Spelling Tuesday

Today, we said goodbye to my Dad. The funeral service was beautiful, and attended by hundreds of people. Honestly, most of it was kind of a blur for me, as there were so many people there, and a lot of them I had no idea who they were and they were hugging me and saying how sorry they were, etc. We had made a slide show of pictures of my dad, and gave out CD's of the last live concert that he had played. Pastor Carl, who was a good friend of my Dad's gave a beautiful message and then sang and played his guitar, which my Dad would have loved. My brother wrote my Dad a song, which we listened to a prerecorded performance of. I tried to get flower arrangements that included lilac, as I knew that was my Dad's favorite (he mentioned that his Mom used to have lots of lilac bushes around his childhood home), but they were out of season, so I got some Lilac scented candles and had them burning. We drove to Burlington Junction to bury my Dad next to his Parents and his brother. It w...

It's amazing how your life can change in a single minute. One minute you are laughing and having fun, and the next minute your legs have given out from under you and you are sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of the Tropicana casino while everyone looks at you like you are insane. One minute you are on a date with your husband and enjoying your vacation, and the next minute you are listening to the phone call that will flip your life on it's ear. One minute you have a father, and the next minute you find out that he is gone. I am on an overnight flight right now, heading home from Las Vegas. This is not at all how I thought this blog post would go. Tonight was me and Calebs last night in Vegas. We were supposed to leave for home tomorrow morning. We had a great trip and decided to spend our last night in Vegas listening to a comedian. We had literally been laughing for the last hour and were just walking out of the theater when Calebs phone rang. I knew right away tha...

Several years ago, when I was pregnant with Loralie, I did a blog entry entitled "A Day in the Life" that was a breakdown of my daily life being preggo. I thought it would be fun to do a "part two" to that entry as life has changed quite a bit in the last two years! So here goes: 9:00am- Everyone wakes up. I know, I know, you are a jealous. I have a baby who loves to sleep! And Caleb and i are just lazy, so unless there is someplace we need to be, we sleep too! Loralie wakes up really happy and chattering away. she usually hands me "Mr. Moo-Face" and "Yiddle Baby" first thing, and sometimes wont let me get her out of the crib because she is just talking and playing. I sometimes have to pretend like I am going to go downstairs without her before she will let me get her out! We go downstairs and eat breakfast, and Momma gets some coffee. 9:30 Loralie is usually dressed in a super cute outfit by this time, with her hair fixed and a matching hair ...

Does Jesus want me to have a quiet time? Yes, and No. The most amazing part about becoming a Christian, is that Holy Spirit of God becomes joined with our human spirit, and actually allows Christ to live through us! What an astounding thought! As Christians we are invited to be a part of the perfect loving relationship that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit have within themselves. So ask yourself this: assuming that you have the Holy Spirit of God living in and through you, would God's Spirit grudgingly pick up His bible each morning, mindlessly read through an assigned passage, and then cross "quiet time" off of the "To-do" list for the day? The answer to that is NO. The Holy Spirit within you does long to connect to the Father and Son, but in an authentic and meaningful way. It isn't enough to set aside ten minutes each morning for God: He wants to live through us each second of each day. Am I saying chuck the bible out the window? NO. The bible is ONE way ...

Today was Caleb's 29th birthday for the 3rd year in a row! We celebrated by going over to my parent's house for a Mexican Fiesta! Matt, Andie and Baby Ada joined the festivities, as usual. I made Caleb's cake to look like his police uniform. A fun day all around!

Before my mom lived the oh-so- glamorous life of a wedding venue owner, and before she was a stay at home mom, she was a professional singer. She traveled with a band for several years called the Johnny Ray Gomez Review. Recently, she sang at one of their reunion concerts to over 800 people! Johnny Ray Gomez was asked in an interview about his favorite show-biz memories. He said one time they had this new girl singer who they accidentally left at a gas station while on the road...When they finally came back for her a few hours later, she was very relieved because she didn't know the names of the people she was traveling with, or where they were going! Talk about a blonde moment! They forgave her though, cause she was so cute and sang like an angel! So proud of my show biz mama!

Today was kind of one of those days where raising a toddler kind of makes your head spin. Every time we were inside, she wanted to go outside. Every time we were outside, she had to go potty ("right now!"). Each time we got to the potty, she suddenly wanted a snack. When we are in the kitchen eating her snack she wants to play "toys-in-the-basement". Whew. A lot of deep breathing for mommy and some eye rolling when baby wasn't looking. But then, on our nightly walk, I pointed out the pretty pink clouds in the sky, and Loralie said " Kie HUMONGOUS mommy!" My jaw dropped! Humongous has been one of the Sesame Street vocabulary words this season, but I was astounded that she used it, on her own, in the right context! Now that Loralie is able to remember more of what we say to her and carry on more of a conversation, it has been a daily goal of mine to try to teach her more about Christ. Every night before bed we read from her children's bible and ...

Caleb was out of town this week for some work training (or, "boyscout camp" as I like to call it), so I decided that Loralie and I would have to have some fun "girl time" while he was away! Monday, we went to Fun Run with Nee Nee and Boppa and Aunt Andie and Baby Ada! Loralie is still trying to decide if she likes that place. The inflatables are really LOUD and she isn't all that thrilled with being on them at this point. But she did like the big slide! Here she is sliding with Boppa ! And cooking in the little play house area. Note the pot holder glove: not sure she has EVER seen me wear one of those! Tuesday morning, the two of us headed off to the Tiffany Springs Aquatic Center, and since I left my phone in the car, I only got a picture of her after we were ready to go home. She is getting braver and braver at that place, and by the end she was saying " swide 'gin! swide 'gin!" Wednesday we headed out to Lee's Summit to a pl...