Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Garden

















A hobby Mario and I enjoy doing together is gardening. We find it so rewarding as our hard work really pays off when our plants and flowers start to fill in. Our urns this year really look nice. We found this tropical plant called Pony Tail Fern that looks beautiful. Our Snow Princess flowers dripping out completely covering our pots are my favorite. I also thought the Fireworks grass turned a pretty red. We didn't have time to plant any veggies this year but all our pots are so nice to sit and just enjoy!:) The kids got so excited because we had a hot air balloon go right over our house last night, pretty cool as Emma would say!

Elise at 8 months...








The kids have been busy this summer! Emma and her friend both love playing the guitar together and Ethan with his friends playing his new favorite game on the Wii Lego Indiana Jones! We are getting ready to leave for Oklahoma this week. As you can tell from these pics I have a lot of cleaning to do. I hate coming back from vacation to a dirty house! We have been busy with VBS at our church but it has been a really fun time. Elise is now crawling all over the place( she is super fast now) and her new thing is trying to pull up on our sofa to stand. She gets into position but doesn't have her strength yet in her legs. We are finding that having 2 other kiddos dropping paper, toys, etc. on the floor is quite a challenge because EVERYTHING goes in Elise's mouth... We have had a few close calls with small pieces of paper she gets caught with in her mouth so we are trying to teach our kids to be cautious. Elise is curious and gets herself into trouble alot! :) But I must say we are really enjoying her she is at such a fun stage!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

"Catch up"






I almost feel like a stranger on my own blog... I think this has been the longest I've gone not saying anything, not even a picture! AND the crazy thing is so VERY much has changed since I lasted posted! Emma turned the big 6 years old and she had a wonderful birthday party, her dance recital was just incredible, and we have been super busy working on home improvements around the house. Garage is cleaned, basement is looking more like a room in our house rather than a dungeon. But the most shocking new detail in my life that has changed since I last posted is that we found out my dad has Leukemia. He had been tired to the point of passing out a few times but we NEVER imagined in our worst nightmare that this would be the diagnosis. I know that God is ultimately in control so I have been praying for wisdom, strength, and courage for my dad. I know he is scared but seems to be surrounded by friends that love him. We are planning a trip back home soon to OKC to comfort him and spend some time with him. But with this change it has motivated me to take a closer look at my life as a mother, wife, daughter, etc. I have been grumpy with myself, family and friends. I have finally today put things into better perspective thanks to the grace of God. Today I am focusing on the emotions that I am feeling with the diagnosis of my dad. Many conversations I have had with him have ended with me crying to Mario whom I am forever thankful to God for. So today I'm focusing on what is happening now and praying God will help me understand the events that happen in the future.

Emma did a ballet called The Waltzing Cat at her recital and it was beautiful! Her party was great and according to Emma "being 6 is the best!" I can't wait to visit with family and friends in OKC in July!:) Here is the "readers digest" version of the last month in pictures!