Mary's Moments

This past weekend my brother got married in Indiana and we had a great but exhausting time. Who would have ever thought that taking a weekend trip to see your brother get married would be so much fun but even more exhausting? Well this was the kids first airplane trip and they enjoyed it! We left Thursday evening after Daniel got home from work to drive to Houston so we could fly out from there on Friday morning. We ended up getting to Houston around 9:30 p.m. and didn't get to bed until 10:30 and we had to be up at 3:45 AM on Friday to catch our 6 a.m. flight. I couldn't sleep Thursday night for fear that I would miss the alarm clock so I tossed and turned all night. Plus we were all pretty excited so that made it even harder to sleep. I was thinking the kids would wake up pretty grouchy at 3:45 but to our amazement, they were up and excited and ready to go. They didn't even go back to sleep in the car! When we got to the airport, I realized we had a few pitied eyes looki...

It's been a while since I've done an update on the kids and what's new with everyone. I can't believe it's already November and that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just a few weeks away! This year has gone by so fast. Last year this time, we were closing on our first home! We have really enjoyed being homeowners and just having a "house" to call home. We were really blessed with being able to buy a home and had great friends/realtor who helped us out. Katherine received her first report card last week and seems to be doing well in school. According to her testing, she is above average in reading and just about on target everywhere else. There are a few things that we need to work on her with like counting to 100, recognizing shapes when they are turned different angles, etc. but for the most part it was great to receive such good news back about her schooling. Especially since we had considered holding her back just in case she wasn't ready for school,...

Well, this halloween was different than most for us. We started off our day going to the library for story time and trick-or-treating at the library. They had all the librarians dressed up and passing out candy and treats and also had crafts and cookies/drinks for the kids. That was fun, but of course, we didn't get our act together quick enough to take pictures! That afternoon, we were going to rush to the Mall to pick up a last minute Buzz Lightyear costume for Matthew on our way to our church Halloweiner party (passing out free hot dogs) but of course around 4:00 when we were getting ready to go, we were visited by a Kirby vacuum sales lady. She was talking so fast that really I don't remember what she said. She told me that they were a new company in town and something about carpets, and free shampoo, and word of mouth, etc. and next thing I know is there are 3 people at my door ready to come in and shampoo. They said it wouldn't take long, so I thought ok...Hey ...

On Saturday we had the opportunity of going to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. Every year Daniel's company pays for a family day event and this year it was to Six Flags. It was very nice to be able to show up, get free parking, a free lunch, and free entrance into the park for the whole family! I had never been to Fiesta Texas before either (can you believe it!?) even though I've lived in Texas for almost 18 years now. We had a great time and the weather was great. When we arrived at Six Flags, we went to the Picnic Grove area and ate lunch and the kids enjoyed chasing around the soccer balls and tossing the football around. Katherine kept saying how she loves playing soccer because it gives her great exercise!:) I think we might sign her up for soccer next summer:) Matt had fun chasing the balls and playing with Katherine too. After lunch, we headed over to Kiddyville (ie-the kid section of the park:) and took the kids on a few rides. Katherine wanted to ride the Ferri...

(**Click on pictures to see them larger) Today we ventured over to Marble Falls, TX to visit the pumpkin patch at Sweet Berry Farm. It's about a 50 minutes from our house, but well worth it! The drive there is just awesome and the scenery is breathtaking. There are steep hills, canyons, rivers, and wildlife preserves that make the drive seem like only 15 minutes. When we pulled in the parking lot, we noticed that everyone had the same idea that we did...to come today! Not only was the weather absolutely perfect, but it just seemed like a great day for a family outing, and I guess others thought so too. Regardless, we had a great time! At Sweet Berry Farm, they have a huge Texas-shaped maze there made out of corn fields. The object of the maze is to find 12 cities throughout the maze and if you do, you get a free drink when you come out. Daniel is great with maps and navigation and we managed to find all 12 cities in about 45 minutes. It was fun! Also at Sweet Berry Farm, they have ...

Recently I was doing some reading on the Halloween "holiday" (more like a cult to me) and came across this story. I think I had read it before, but really thought it had great symbolism and is something we could share with our friends/coworkers if asked! What a great example! A woman was asked by a co-worker, “What is it like to be a Christian?” The co-worker replied, “It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then he cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc., and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.” With God's help, all the yucky seeds can stay out and then they won't snuff out the light! Besides, if the seeds are still in the pumpkin, how are we supposed to roast them and make yummy pumpkin seeds (they need to be on the tray, seasoned, and in the oven, people!)? I though...

I currently subscribe to a daily email devotional from Christian Women Today Devotionals and often times I don't even take the time to read it because of my busy schedule. Or maybe sometimes I just don't want to read what it says for fear of being convicted. Recently I've been down in the slumps a lot and it seems like it's been a roller coaster ride for me lately. I don't know if it's from having a baby or what, but I really need some motivation to get my act together! Some days I feel like a great parent, a great wife, a great cook, a great household organizer, and a good friend. I've got dinner in the oven by 5, dessert made, homework done by 4, the house cleaned, laundry done, and the plants watered. However, other days, I am lazy and don't take a shower until 3 p.m., right before Katherine gets home from school. I feed Matthew chocolate pudding for lunch because it's easy, and I stick Christopher in the swing so he'll fall asleep. I...