Unforseen unfortunate blessings

We came home last night to find our house has no a/c! That is not good news when the forcast for the next week is 103.
The good news (which I am trying to focus on) is that #1: We have a pool and #2: We bought a seperate a/c unit for the upstairs game room.
Worst case scenario is that we spend all of our time either in the water or upstairs, which I actually think will be kind of fun (for a day or two anyway). If we are "stuck" up stairs, I might actually take some time to play games with the kids and get some scrapbooking done! What a thought! And if we end up having to all four sleep up there...the kids will think that is the coolest thing EVER! It'll be like a big family slumber party!
Isn't it crazy how something has to go wrong in order for us (me) to do things like this? On a normal day (when the a/c is working) I would NEVER spend the whole day swimming or playing upstairs. I would be concerning myself with laundry and dishes and computer work and phone calls and such.
I remember last year when we had the big ice storm. We were without power for like 5 days. It was ridiculously cold (and dark) in the house as we have no alternative heat source. We ended up spending the night at my parent's house (next to their fire place-they didn't have power either) and spending the night with some friends who had a generator. The kids thought that was the BEST TIME EVER! Now when we mention anything about the "power might go out" they get SUPER excited! ha ha ha
I have to admit it----shhhh! don't tell.....but I get excited too! It's like mother nature's permission slip to me to just have fun and forget all the responsibilities! I mean...it's not like I can actually do computer work, laundry or dishes without electricity or lights!

I love my a/c and I thank God all the time for it...but for today...I'm looking forward to being "forced" into swimming and playing all day. The kids won't know what to think with mommy all to themselves!!

You are my business!

I got my Beachbody business cards in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I've been handing them out but I thought I'd share them with you all as well, just in case there are some of you who didn't know I am a coach.

I am anxiously awaiting my first "victim." ha ha....no...just kidding. Honestly though, I can't wait to finally have someone to coach and encourage along their fitness journey! Beachbody offers so many great programs that take all the thinking out of it for you. That's what I loved about P90X the most, I think. There were no "I wonder this...and I wonder that...". EVERYTHING you need is included. You know exactly what workout to do every single day. You know exactly what to eat every single day. And, just to be positively sure you have ALL your questions answered, they even provide you with a FREE coach (me!!) to help and encourage you every step of the way! What could be better than that??? How about this: You can have the results you're wanting in only 90 days! That means that by September of THIS year...you can be walking around in the body that you're only dreaming about right now! I mentioned something to Matt the other day about not having time to work out. I said "If I quit working out then I would have time to take care of the house." You wanna know what he said back to me? He said, "then you wouldn't be taking care of THIS house!" and he pointed to me.

Wow! He's right! Of course I need to take care of my home...but this body that God has given me is also my "house." God requires us to be good stewards with what He has given us and I think that includes the life and the body that we were given! I love it when my work-out habits are justified!! hee hee

Anyway, I really do want to help you! Just click here!

May we never forget!

This morning while I was making Matt's breakfast and lunch, I turned on the radio. A song came on that has stuck in my head and I just keep rolling the words around and around. I can't quit thinking about the simple chorus which says : May we never forget the cost of His blood. May we never forget the cost of His love.

Lord Jesus, let me NEVER forget what you gave up for me!

It seems like here lately, when I finally get to post, it's like a hodge-podge of subjects and stories. Anyway, here's another one to recap the last couple of weeks around our place.

First of all, a couple of weeks ago, Matt and I got up early on a Saturday morning and decided to start building the kids a play house. We've been wanting to do this for a long time but never could decide on a layout. After going to visit my friend Kandy and seeing the clubhouse her husband built their boys, I decided we needed to 'Just Do It'. My dad came up and helped and we got the 4 corner poles set in the ground as well as the floor on. Then last weekend Matt and I sanded and painted all these iron bars and we got 2 of the 4 sides up. This next weekend we hope to finish that part, put on the roof and build the steps. Eventually this thing will have a rock-climbing wall, a slide and swings. We are going to enclose the bottom of it and use it as a little storage building for all our pool supplies/rafts. It's taking longer than we thought--but the cool thing is that we have built it almost entirely from wood that we had laying around (left over from when they built our house). So far we've only had to spend about $50 on some treated lumber for the handrails and some screws. Yay!

Here is a pic of the kids in the 3 foot hole I dug for the first pole!

Matt singing "She thinks my tractor's sexy!!!" ha ha

Last weekend Brooklyn got to have 2 of her girlfriends over to spend the night. They played "spa" and even got Grant in on the action taking off their toenail polish! Thankfully he is only 5 and still considers it an honor to be involved in whatever his big sister and her friends are doing. He can be talked into doing almost ANYTHING for her for a small price (usually a quarter! ha ha)

Here are the girls 'at the spa.'

You didn't know I was a pedicurist too, did you?? haha

Here is one of them signing Brooklyn's "Slumber Party Pillowcase". We'd gotten it a few years ago and it came with markers for the girls to write messages on it. I finally got it out and they decorated it all up. It turned out very cute!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day and my parents 34th wedding anniversary! Afterwards, we went home and started working on the playhouse again. By the time we were ready to quit we were soaked in sweat and burning up so we hopped in the pool. To our suprise, Kinley climbed the pool ladder all by herself and hopped in with us!!

Grant started feeling sick that night and was running a fever. I held him like this the whole time we were in the pool. Poor guy! (we took him to the doctor today after he woke up with his eyes sealed shut with green crusty stuff (Wed.) and found out he has a BAD case of pink eye! ick!)

On Monday, one of Brooklyn's other friends invited her to go to the Jonas Brothers Concert!! What an honor!! I wasn't sure about letting my 8-year-old daughter go somewhere that HUGE and BUSY without me..but I also knew this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. (the tickets were $87.50 and we were being offered it for FREE!)

Since she was getting to do something SO fun and SO cool, Grant was pretty disappointed. He says she always gets to do all the fun stuff (and he's really right). Soo....Matt and I decided to give him his first "date night" with the 2 of us. He could choose anywhere he wanted to go to eat and anything he wanted to do. I also let him ENTIRELY pick out my outfit, jewlery and hair do! He was very specific about his requests. He said he wanted me to #1: Wear my wedding ring. #2: Wear this specific dress (that you see in the picture). #3: Wear high-heels.

Ha ha. I thought it was so funny that he had totally picked out EVERYthing for me to wear, told me how to fix my hair and even picked out earrings and a ring to match this dress. I felt WAY overdressed but I didn't care. This night was ALL about him and I was willing to do/wear just about anything his little heart desired. He also got himself all spiffied up (dressed to match mommy). He put his necklace on, gelled his hair (as stiff as a board!) and put on some cologne. He looked like a little replica of his daddy!

For his date, he picked that we would go out to eat at Barbies (Arby's) and we would order chicken, curly fries and a 'mocha shake. Then it was off to the movie theatre to see "Up."

The poor little guy pooped out on us before we even got to the resturant and I couldn't resist snapping a quick pic of him snoozing!

It's a lot of work taking mommy out on a date, huh buddy? Maybe this is why daddy always conks out early on date nights too!? ;o)

It's Tough Being a Woman!

Last Tuesday I began a 10-week Bible study with the women in my church about the book of the Bible, Esther. It is a fascinating story that would draw even the least interested person in. If you've never read it, you should definitely do so. Then once you've let your imagination run freely with all the vivid descriptions upon those pages, you can go rent "One Night With the King". Esther's story is a completely captivating one that will be every bit a page-turner as those Twilight books you've been pouring over! ;)
Anyway, the subtitle to our Bible study is "It's Tough Being a Woman" and for the first week we finished that sentence by saying "It's tough being a woman in another woman's shadow." Each week we will look at another aspect of why it might be "tough being a woman." During our small-group time they had us list out 3 reasons why we personally think it's tough being a woman. I had a harder time than I expected with that assignment. I found that I was able to sum it all up in one single word (for me anyway). I'm not going to tell you what it is yet though...because I want to see what your answers are first. So....if you will indulge me...leave a comment and tell me: What are 3 reasons you think it is "tough being a woman"?
(guys-feel free to answer this as well--I'd love to see your "take" on the whole female thing!)

Family and Friends and Fun!

A couple of weeks ago we saw a sign on the side of the road by our house that said "Free Kittens" and beside it was this little kitten locked up in a little cage all alone. No people around anywhere. Guess they just left her there hoping someone would pick her up. Well...we did! She is one of the sweetest kittens I've ever been around. She LOVES to be held and played with and NEVER runs away from us. She even tolerates Sam and Kinley who play a little too rough with her I think...but she just keeps purring and laying there. We haven't really decided on a permanent name yet...Brooklyn wants Pebbles and I liked Kit-Kat. We'll see what ends up sticking.On Friday we went to visit my newest great-neice (almost 2 weeks old) Kenzi Maria.

She is so precious and I just LOVE her head FULL of hair! I got to be the first to put a headband in it. (don't think her daddy liked that too much) but hey--I AM her great-aunt--I have to have SOME priveledges! he he

On Monday, I got to go visit my buddy Kandy and her kiddos at her house. We had so much fun working out and then chillin' by her pool while the kids swam! Here is one of us right in the middle of a cardio work out all hot and sweaty!

Here are a couple of the kids having fun together. They had a blast playing in their awesome playhouse and of course..swiming in the pool!

Monday night we got together with my sister and her daughter (my neice) and HER daughter (my other great-neice) Alexis. She is 2 1/2 and she is SUCH a doll! Grant was completely infatuated with her and spent a good portion of the evening just staring at her! He carried her blankie, Nemo and sippy cup all over for her wherever we went! They even held hands on the way into the Cheesecake Factory for dinner!Here is one of me kissing her sweet face. Isn't she gorgeous?? Those EYES!And lastly, one of my kids MIRACULOUSLY hugging each other and smiling! (They're probably pinching each other behind their backs!)

I'm feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

Not "Hot" as in sexy..."Hot" as in HOT! For the past couple of weeks, I swear I've been having hot flashes! I can be just comfortable one minute with a blanket over my legs or pajama pants on and the next thing I know I'm burning up, sweat beads popping up on my brow and trickling down the small of my back and I'm ripping off every unneccesary peice of fabric. What's up with THAT? Frighteningly I am reminding myself of what my mom looked like just a few years ago when she went through menopause. But I'm only 30.
Over the past week, I've woken up several times in the middle of the night so hot that my hair and nightshirt were actually damp. I'll look over at Matt and there he is all nestled up under the covers sleeping comfortably while I'm practically stripping down naked. Is that normal?
Thankfully, I go to see my girlie doctor in 2 weeks and I can bring this up with her. That'll be right after we discuss what needs to be done about my birth control situation now that my IUD has expired. I am more sure than ever that we are done having babies...so it's probably time to take some more permanent measures. Yet I still can't shake the thought that maybe we're just still a tad too young to be closing that door permanently and that maybe I should go with another 5-year IUD just to be on the safe side....but....on the other hand when I imagine what I would think/feel/do if I did, by chance, get prego again....well, then I know it might be time to consider something permanent. :o)
Anyway, I really should be working right now and not typing on my blog, but I just went through one of those "I'm-burning-Up!!!" moments and thought I'd tell you guys all my personal business before I begin my work for the day! ha ha
Hope you all have a great Thursday! Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Our 3rd Mother/Daughter Date

As you know, Brooklyn and I have been going on special dates (8 of them in this kit) and we just did our 3rd one. This time it was "Quiet time with God." It was a little harder because there weren't any special places to go or things to do. There was a small devotional and then we were supposed to have some quiet time with God. To make it seem a little bit more "big" we went and got our toenails done first. Then we stopped at McDonalds and got a Oreo icecream thingy. Then we went to some land my dad owns and spread out a blanket and had our quiet time. It was simple, but still very nice.

Memorial Day Weekend

On Saturday we went to see my new GREAT neice! (I am SO NOT old enough to be a great-anything...but oh well! I guess that's what I get when all my brothers and sisters are way older than me! Kenzi Maria was born with a full head of dark hair! I'm in total love with her already!

Here is one of Matt and Brooklyn in the hall at the hospital. It was so sweet---Father/daughter, I couldn't pass up putting it on here!Next we headed to our home town for some fun family time. We always stay with Matt's mom and step-dad. They are wonderful to us and always treat us extra special. Here's a pic of Brooklyn playing in their bird bath. So sweet!

Matt's step-dad, Duane, likes motorcycles and has recently acquired this 1969 (I think) scooter. We all had a blast riding around the neighborhood on it!

On Sunday we started the day out going to church with Matt's mamaw. We got to listen to the preacher who did our wedding (and who was our pastor when we met). It was exciting and fun to catch up on what's been going on since we'd seen him and his family last. Matt's mamaw ALWAYS has us a sweet greeting written on the sidewalk out in front of her house with sidewalk chalk when we come. This time I took a picture!

Here we are right after church. Finally, a family picture!

After church, we had a great birthday party for the 2 little Jones boys (Jaxon-turning 7 and Grant-turning 5). I organized a party in the park, made baseball cupcakes and then had a family baseball game since both boys are big into baseball right now. It went great and we even got Matt's Mamaw out there to bat! What a sport!

Here are the 4 cousins: Grant, Nicole, Brooklyn & Jaxon. The BEST of friends!Here are the 2 birthday boys blowing out their candles.

Matt's little brother and his wife just got a yorkie about a month ago. Neither of these guys act like they care about these pups too much...but look at them there--Matt holding Kinley and Cale holding Sophie. You can clearly see they love these little girls almost as much as me and Lindsay do! hee hee (that's Matt's dad sitting there on the right in the white shirt).Here's a better picture of the 3 Jones men. Matt, Cale & GP

Here's one of us women. That's me in the pink, Lindsay (my SIL) in the black and Matt's mom, Laura, in the yellow.

grrrr

I just did a whole long post for this blog and then accidently posted it to my P90X blog. Does anyone know how to switch it around?

Grant's Pre-K Graduation
Last week, Grant graduated out of Pre-K. Next year he'll be a big Kindergartner! It was so cute to see his class perform some songs they had learned and walk across the stage to get their completion certificates!

Here he is with his teachers, his class and one last HAPPY shot!