another charge so we could get out to my grandpa's house. We make it there, late for lunch, only to see a great surprise, most of my aunts were there to have lunch with us. Very nice! So we had a nice lunch all the while the van was on the charger and Todd was calling around for a new alternator. After several hours, finally found one. Great now we can go back to Todd's house where he can fix it after work. Oh wait, we didn't get coffee!! What is a girl to do?? Well, we gotta stop and get the coffee...do we dare? Yes! But first we have to get the alternator at Auto Zone. Done. Coffee Shop is next. Should we turn off the van? Maybe it won't start again...hmmmm. We'll take our chances. We go to the coffee shop and got some YUMMY coffee! Thanks Myron! (BTW...if you've never been to the Electric Brew in Goshen, GO! That's my uncle's coffee shop) Meanwhile I realized I forgot my phone at grandma's house...down to 1 phone. Get back in the van...oohh started right up. We're now about 15 minutes from home when the van starts shaking again and the light comes on. Ok and for those of you who know the Middlebury area, you know there are Amish people and Horse and Buggies EVERYWHERE! So we're chugging along at about 25 mph when, crap, there's a buggy in front of us. Ok at this point, we don't even have enough juice to speed up and pass a freakin' buggy!!! All of us are laughing our heads off because the people behind us were probably cursing us and saying..."Illinois drivers!! All they want to do is look at the Amish, *&#^@!" Heehee :) So finally there are no oncoming cars and finally we are able to pass the buggy, and when I say pass, I mean it in the slowest way possible! We could have had a conversation with them! So now we're about 5 min from my brother's and just wondering will we make it. Well, finally we do and we pull into the driveway, shut the van off and Donneta tries to turn it on...nothing! Whew! So all that to say this: my brother changes the alternator, problem fixed. The light was still coming on but it just needed a reset for the computer, so all was fine. Finally! So....WHO SAYS SMALL TOWS ARE BORING??!!

Things I Heard This Week...

2009-05-23T21:49:00.001-05:00

Things I heard this week:

One afternoon this week I had put Karina down for a nap and went about my afternoon doing housework and laundry. She had been sleeping for awhile, but still not quite to the end of her nap when I went out to hang my laundry on the clothes line. When I came back in I heard her on the monitor saying, "maaama, maaama..." just in a normal voice. I thought I'd let her talk for awhile since I didn't think she was quite ready to get up. Again, I hear her little voice slightly raised and longer, "maaaaaaama, maaaaaaaama..." Then I hear, (remember, she's only 3) "hmmm, I guess I gotta say it louder!" "MAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMAAAAAA" Oh. My. Gosh. I busted up laughing and totally had to compose myself before I went in to get her!

Another thing I heard this week:

Karina: "Mama, I "forlost" my flipflops!"
Me: "WHAT?"
Karina: "I forlost them!"

I guess she forgot/lost her flipflops DUH :)

**I forgot to add this one when I originally posted:**

Karina: "Mama, do big trucks help carry cars?"
Me: "Uhhh, yes, sometimes when people buy a new car, the big trucks have to take it to them"
Karina: "No mama, like "litmin naqueenza" did"
Me: "Uhhh, WHO??"
Karina: "Litmin naqueenza!"
Me: (after thinking a little bit) "Ohhhhh, like Lightin' McQueen?"
Karina: "YES!!"

Remember, Lightnin' McQueen rode in the back of the semi truck...this is what she was referring to!

FINALLY!!!

2009-05-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

I'm baaaack! Ok, so I really have nooooooo excuse for not posting, except for being lazy. So I know these are long overdue but nevertheless, they are now posted. Happy reading!

Go Cubs Go!!

2009-05-15T16:37:00.001-05:00

Karina loves watching sports with daddy. She can distinguish the different sports and sometimes the teams. She especially notices the Cubs and if we see something in the store with the Cubs logo she immediately points it out. She even knows the Cubs victory song...oh wow... So the other day we took her to her first Cubs game at Wrigley Field and she had so much fun. I think the funnest part for her though was the bus ride from the parking lot to the stadium. She went on and on about that darn bus! Best part for us, Cubs won!!

Karina's first Wrigley Field hot dog

Cubs Win!! Go Cubs Go!

The bus ride...

Another Birthday Party

2009-05-15T16:16:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks after Karina's birthday, we had another party for her with all her friends from church. We usually do this because we have the party outside in our backyard and usually the weather around the time of her birthday is still pretty cool, so thus, the second birthday party. The theme for her party was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We had so many people there but it was soooo fun!

Karina helping me get ready for the party

I looked everywhere for a Mickey shaped cookie cutter and could not find one so I got creative and went to Menards and bought a piece of "bendy" metal and shaped it into a Mickey head and viola!

The Wal-Mart cake

My Cake

Karina has a serious dislike of beating the pinata, so now they make these pinatas that have pull strings. There is one "magic" string that pulls the bottom out of the pinata causing all candy to fall out. Much safer too :)

Once again, not a fan of the birthday song...

Mom & Kid's Day at the Brookfield Zoo

2009-05-15T15:58:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago a bunch of us moms from church took our kids to the Brookfield Zoo. It was the perfect day to go, about 82 degrees and sunny. All the kids loved it and they all did soooo good! No meltdows at all! Soooooo Fun!!!

Me & Karina

Michele & her kids, Gerald, Sarah & Mia

Janessa & Carter

Grethel & Daniela

Jillian & Laila, their mom Adreama hiding in the back

Karina showing Sarah which way to go

Having lunch

The girls looking at the baby hippo

Our Baby Turned 3!

2009-05-15T15:14:00.000-05:00

I can't believe another year has passed and now our baby girl is already 3! It was such a bittersweet day. We tell her all the time to stay this age and not grow bigger :) If only we could...

She is such an incredible, wonderful, sweet little girl, with a silly personality much like her daddy :) Every day with her is an adventure with her...she's always coming up with something new...and teaching us something new.

In the week leading up to her birthday (her b-day is April 18th) she kept asking when it was going to be her birthday. It is still hard for her to get the concept of time and I tried explaining that it was 5 days away, 4 days away, and on and on. Well Abel's birthday is on the 15th and my brother in law, Joe's is on the 16th and on each of those days we'd tell her who's birthday it was, and she'd get a little perturbed saying, "but mommy, it's my birthday, it's my turn!"

So on the morning of her birthday, she woke up to her room filled with balloons, and streamers on her door. She didn't know what was going on at first and then she remembered, it was her turn!

Later that day, my family came to our house to celebrate the April b-days: Abel, Joe & Karina.

Showing us she's 3!

She requested a Castle cake for her birthday

She is NOT a fan of having Happy Birthday sung to her :)

Opening presents:

From Uncle Todd & Aunt Cheryll...an aquadoodle, cool!

Shoes from Grandma & Papa, one of her favorite things!

From Aunt DeeDee & Uncle Joe, books, create a pot, Sleeping Beauty magnets, and more shoes!!

The Boys, Abel & Joe

A special delivery from her best friend Jalese!

No More Binki!!!!!!

2009-05-15T14:51:00.000-05:00

We had been telling Karina for awhile that when she turned 3 she would have to get rid of her binkis. So about 3 days before her birthday, I took the only binki she had left and snipped off a tiny bit off the top of the binki and that night when she went to bed she said, "Daddy, that binki doesn't work anymore!" and she didn't ask for another one. So then the next day before she took her nap, I asked her if she wanted her binki and she said, "no it's yucky!" So I asked her what she thought we should do with it and she goes, "hmmm, I fink we should throw it in the trash!" So in the trash it went! No more binkis!! Good job Karina!!

Here she is throwing it in the trash. Dora conveniently happened to be there as if to say, "Lo hicimos!" (that's for all you Dora fans out there, oh yeah sing it with me!)

Here's the video of her throwing away her binki. Sorry it's a little dark, it was naptime :)

Easter Sunday

2009-05-15T14:37:00.000-05:00

Here's the princess in her Easter dress!

At church with all her little friends:

Cousin Daniela & Karina

Jillian, Laila & Karina (nice nose-picking Karina!)

Karina & Jalese!

She wanted to wear her "beautiful dress" allllll day long...even wore it for her nap

Fun @ Papa's House and Easter Carnival at the "Games Church"

2009-05-15T14:19:00.001-05:00

Over Palm Sunday weekend we were able to go to Champaign and hang out with the family. That weekend at my family's church they had their annual Kid's Easter Carnival. Karina kept calling it the "games church" because of all the games they had there for the carnival. :) She still asks me when we go visit, "mama, are we gonna go to grandma's games church?" So cute!

Hanging out around the fire pit at Papa's house

No explanation needed :)

Carnival Games

Assessing the spoils of the day

Easter Egg hunt at the house

Oh yeah, the big girls went for a mani/pedi :)

Adios Winter!

2009-03-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

Well I am choosing to believe that spring is here (technically it is) even though sometimes the weather feels otherwise. So to put my faith into action I "weeded out" our coat rack. This overgrown rack had at least 6 scarves, 4 hats, and 5 coats! For three people??? What in the world? Anyways now we're down to our lighter coats and no more hats, scarves and mittens!

Before:

After:

Injured Toes and Birthdays and Colds...OH MY!!

2009-02-26T14:54:00.000-06:00

Uuuggg...So yes that is what our lives have consisted of for the last two weeks...Injured Toes, Birthdays and Colds...oh my!

Last week, I was cleaning the house and I was on a mission, going around the house just doing things really fast. So I'm walking through the living room (really fast), going into the hallway and leaned over to get something off the entertainment center and my body must have turned enough to make my foot turn too and I smacked it into the side of the entertainment center. It was one of those hits that makes you see stars...my middle toe immediately started swelling up and turning purple and the rest of my foot hurt too so I called the Dr. to see if I could come in and get an xray. I knew I couldn't do anything for a broken toe but my foot was hurting too so I just wanted to make sure it was ok. Turns out nothing was broken, but boy it sure hurt like it was! Karina was so sweet to share one of her Diego bandaids with me, she said "momma this will make you feel all better" :)

On Friday, we went with our friends Jen and Josh to a really great Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra to celebrate mine and Jen's birthdays. It was extremely loud because they had the mariachis there, but it was soooo fun. When they celebrate birthdays there, they do it good!! They gave us a sombrero and a mini cake with this huge sparkler on it.

Karina & Jalese dancing to the mariachi music!

La Senorita Karina!

Then on Saturday all my family came to our house to celebrate my birthday and my nephew Kolton's birthday. My sister made these cute little cakes for us, thanks Dee!

Kolton turned 4 and I turned...aahem....

Then on Monday, we ALL (Abel, Me and Karina) came down with colds and coughs and that is what we have been doing all week long: coughing, "kleenex please!", medicine, blah, blah, blah...

Today is the first day since Monday that Karina has been able to take a nap longer than 30 minutes because all she does is cough when she lays down. So all week she has had this serious sleep deprivation going on and is so sensitive and will cry at the drop of a hat. But all the more reason to give her hugs and kisses :)

So since we've been house-bound all week I've been trying to keep Karina busy with different things. One of her favorite things is, "can we do a project mommy?" She loves to make things with craft supplies so, this week we decided to make a choo-choo train out of toilet paper rolls and cardboard, and then some flowers out of popcicle sticks.

Oh yeah, and she does my dishes now :)

So...What Do You Call That?

2009-02-15T16:34:00.001-06:00

Ever since Karina has been "mobile" as a child, for as long as I can remember, she has been somewhat of a "clepto" child. If you can't find the binki, go look in the seat of the Dora car, if you can't find her socks, go look in the kitchen cabinet where the stackable bowls are, if you can't find Baby Carter's shoes (Janessa's baby), go look in HER shoe drawer. The girl LOVES to hide things! Is she just a pack-rat, or maybe an aspiring pirate, you know, swiping her own stuff and loving the thrill of finding it again...I don't know, but one such incident happened recently. About two weeks ago she "lost" the pink and golden slippers for her Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty (you know the little high heeled shoes that comes with a barbie), and she says to me one day, "so mom, where are the golden slippers??" After I had a good laugh at that little question, we began to search. I knew they had to be somewhere in the house because I don't allow her to leave the house with the shoes, for fear that, "mommy!!!where are the slippers!!!" would happen. So, knowing her history, we searched and searched everywhere for the slippers: in the couch, in her bed, every purse, anything that had pockets or crevices...can't find them. SOOOO, today I go to the hallway closet to pull the last roll of toilet paper out of the bag and I grab the roll and feel something "jump" at me from inside the roll...FREAKED me out! Here I'm thinking it's some sort of bug or a tiny rodent, so I carefully look inside the roll and low and behold! The pink AND gold slippers hidden safely inside the toilet paper roll! Of course she was overjoyed at seeing them again, (again, pirate?) and is now happily putting them on her Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dolls as we speak. So...what exactly do you call that kind of behavior??? :)

P.S. So as I'm proof reading this post before I click the button to publish it, I'm hearing, "Mommy, where's the pink slipper??!!!" Oh my.......

Too Much TP

2009-01-27T22:45:00.000-06:00

So this afternoon just before I put Karina down for her nap, I had to use the restroom (I know, TMI) so I go in the bathroom, lift up the toilet lid to find a MASS of toilet paper in the toilet bowl, and none left on the roll. She had emptied the entire roll into the toilet. I immediately said, "Karina! What did you do? Why did you do that?" (all the while, I'm holding in my giggles) and she is looking at me like, "why would you be asking ME?" and she just got this confused look on her sweet little face and says, "I don know!" So she recieved a severe punishment of tickles :) We needed some excitement in our day, we have cabin fever after all...

Enough Already!!!

2009-01-14T22:19:00.001-06:00

Ruler in the snow...okay so this picture was take at about 10 am this morning. We had about 4 more hours of snow, so I'm thinking this ruler would be completely buried if I checked right now...enough already!!!

It's That Time Again...

2009-01-11T22:18:00.000-06:00

Oh the joys of living in the midwest...but thanks dad for the snow blower!!!

Finally!!!!!!!!

2009-01-09T13:06:00.001-06:00

YAY!!!! Karina finally has a bed!!! We have been waiting on this bed since October I think! It was on backorder at Ikea and it finally came in.

Here's the dilemma: She did fine in it the first night, but then last night, she was up three times crying and saying, "I all done with my bed". Uuuugggghhh. Then this morning we asked her why she was crying and she said, "I want my green baby bed", meaning her pack n play which she has been sleeping in for the last two months...hmmmmm, what to do, what to do...we'll see what happens I guess...

It's Still Christmas!!

2009-01-07T15:25:00.000-06:00

Since we had been gone over Christmas and New Year's, we had not yet celebrated Christmas with my family. So on Sunday, everyone came to our house! My brother, Todd and his wife Cheryll, and their kids Kristin, Tyler, Kalli and Cassie came from Indiana and my mom and dad and sister Donneta and her husband Joe and thier kids, Luke, Kolton and Alli came from Champaign. We had a great time even though our house is small, we still fit everyone in and we had a lot of fun! Got some great gifts and had some great food! Thanks for coming everybody!!

All the Kiddos...top row: Kristin, Alli, Tyler, Karina, Cassie

bottom row: Kalli & Yoyo, Luke & Daisy, Kolton

All the Kiddos...silly style!

Opening presents...

Karina with her new doll "Stacy"

Playing with her new dress up princess and in her silky jammies...thanks Grandma & Papa!

Princesses, Princesses Everywhere!!

2009-01-07T15:23:00.000-06:00

Karina's best friend, Jalese turned 2 this past weekend and she had a Princess Birthday Party, her favorite! Here are some pics of the party!

Princess Karina!

Karina & Jalese

Karina, Gigi & Daniela

"Princess Jasmine" (Jen's Aunt Lola), "The Fairy Godmother" (Jen's Mom), "Belle" (Jen)

All the Princesses!!

We're Baaaaack!

2009-01-07T14:29:00.000-06:00

Wow! It seem like forever since I posted!! We were gone over the holidays on a much needed trip to see Abel's family. We had not spent the Christmas or New Year's with them in about seven years so it was definitely time to go and especially since a lot of Abel's extended family had never met Karina. In fact, this was the first time that Abel's brother in law, Waldo was abel to meet Karina. And let me tell you, they became best friends the first day we were there!

Ok so this post might be kind of long and have a lot of pictures so if you want to skip the reading, be my guest!

Our trip began with us flying to San Diego, and to make a long story short, our flights to San Diego were delayed because of the weather here in Chicago (go figure), and with Sand Diego being 2 hours behind us, we ended up getting there at 1:30 am our time, and then actually getting to Waldo & Leoni's house (Abel's sister and brother in law) at 3 am....oh my goodness! Karina did great through it all and she is such a great traveller! The only time she cried was at about 12:30 am when we were still on the airplane and had another hour to go!! She was trying to find a comfy place to sleep and just couldn't handle it any more.

Here she is with Curious George by her side!

Poor Karina, she was so tired....

So we were in San Diego for 3 days and Karina loooooved her Tia Leoni and Tio Waldo. The first day we were there, Waldo got out his guitar and started playing songs for Karina and she got out Leoni's umbrella and they were singing and dancing...it was so cute, he played with her for about and hour, she didn't want him to stop. We really appreciated Waldo sitting and playing with her, it meant a lot to me that he took the time to do that and I know that's why he became Karina's best friend! The weather was GREAT!! Most of the time it was in the high 60's...beautiful!

Taking a walk to the lake to see the duckies

The view from the lake

After being in San Diego, we headed to Mexicali, Mexico where Abel's parents live. It's about an hour and a half drive from San Diego. It's a beautiful drive down, first you drive up into the mountains and then down into the desert area and then into Mexico. Again, the weather was GREAT!! It was usually in the 70's...so warm!!! While in Mexicali, we spent Christmas Eve, Christmas plus 2 more days there. On Christmas Eve, we went to Abel's cousin Nanette's house, and some of his uncles and cousins were there.

Karina, "Nona" (Leoni) and "Bayito" (Abuelito, Grandpa)

Presents from Nanette

Karina, Luciano and Sebastian

Then on Christmas day we opened presents at Abel's parent's house...

and that evening we went to Abel's cousin Osvaldo's house where more of his family was there. That night they had a pinata there for all the kids and after about 15 kids and adults had beat the thing, it still wasn't breaking open, so, Abel's turn comes around and he literally beat the thing till the candy started spilling out! It was crazy! Karina really did't want to have anything to do with it!

We had carne asada at Osvaldo's house that night...yummy!! And then they decided to bust out the karaoke machine....oh my.....those people are LOCOS!!! It was really funny though, they sang and sang, and sang and sang...finally we went home :)

The last day that we were in Mexicali, Abel's mom had organized a "belated baby shower" breakfast for Karina. This was Karina's first time there and there were so many people from his family and church that wanted to meet her and give her gifts. The breakfast was so nice and it was really so sweet of Abel's mom to do that...Muchas Gracias Oba!!!

Leoni, Me, Abel, Karina, Abel (Abel's dad) and Leonila (Abel's Mom)

Karina and her "Nona"

After the party we headed back to San Diego and a couple of days later we went to Anaheim to Disneyland!!! YAY!!! Karina was so excited to see all of the characters! We were there ALL...DAY...LONG! We got there about 10 am and did not leave till midnight when the park closed! It was so fun though. That night we stayed at a hotel and went back the next day.

What a bunch of nerds!!! Like father, like son...like daughter :)

Wanna-be pirates!!

The Princess Fantasy Faire...the princesses and the prince taught all the kids how to be a princess or a prince and how to dance...so cute!

Karina loved "flying" with Waldo...she always sang, You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!!

This brought us to our last two days with family...our last day there was on New Year's Eve. We went to Waldo's side of the family and had the best pozole (soup) I have ever had in my life (way to go Monica!!) We were at Waldo's sister Monica's house celebrating New Year's Eve. The girls all made a gingerbread house...So cute :) We actually ended up going home before we rang in the new year because our flight was leaving at 8:30 the next morning...ahhh! So we celebrated 2009 for about 5 minutes and then went to bed!

This is Monica's dog "Pinky-Bella". Karina thought she was so funny :)

Waldo, Karina and Lissi (Waldo's neice)

Making the Gingerbread house

The finished product...

So the day came when our lovely visit had to come to an end... :( Waldo took us to the airport and dropped us off...we said goodbye and then went to the check in area for our flight and we were met with a HUGE line of people...So we decided to go back to curbside check-in to save some time. The porter proceeded to tell us the line was so long because a flight got cancelled and they were trying to figure out what to do...yes...it was our flight...uuuggghhh! So we went back upstairs to the check in and the line had dwindled down quite a bit and we could hear bits and pieces of what the agents were saying and the mumblings of other passengers and yes indeed our flight was "delayed" till 5 pm that night with a connection in Minneapolis...yeah...right! By this time the agents were all in a bad mood trying to figure out how to "help" everyone and one of them just kind of threw some papers at some people and said...call this number...maybe they can help you. Okaaaayyy...so I told Abel, just call, there's no harm in trying...so he called and as soon as they pulled up our reservation, they said, oh yes Mr. Vargas, we have already booked you on another flight at 11:30 am. Whaaaat? Okay! So we go over to the American Airlines counter and indeed they had rebooked us on that airline, the flight was direct (which it wasn't on the other one), we didn't have to pay for our bags, (which normally it's $15 per bag, we had 3!) and we got great seats!!!!!! So all in all it, I'm glad it happened because #1 we were travelling on New Year's Day, #2 we originally had that connection in Minneapolis, which I knew we would have gotten stuck there, #3 American Airlines is just better! So by the time we got home it was about 7:00 pm. Abel's sister, Grethel picked us up and then we went to pick up our beloved furry friend, YOYO. Oh how we missed YOYO, but we know he was well cared for and a big THANK YOU to those of you who took care of him...you know who you are! Yoyo, however, was a little mad at us, I think. That night when we picked him up he just kind of walked around the house looking at us as if to say, are you guys staying or leaving me again??? But then the next morning he was fine and back to his old self.

So back home it is! It was sooooo nice to get away from the cold and be in a warm place and just be in a different environment. Sometimes you need that just to refocus and get out of your rut!

Well, I know this has been soooooo long, and if you made it this far reading...KUDOS!!!

Snow Day!!!

2008-12-19T14:37:00.001-06:00

Okay, so being a stay at home mom means that every day that there is snow is a snow day for us! :) This past Wednesday it snowed about 5 inches and then on Thursday it was so nice and sunny and the temperature very tolerable outside so Karina and I decided to go out and play in the snow, or the "snowy" as she calls it. She was a bit apprehensive at first but then I could hardly convince her to come back inside. Oh yeah and we've been looking for snow boots for her but have yet to find any for a decent price, so she had to wear her fashionable pink cowboy boots out in the snow! Here are some pics of the day...

"Mommy help me!!"

"Following the leader, the leader, the leader..."

What a beautiful little doggie!!

You can still swing...even in the snow!

"Ohhh...Christmas Tree(s)"

2008-12-09T22:01:00.000-06:00

This year during the Christmas season Karina has definitely been aware of all the decorations, Christmas trees, etc... and asking questions about what it is all for. So we've been telling her we're celebrating Jesus' birthday and she's all about that because she loves birthdays for some reason, so when we ask her why we put a Christmas tree up she says, "it's for Jesus' birthday party!"

So anyways, before we got our big Christmas tree, she kept saying that she "neeeeeeded" a baby Christmas tree. So we went to Walgreens to find a "baby" Christmas tree and the first one we saw was a little white Christmas tree with none other than her best friend, Cinderella on it. So of course we had to get that one. It's really cute though, it lights up and plays Christmas carols.

Then a couple of days later we got the big Christmas tree. Abel brought it in the house, we put it in the stand, put the water in the base, and then he left for work...that darn thing was up for less than an hour when Yoyo saw something through front window and bee lined it towards the windows barking his head off and he knocked over the entire tree spilling the water all over the floor, into the vents and all over the carpet! Thankfully the tree was not decorated yet! So once we finally got the thing back up and stablized, Karina helped me decorate the tree and here's the finished product....

Best Buddies

2008-12-02T22:27:00.001-06:00

Karina and YoYo are best buddies, I find them doing things like this on any random day...so cute!!

First Snow of the Season

2008-12-02T22:22:00.000-06:00

We had our first snow of the season this past Sunday. We were driving to church and the flakes were HUGE! About the size of quarters...it was so pretty! Last year Karina did not want to have anything to do with the snow, she wouldn't even touch it, this year she is all about the "snowy" outside and wants to play in it!

Thanksgiving in Indiana

2008-12-02T22:02:00.000-06:00

This year we went to Indiana to have Thanksgiving with my mom's family. My mom's family is so large that for a holiday like this we are too big to fit in someone's house, so like every year for the last I don't know how many years we were in a church fellowship hall, this time my aunt's church. Had great food, the little kids had fun with all the toys and the big kids played football outside. The funnest part of the Thanksgiving getaway was that we got to stay at a hotel, but the weird part is that it was in our hometown. I say weird because usually when we go to Indiana we stay with family, well this time because it was a holiday, our extended family had family staying with them and because our immediate family is large now (it was me and my family, my sister and her family and mom and dad, 10 total) we didn't really have anywhere to stay, so we decided to get a suite at the Essenhaus Inn, which has been there all through my growing up years and a so VERY touristy place that we never thought we'd stay there...but this time we did...and it was so fun!! The suite was awesome, it was actually three separate rooms. It had a bedroom then a living room with a kitchenette and then another bedroom. And three bathrooms, yes three!! We stayed there on Thanksgiving night and my brother Todd and his family came to hang out with us. They had a full size indoor pool, a kiddie pool and a hot tub...soooo nice. Like I said it felt weird at first but then we got over it! HAHA! I can't believe it but I hardly took any pictures at all the whole weekend, but here are some cute pictures of Kolton (my nephew) and Karina laying on the bed in the hotel...

It's Officially Christmas...In Chicago

2008-11-30T17:04:00.001-06:00

Every year in Chicago, the Christmas season officially begins with the tradition of lighting Michigan Avenue, otherwise known as The Magnificent Mile. This event is known as the Festival Of Lights and this year we went with our friends Josh, Jen and Jalese. Knowing the girls would enjoy it because of all the pretty lights, we knew they would enjoy it even more when we found out that their good friend Mickey Mouse was going to lead the parade! Several days before we went to the Festival of Lights Karina was at the computer with me while I was looking at the schedule for the festival and she asked what it was so I explained to her that we would be going on the train to see Mickey. So every day, several times a day she would ask me with a really excited voice...mommy we going on the train and see Mickey today??!! And I'd sadly have to tell her...no not yet, a few more days. And every time we'd hear the train...mommy we going on the train today to see Mickey!! So next time, we'll tell her the day of. :)

So we started our exciting Christmas welcoming day by boarding the Metra and headed for downtown...the girls loved the train and thought they were big stuff. Then we stopped at one of the plazas to see The Cheetah Girls perform...well a certain pair of guys who shall remain nameless watched them perform while Jen and I went ahead to the Rainforest Cafe to put our names in. (Okay, they only stayed for 1 song) So yes, we took the girls to Rainforest Cafe and they were intreagued by the jungle animals, except for the person dressed in a Tree Frog costume, Karina was sooooo not into that!

And then we braved the cold...oh was it cold! But just for the sheer joy of seeing the girls' faces when Mickey came into sight standing atop his castle was worth standing in the cold and being pushed and prodded for 3 hours!

Here's some pics of the day.

Our Baby Is Not A Baby Anymore :(

2008-11-14T15:41:00.000-06:00

Karina is now 2 1/2 years old and she is not a baby anymore...and we marked this milestone by saying bye-bye to her crib. The bed we are wanting to get for her is on backorder so we just put her mattress on the floor. The first day we tried it was on Wednesday during her naptime and so when it was time, I sat her on the bed and said "ok you're gonna sleep in your big girl bed and if you need me just call out for me". I gave her a book and left the room. Ten minutes later I went and checked on her and she was out. When I heard that she was awake at the end of her nap, I went in and asked her if she had a good nap and she so very sweetly said, "yes...may I get up now?" She did so good sleeping on her big girl bed that day and has done great ever since! How time flies when kids are little...

What A Legacy

2008-11-10T16:33:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Indiana where I grew up to celebrate my Grandpa & Grandma Beachy's (my dad's parents) 65th Wedding Anniversary. I feel so blessed to have both grandparents on both sides still living and to be able to celebrate this milestone with them, was an incredible opportunity. Everyone in the family (except Joe & Donneta, my sister) were able to attend and there were 41 of us there. We first had lunch with just the immediate family and then as a surprise, some of Grandpa and Grandma's siblings came for snacks and desserts. For those of you who don't know, my family heritage is Mennonite, and most of Grandpa and Grandma's siblings are Amish. For anyone who doesn't know what either one is, google it :) Here are some pictures of the party...

My Grandma & Grandpa, Viola & Dan

My Dad's family, (he has 3 brothers and 1 sister) from left to right:

Deb & Wilmer (brother), Joan & Lavern (brother), Wilda (sister) and Ron,

Rose & Elmer (brother) Mom & Dad and Grandpa & Grandma

My niece Cassie and Karina

My Dad and his Aunt and Uncle

"The Guys" grandpa, my brother Todd, cousin Dar,

uncle Wilmer (behind Dar), uncle Lavern, cousin Doug

Grandma & Grandpa's siblings

"The Girls" my cousins, Breanne, Brocia & Kristin, my niece

It's Practically FREE!

2008-11-10T16:31:00.001-06:00

When we were in Indiana this past weekend we were on our way back home and needed to get gas before we left so we stopped at this gas station and thought we hit the jackpot with gas being $1.98 a gallon! I took this picture lest anyone not believe me!!!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fu-un!

2008-11-10T16:21:00.000-06:00

Cousin Daniela came to stay with us for a couple of days last week. The girls took a bath together and were having so much fun and I ended up being about as wet as they were with all the splashing!

Trick or Treat!!

2008-11-04T22:24:00.000-06:00

On Friday we had our 1st annual costume party! We had so much fun!! We dressed Karina up as a cute little China doll and me, Abel and Yoyo dressed up as Men in Black. It was so funny seeing Yoyo try to walk in his costume, he was walking all bow-legged like a bull dog. We had a lot of fun decorating the house, the garage, carving pumpkins, and passing out candy to the trick or treaters. Karina was so cute when the kids would come to the door, she would see kids coming and say, "mommy, here come the kids!" and then when they would leave she would yell, "mommy where the kids going?? noooooo come back!!" and then some more would come and we'd go through it all again! It was so funny! Our friends Jen and Jalese came to the party as Pippi Longstocking...SOOO funny! Enjoy the pics!!

Now I know why women shouldn't wear suits, they do nothing for the figure!!! Ha Ha!!!

The Girl Knows What She Wants!

2008-11-04T21:59:00.000-06:00

About a month ago, my sister in law, Grethel went to visit family in San Diego and she brought back some gifts for Karina from "Oba" (Abuelita Vargas), "Nona" (Tia Leony) and Nanette (Abel's cousin). One of the gifts from Oba was a set of silky pajamas, and Karina LOVED them! She wore them to bed the night she got them and the next morning we had to go somewhere and so I told her we needed to change her clothes and she said, "no mommy, wear these" so I tried to explain to her that we only wear jammies in the house and when we go to bed. So I told her that when we got home she could put her jammies back on. So we went and did our errands and when we got home I walked into the kitchen and she followed me and she said, "mommy, take these pants off, wear my jammies!" So we went and put her jammies on, this was about noon and she wore those jammies the rest of the day, to bed and most of the next day while we were at home! Here's some pics of her in her favorite jammies, and oh yeah, she HAD to wear her orange pumpkin socks and the pink shoes! The girl knows what she wants!!!!!!!

Signs of Fall

2008-10-17T23:19:00.000-05:00

As fall goes here in the midwest, leaves change and fall and there's a crispness in the air, and so it has begun. And as tradition has it here in the midwest, you go to the pumpkin patches and apple orchards and so this past weekend we went to Champaign, and one of the things we did was take the kids to a pumpkin patch out in the country. Usually you see pictures of little kids at pumpkin patches in their coats and cute little hats picking out their pumpkins. Was it like that for us? Ummmm...no! It was like 85 degrees! But the kids had fun despite the heat and these incredibly annoying, very tiny little black bugs that bit like mosquitos! Oh and the best part was the cheap prices! $2 for a big pumpkin and gourds 2 for 25 cents! And those huge, giant pumpkins you see in the pictures, like 10 bucks! Gotta love country pumpkin patches!! Anyway here's some cute pics of the kids.

Where I have been?

2008-10-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I have been seriously slacking in my posts (sorry Danette!). I have no excuse to I'll try to catch up.

A couple of weeks ago, Abel and I got to take a little anniversary trip to Orlando...by ourselves for 4 days! Karina stayed with Grandma and Papa Beachy and this was the very first time we left her anywhere overnight...I know you're thinking...the first time??? She's two and a half for pete's sake! It's not that we didn't ever want to leave her overnight anywhere, we just never had any occasion to. I think it was definitely easier on her than it was on us, ok me. :) Every time I called to talk to her I got teary eyed! But we had a great time. We went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure and then to Disney's Magic Kingdom. Had a great time!!

Uhhh....you wish!

Disney On Ice

2008-09-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we took Karina and her friend Jalese to see Disney on Ice. They both love Cinderella and Mickey and Minnie and so we knew they'd have a great time. We dressed them up as princesses and they had their crowns and wands. When we got to the United Center where it was showing they ended up moving us to better seats because it was not a sold out show, so we got awesome seats on a lower level facing the front of the stage and when we walked in the girls were mezmerized. Whenever they would see Cinderella they would wave their wands and yell, "hi Cinderella!" It was so cute! Here are some pics of them and the show.

First Gymnastics Class

2008-09-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

We decided to help Karina expand her social world a little bit and so we enrolled her in a gymnastics class at a nearby gymnastics academy. When we first got there she really wasn't sure that she even wanted to be there, but halfway through the class she was excited and climbing on all of the equipment. Abel already has her slated for the 2024 Olympics!! Here are some pics of her class.

Small Town Fun

2008-09-08T14:13:00.000-05:00

On Sunday night we went with our good friends Josh and Jen and their daughter Jalese (Karina's really good friend) to the Monee Fall Fair. It was just a small town fair at a park right behind their house so we put the girls in strollers and walked there. They had food and some carnival rides and fireworks at the end. So halfway through the evening we thought it would be fun for Karina and Jalese to ride one of the rides. Just some little cars that went around like a merry go round. Well, turns out it was NOT a good idea. They were okay with getting in the car and still okay when the guy started the ride, but then us crazy parents started shouting, "hi Karina, hi Jalese!!" And apparently that freaked them out! We should have just smiled and waved :)

At this point everything is still ok.

Not OK!!

After we got back to Josh & Jen's house they were just having fun pushing each other in the stroller.

Go Cowboys!!

2008-09-08T14:09:00.000-05:00

In honor of Daddy's favorite football team the Dallas Cowboys, Karina wore her Tony Romo jersey on Sunday, which was the season opener for Dallas. Go Cowboys!!

Weekend at the Homestead

2008-09-08T14:08:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to Champaign because we had multiple things going on. Abel is an usher at all of the U of I football home games, so that was on Saturday and then also, Grandma & Grandpa Beachy and Uncle Elmer and Aunt Rose from Indiana came down for the weekend. We all got there on Friday and we stayed until Saturday night, the others until Sunday.

Also on Saturday evening, my cousins Dar & Beth (Uncle Elmer's son) and their two girls Jessie and Alli came over from the Bloomington area where they live to have a cookout with us. We played Bocci ball, had some awesome food and watched the neighbors horses out in the field next to us. My nephews Luke and Kolton and Dar's girls were brave enough to pet and feed the horses. Karina on the other hand is more than happy to look at them from a distance. She loves seeing them, just not up close!

Here's some pics of our weekend together.

2008-09-08T13:57:00.000-05:00