Mr. Right

Skip and I on one of our 3rd or 4th dates. Remember that we had already been best friends for years.

Late 80's -Skip singing with his band

I saw this cute Valentine meme at Barb's site and thought I better
do it while we are still in the Valentine mood around here. Whoever came up with this idea, it is a great one.

His age: 39
How tall is he? 5' 11"
How long have you been together (married)? We will be married 15 yrs. this June. We have been best friends since we were 15, but did not start dating until we were 21 yrs. old.
How long did you know each other before you got together? Friends for 6 years and then one summer we saw each other as something more and then we were inseparable. We married two years later.
What physical features attracted you to him first?: It was either his gorgeous eyes or his red mitsubishi eclipse sports car. Just kidding, definitely his eyes and his smile.
Eye color: Green and my girls were blessed with the same color.
Hair color: Dark brown at the moment, but I will tell you without hesitation that he has changed his hair color more than I have. He's a rock star after all.
Hair Style:The cut rarely changes. I would have to say it is something like Simon Lebon's New Moon on Monday style. Eighties all the way baby!
Normal Outfit: I guess he usually goes for a jeans and t-shirt look, however I love when that he dresses the t-shirt up with a casual blazer when we go on dates.
How did you meet? Driver's Ed, the summer before our sophomore year. Instant friends!
How serious is it? What do you think? I think I'll keep him around.
Do your parents like him? Definitely!
Do his parents like you? They are the sweetest in-laws ever, and Skip's mom tells me all the time how much she loves me.
Do you trust him? Not with my Red Bull.
Would you share a toothbrush with him? Actually we have shared on vacation before, but I like my own thank you very much.
Would he let you wear his pants? Do boxers count? I wear those all the time to bed.
Do you have a shirt of his that you sleep in? I have several that I steal from him to sleep in, but he prefers me to wear my own. Let me rephrase that, he likes me to wear the ones he has bought for me. Need I say more.
Do you like the way he smells? Oh yeah! I pick out his cologne, but he smells yummy without it.
Can you picture having kids with him? Oh my goodness, he is the best daddy ever! I knew he would be because of the way he acted with my niece and nephew before we got married.
What bothers you the most about him? Probably that he is good at everything.

Does he have a temper? No, that would be me.
Are you happy to be with him? Very happy, mama likes!

Does he embarrass you in public? ALWAYS!

Does he have any piercings? No

Any tattoos? No

Does he have any scars that you know of? Yes, most recently from his hip surgery last summer.

Is he a Party dude or Stay at home? He prefers to stay at home for sure!

Is he Outgoing or Shy? He is a complete extrovert and everyone loves him! Strange that he likes to be at home, yet he is completely the life of the party when we are out with others.

Does he love his mama? Yes, as a matter of fact, he called her today.

Would he hang out with you and YOUR friends? Not by his own will. He can only take girl talk for about 5 seconds and then gets that glazed over look. He does, however, love to hang out with me, thank goodness!

Sing? Oh yes my honey sings! He has one CD out and many other songs which he has played at church. He won a songseeker award at Saddleback church 3 years ago for his song, "I Want To Be Like Jesus." He was just singing Neil Diamond favorites to me earlier tonight. He found Neil Diamond karaoke on Itunes this evening. Pray for me.

This was so much Fun!

Feel free to borrow this to tell us all about your man.

Skip's Response

Wow! I was suprised. She is so good to me.
The end

(just kidding, I will post on my blog)

Happy Valentine's Day!

My sweet Annie made this card for her brother and sister at school this week. Isn't it just precious! I love Valentine's Day, not because of what I get (which is usually dinner and a card), but because I try to make it so special for those I love. It is so fun to give! Don't you agree? I tried something very different for the hubby this year and I can't wait to hear his reaction. I secretly broke in his office last night and decorated it with hearts, love notes and balloons. He has no idea, and I wish that silly boy wouldn't have decided to sleep in and go to work late today, so I can hear his reaction sooner. I wrote about 50 notes on hearts that tell him why I love his so much. He is a total "Words of Affirmation" guy, so I am so getting some "Quality Time" with him later.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Monday Monday

I just started to hum that old Mamas and Papas song for some reason and the only words I could remember were "Monday Monday". Of course I had to go look up the rest of the lyrics and had to laugh. It is kind of a happy, yet depressing song at the same time. While on a Mamas and Papas website, I just started listening to all kinds of other songs from that era and I came across my alltime favorite voice. Do you want to know who it is? Karen Carpenter!!! It may sound chessy, but I just sat and listened to "Close to You" and started to boohoo cry. I love her voice and I love that song. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and my mom used to sing it to me, my brother and my sister. This time I started listening, and I thought of my sweet hubby. It is so close to V day so I've been kinda mushy with him lately. I thought I would share these sweet lyrics with you and bring you back down memory lane. Those of you who are old enough(Ahem) to remember this precious song.

Close to You

Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.

Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.

On the day that you were born
The angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And starlight in your eyes of blue.

That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around.
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.

On the day that you were born
The angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And starlight in your eyes of blue.

That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around.
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.

Just like me (Just like me)
They long to beClose to you.
Wahhhhhhhhhhh, close to you.
Wahhhhhhhhhhh, close to you.

If you get a chance, go download it. It is rare to find such a pure voice. I also love her version of "I Just Fall In Love Again", "We've Only Just Begun", "Rainy Days and Mondays", and "Top of the World." I know I am so cheesy, but I seriously want to download ever Carpenter song and make a CD for Skip. Hey, this may be his valentine gift. Shhh! Happy "Monday, Monday..."

Some Answers and More Appointments

First of all, PRAISE GOD that no adhensions were found. I just received a call from Seth's doctor and he has basically said that Seth is suffering from malabsorption. I told you that he was having some reflux, but he thinks it may be caused from the stomach not emptying properly due to the absorption problems. We will be vistiting a gastroenterologist next week to see what our next step is going to be. We have known all along since Seth was only a few weeks old that he did not digest food normally. He eats like a horse, but doesn't gain weight-ever! We have a feeling that he will need to be on digestive enzymes again and stick to a pretty strick whole foods diet. I need some serious help from the Lord on this girls! It is hard with our very Americanized Diet, but I will do whatever it takes. I don't know if you know how hard that surgeries on the stomach and intestines can drastically affect your digestion of food. Seth has had 3 to date. It robs our natural intestinal flora that we need so desperately to aid in digestion. I am not a nurse, but I have learned so much through Seth's struggles about nutrition and our bodies need for good live foods. Since Seth's favorite food is Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, The MCRib, and so on... I will have to make some serious changes in his diet. I feel a little guilty(well a lot guilty) of how I have failed as a mother in the health dept, but God is showing me that I can change with his guiding and prompting to get my son the help he needs. I have already started juicing for him each day and he is feeling better. He hasn't thrown up once since last Friday, except at the radiologist office two days ago (can't blame him-I would have too after the crud he had to drink). Please keep encouraging me and lifting Seth up in prayer. It means the absolute world to me to have your prayers. God Bless all of you!

Cute and Cheap

Another completely shallow post is about to happen. Are you ready? I wore my first pair of open-toed sandals today because it is basically summer here in Corpus. I love these shoes for two reasons. One, they make me look tall. Two, they were $4.98 at Target. I received several compliments on them at bible study this morning, despite my funky toes. Do you have funky toes, too? My second toe is longer than the first and I thought that was normal. I am suddenly feeling toe envy since only one other girl in our group had the same design by God. I am trying to meditate on Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." I hope you all know I am just being silly. This brings up a completely non important question: Do you like your toes? Your feet? I am just trying to stay joyful while waiting to hear some news from the Doc about Seth. Feel free to comment.

Another Update

I just got back from the Radiologist's office. Seth had his upper GI procedure this morning starting at 9:45am and it is now 3:00 pm. He had pretty severe reflux when they did the sonogram type x-ray of his stomach and Skip was able to see where it was stopping in the digestive tract. He had to drink the chalky milky drink within 45 minutes and then they took x-rays. For some reasons his stomach contents are not emptying normally. We had to do x-rays about every 45 minutes to see the progression of the liquid. Seth ended up throwing up all the milky crud, but they said that he still had some in his stomach so they could watch it's progress. We will hopefully hear from our doctor after the radiologist looks over the x-rays and scans he did. We have no answers, but I am trusting God with my son once again.

I was driving earlier on the way to the appt. to meet Skip and Seth and a flood of old emotions swept over me. I remember sitting and waiting for Seth's first upper GI when he was one-week old and how the doctor came in and shared that he was going to have to operate. I was so afraid and unsure of what was to come, and now 10 years later to the date, I find myself in the very same position. The difference today is that I can now reflect on how God was there with us every step of the way, and how he never left our side through the months of uncertainty and fear. I am stronger now, though still a little afraid. I am praying for there to be a cure for his problems without surgery. If this is not God's will, I am praying for Seth to have the strength and endurance to handle whatever is in the future. He is 4ft. 5in. and weighs only 55 lbs. He is very thin and I know how much anesthesia and surgery can take it's toll. I pray that we will have all Seth's health issues under control someday. It is so hard to see your child suffer. I will update more as soon as I receive word from our doctor.

Thank you for praying for Beighly yesterday. Her surgery was successful and they ended up having very little to do once they got a look inside. Her family is believing it's a miracle and I do too. God is so good!

A Little of This and a Little of That

I cannot believe it is already February 6th. This year is flying by too quickly. We have had several beautiful days in a row and I am loving it. Seth and I have to play one on one every day for at least 30 minutes. He insists! It is quite a workout since I am always chasing my ball into the street after a lousy shot I make. Speaking of Seth, I finally was able to get him into his pediatrician's office this morning, and tomorrow we are having an upper GI. His symptoms went away for a few days, but then resurfaced. We hope to have some info. as to what is causing his reflux and digestive problems. If you could continue to pray for him, I would appreciate it very much.

Another prayer request is for a sweet girl named Beighly in our youth group. She had back surgery today due to some back issues she has been having since the summer. They removed some bone from her L-5 vertebrae to take pressure off her nerves and spinal cord. There is some fusing of bones, and basically it is all very confusing to me. She has come out of surgery and it went well. Praise God!!! The recovery however is pretty intense. She will be out of school from 6 to 8 weeks. She is the cutest little thing you've ever seen and a hoot to be around. Skip is always teasing her, and she is one of the few who can take it and beat him at his own game. Her nickname is Bug. Isn't that sweet?

Lastly, I am starting my new bible study this week in my home on Thursday. I am beyond excited about it!! We have decided to do Beth Moore's Daniel. I have heard wonderful things about it, and I can't wait to dig into scripture. Most of all, I can't wait to be around the sweet ladies in our group again. We have such a special bond after spending over a year together, and we truly are there for one another. Our last two studies have been fairly light on the homework load, so I am praying for time and desire for all of us to fully commit to completely the study each week.

I apologize for not commenting more on all of your blogs. I can't seem to keep up with everything. I will say that I am having lots of family time which is such a joy. Hope you all are having a great February! Valentines Day is only a week away. Yipee!!!

Spa Party and Fishing Supplies

We had Annie's precious spa party yesterday afternoon and it was a big hit with the girls. She invited 6 of her best friends over to receive facials(colored coolwhip and cucumbers), pedicures, foot massages, manicures and makeup. We crammed a lot into 2 hours and they had a blast. I overheard one of Annie's friends say to another older friend of Annie's(older meaning one grade), "Isn't this the best party ever?" To which the friend replied, "Well, I will have to let you know later because I am going to my neighbors sleepover after this party." My, these little girls have a social calendar already. It was too cute. Annie's cake was made by my friend Shanda. I have been off my Daniel fast for only a few days which could taint my judgement a bit, but I would have to say that THIS CAKE WAS PURE HEAVEN!!! I was already completely overwhelmed with what a great job she did on the presentation, but then when it literally melted in my mouth from such a yummy taste- she took it over the top. She has 5 kids so she has no time to start a booming business, but I think someday she may be on one of the Cake bake-offs on Food Network. She even wrote the names on individual cupcakes. I wish the picture I took did it justice.

After all the girls were picked up it was time for Friday date night with the hubby. We went and had our favorite-Joe's Crabshack coconut shrimp and twice baked potatoes. We are easy to please. Then my husband took me to the most romantic place HE could ever possible dream up. He wisked me away to Paris for a week long vacation....Oh, sorry I started daydreaming. He took me to his favorite get away. We spent over an hour looking for the perfect lures to fill his new fishing tackle box. What is sad is that the man, I mean my sweet hubby, was fifteen minutes late beginning our date tonight because he was picking out his new fishing rod from you guessed it, ACADEMY! You should have seen how interested I was at the electric chicken fishing lures, the 10 minute lecture he gave about all the different size bullets each of his and his dad's shotguns take, and then of course I can't forget, the new Big Bertha. He couldn't leave without taking a few practice swings to show off to his very embarrassed wife who realized that everyone in Corpus Christi hangs out in Academy on Friday nights. Actually as I reflect on last night, I easily could have won an Academy Award for my performance tonight. In the category of MAKING YOUR HUSBAND AS HAPPY AS A KID IN A CANDY STORE, the Oscar goes to...........Me!

I really did have a fun time and I cherish all our date nights together. And there's always next week when I'm sure I'll have a good chick flick lined up for him.

Wishing all of you a Blessed Weekend!

Happy Birthday Bub!

Here are some various pictures of my sweet bubba. How we started calling him "bubba" I will never understand. He looks like anything but a bubba. Thankfully the name stays at home ONLY! Today is his birthday and I want to share with you a little about this amazing son of mine.

Ten Interesting Things about Seth
1. Seth could name and identify about 40 or more dinosaurs when he was only 4 yrs. old.
2. We often think he will make an excellent lawyer because he can argue his way out of anything. He remembers everything and will bring up past cases if necessary.
3. He is obsessed with football and basketball stats. He not only knows the players and the coaches from just about every team, he can also tell you where they went to college, what their parents' names are and where they like to vacation. Okay, I'm exaggerating a tad bit.
4. He loves music and his favs are the Newsboys, All American Rejects and Toby Mac.
5. He is learning electric guitar from Skip, but most of the time he just jams as loud as possible.
6. Seth underwent 3 surgeries within the first 8 months of his life. Two surgeries were to correct a defect which did not allow him to eat without severe reflux. The third was an emergency surgery due to adhesions which had formed from the past surgeries.
7. He loves beef ribs, pork ribs, and the famous McRib. His favorite ribs to date were found at The Local Grill in Estes Park, Colorado. I actually am taking him lunch today at his school. Guess what I'm bringing him? McDonald's here I come.
8. He is the funniest kid I know. His humor is second only to his father, but it is a pretty close second.
9. Seth also has CCD, central core disease. He was born with dislocated hips at birth and though he miraculously did not require any surgery, he did wear a harness type of brace for a while to keep his legs apart so the hips could seed in place. We did go in for surgery at 17 months to have him put in a cast with possible cutting of the bone to put the hips in place correctly. But when Seth's surgeon did an xray to see exactly what procedure they would need to do, he was in shock. He came out into the waiting room and said, "I don't know what to say, the x-ray is now showing that Seth's hips have seeded into place as if we had had him in a cast for 6 weeks." We had just had xrays done a couple of weeks before surgery to show otherwise. We started falling down praising God. Even our surgeon said, "Whoever you are praying to, keep doing it. I haven't ever seen anything like this." Our surgeon was about 65 yrs. old at that time. I really need to write a book someday about everything Seth went through. I want all of you to know that CCD is a form of Muscular Dystrophy. It is not life threatening and Seth's is a mild case-Thank you Jesus. Whenever you donate to MD, you are helping find a cure for Seth's future children. He has a 50% chance of passing it on. My girls do not have it and therefore cannot pass it on. You have to have it to pass it usually, although there are some cases that have shown up randomly. We have learned from Seth's diagnosis that Skip, Skip's mom, Skip's grandfather, and Skip's great-great grandmother all had this disease. Seth was able to shed a lot of light on things for all of them. Some parents I've met online have children with very severe cases in which their children will never walk, and multiple children with the disease. WE FEEL TRULY BLESSED!
10. Seth's name means "the chosen one" or "the appointed" one. We know that he is destined for greatness. We sure think he's great already.

Quick Sunday Update

Can I just say... God is so good! Seth is feeling so much better. He hasn't thrown up once and his stomach hasn't cramped at all since Saturday Morning. We started juicing for him again. I am doing about 6-8 ounces of fresh fruit juices in the morning and about the same amout of vegetable juice in the afternoon. He is taking it well much to my surprise. It is so much work to use and clean a juicer, but I am seeing the rewards already. We decided to make a trip to Victoria Sunday afternoon to visit family and celebrate birthdays and we just got back tonight. Thank you all so much for the prayers and emails. It means so much to me. We are still going to get him checked out very soon to see what is happening in that tummy of his.

Birthdays, Prayer Request and Praise!

Happy 7th Birthday Annie
I love you so much!

Well, my Annie Beth is 7 today and I was looking for some pictures from her past to describe her personality a bit to you. These last two pictures were taken at a stay in Colorado about four years ago when our cabin only had a shower(which Annie refused to go in). We laugh at these pictures because it represents the two distinct personalities that Annie possesses. She is the happiest, most joyful, fun-loving, helpful child you could ever meet, and then she is ...um...let's just say-Watch out! I can't believe that my baby is seven. I thought somehow she would stay little forever. She hasn't. We went to Cracker Barrell for her birthday breakfast this morning along with every other human being in a 30 mile radius. She had a great time and can't wait to celebrate later next week with her friends. She is having a spa party, and I'm sure I will be posting pictures then.

Also, my friend Tiffany just celebrated her birthday yesterday. Go by if you get a chance and tell her Happy Birthday.

Prayer Request: My 10 year old son Seth has been having a lot of digestive issues on and off this week. We thought he had a stomach bug last weekend when he threw up a couple of times, but now we are starting to get a little concerned. About 10-20 minutes after he eats his stomach starts to cramp. Last night he threw up about 45 minutes after he ate, and then felt fine. He did the same thing this morning. I am trying to keep calm and look for other symptoms before I'm off to the E.R. When he was 7 and 1/2 months old, we almost lost him due to adhensions that had formed from his first two abdominal surgeries. Since that time until now, we haven't had any adhesions. I am trying not to panic, but I am going to take him in if it continues. He has been playing all day just fine, but I am not giving him much to eat. I juiced some carrot and apple and then he had some applesauce. He has kept that down. He wanted a little pasta, so I made him about 1 cup and so far so good. Please pray for wisdom on my part to know when to take this seriously. He is so thin as it is, I can't imagine him undergoing surgery again. Regardless I will get him into the pediatrician on Monday so we can get him checked out. Thank you in advance for praying!

Lastly on a positive note, I received a call from my sister who shared some good news with me. On Wednesday night we were talking about my nephew Matt and the fact he hasn't had any work since Hannah Montana other than a few student films and an independent film in which there is no pay. His agency was not happy with the fact that he wasn't booking, yet auditioning quite a bit. Well, within 24 hours of talking to her, Matt booked two small jobs. He will have a scene at the end of the OC season finale and a scene on The Office. He is filming both within the next week. Very exciting for him! This will finally get him his SAG card, which may lead to further roles. Yay Matt!

For The Health of It

Our church is currently doing a series on getting ourselves healthy. I have been on fruits, veggies and water only for almost 5 straight days. Well I did have one Sugar free Red Bull on Saturday and Sunday, but other than that it has been water only. I didn't really get the caffeine headache I thought I might. I guess I don't drink as much coffee and cokes as I thought I did. The entire church is trying to get healthy so it makes it so much easier. I am going to stick with this menu for 10 days and then slowly add some meat and fish, maybe even coffee. My husband and I have many conversations like this, "Honey, want would you like for dinner tonight? Salad, or salad?" " Oh, I guess salad is fine." We have to laugh about it or we might go absolutely bonkers. I know that a lot of churches do these kinds of things, and I am so happy ours did because I want to be healthier, and not so tired at the end of each day. I haven't really lost more than a pound or two, but I think I will as soon as my body gets out of complete and udder shock. We were at Applebee's today having (you guessed it) salads, and we started asking each other what food we craved the most right now. Mine was Coconut shrimp and a twice baked potato from Joe's CrabShack (lots of cheese on top) and Skip's was fried gizzards from Pete's Fried Chicken. I had to laugh for about 5 minutes. Do other people seriously crave gizzards or is it just my peculiar sweetie? Actually Big Mama's household eats Elk Burgers - go figure.

Good Christian Music

I was really wondering how many other bloggers purchase Christian music on a regular basis. In talking to my husband yesterday, he mentioned that several members of a very well known Christian band have to work during the week at day jobs and then tour on the weekends. I am thinking when do these poor guys get inspiration to write, and much less have family time. I just assumed that they were payed well because I hear their songs on the radio all the time. That is not necessarily the case with most of the artists in the Christian world unless they are REALLY big. I know many Christian songwriters like "The Fray" and "Switchfoot" are in the secular market and I can't say that I blame them. They can reach so many more people with their lyrics in the mainstream.

My husband has always bought Christian music, but now my daughter has started purchasing songs for her ipod with Itunes gift cards she received. I love that she is downloading songs from SuperChick, The Barlow Girls, The Newsboys, and many other Christian Artists. I would love for all these groups to be blessed for their desire to share the gospel through their music. Just something to talk about on a rainy cold day.

Matt's Debut on Hannah

Matt is in the middle with plaid shorts.

My nephew Matt's first television performance will be airing tonight on the Disney Channel. It is on at 7PM central time and 8PM eastern/pacific time. He only has a couple of lines but he does a great job. Besides, you have to start somewhere. The episode is called "Schooly Bully" and Matt is Troy McCann. I found the his brief part on YouTube for those of you who want to see it without watching the whole Hannah episode. Some of you with young kids were probably planning on watching anyway. Just click here and watch for his scene. My sister is still going back and forth from Texas to LA, but staying mostly in LA. Matt is busy with acting lessons, auditions and doing some independent films at the moment. He really wants to pursue this dream of his, and my prayer is that God will protect him in every aspect.