Wednesday, August 29

ST MARIA FAUSTINA CATHOLIC ACADEMY "BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT AT THE BALLPARK"

We just got back from our couples trip to Wyoming and our Daddy had a business trip 2 days later, so instead of starting school that day, we spent the day with our daddy!  I love these days!  We saw a movie, played games, and to finish off our last day of summer vacation, we decided to take our whole school "St. Maria Faustina Catholic Academy" (aka our family) to the Rangers Baseball game at the ballpark!  What a great back to school activity!!
 Me (aka: the teacher-all grades) and my love, Jeremy (aka: the principal)
 Savannah, Nicholas (aka: my 2nd and 4th grade classes) and their friend Joey (goes to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School, but was invited to our "back to school night" : )
My sweet Madison (aka: my 7th grade class)

And Guess what.....Nicholas caught a foul ball!!
Goodbye summertime!  It was fun!  Thank you, Jesus for long, hot Summer days!!

Tuesday, August 28

JACKSON HOLE WYOMING (Couples Trip)

We went on a fun couples trip for Jackson Hole Wyoming this past week.  Jeremy and his buddy Tim surprised me and my friend, Michele (Tim's wife) with a couples trip for Christmas last year.  We decided to schedule this cool mountain outing  during the month of August, when the weather in Texas was stifling!  The weather was great and the friends were fabulous!! We just laughed the entire time, while really getting to experience this beautiful part of God's country.
The scenery is unmatched!!
 Me and my Love, Jeremy
 Tim and Michele
 Me and Michele

We saw lots of wildlife.....Moose, Elk, Antelope, Buffalo, and some local birds.  They were right up close to us!  It was amazing!!  Unfortunately, we did not see any bears.



We went to Yellowstone to see the famous "Old Faithful" Geizar!  That was amazing!
Here we are in front of the sign.....after hours of driving....we finally made it!!
Jeremy just needed a moment to take it all in
 Here we are at "Old Faithful"  that day, it erupted every 90 minutes
 Old Faithful is starting up....
There she blows!!

We went white water rafting!!
We went hiking up on cliffs!!!
(pics to come...hopefully)

Inside Yellowstone, there was a small Catholic chapel on top of a mountain overlooking the river.  It was called "Chapel of the Sacred Heart"  Jeremy and I received the Sacrament of Confession, outside overlooking a beautiful river below with Father Florence, and then attended a very intimate Mass inside the little chapel with that same awesome priest!!
Mass and Confession were some of the best experiences on the trip!  They always are for us, though.....
 Inside the sweet little Chapel they had a huge image of our Lady of Guadelupe
This is the stained glass window behind the altar
 Here is Fr. Florence after Mass.  He had his picture taken with us (below) and asked if we would send him a copy (he is completely precious)
(this is actually a pic of Michele's pic...that is why there is a glossy reflection)

  What a beautiful calling Fr. "Flo" as he is referred to as, has answered for our Lord.  Our Holy priests are such a blessing to us.  They give us so many Graces straight from Christ, through their beautiful hands.......that NO ONE else can give!!  Gifts that Christ made possible ONLY by the most beautiful hands of our priests.
The backside of the sweet little chapel (that is that stained glass window from behind the altar

COFFEE IN A REAL CUP!!
On the last day of our trip, Tim and Jeremy went fly fishing and us girls went out for coffee and followed that up with a hot stone massage....yes, it was a wonderful morning!!
Anyway, in a hurried up world, most of the time you receive your coffee in a "to go" type of cup, well, today we received our White Chocolate Mocha's in a REAL cup instead!! It was so great!!  It truly IS the little things that make a difference!!
Doesn't Michele look SO SUPER CUTE drinking her fancy coffee in that over-sized mug?!?!


We ate at the BEST restaurants each evening, went to the spa while the boys fly fished, played Spades every night, and just enjoyed our friends so much!


The basic theme for this trip was just LAUGHING so much!! My tummy hurt from laughing!  No matter where we were, we were cracking up!!  I still laugh thinking of some of the funny things that happened in Wyoming!!  We had such a great time.  Our friends are such a blessing to us!

A great experience becomes truly JOYFUL when shared with people you love!

Tim and Michele are such a great couple and we love hanging out with them!

Saturday, August 18

MUSTACHE CRAZE

What is with this mustache craze?

(Nick and Joey at our friend's 40th birthday party)

I still cannot help but laugh!!  I love silliness!!  Our kids are such little actors....they love to make others laugh.  They bring so much joy to us!

(My sweet young "lady" Madison at the same party)

CAR FIRE (GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US)


(Look at my awesome new personalized license plate!!!! It's the new Texas "Christian" Plate)

My car actually started on fire this past weekend!!  We have been having issues with our air conditioning.  On super hot Texas summer days, it becomes overwhelmed and just shuts off!!  Well, I was just kind of "dealing with it" and waiting to take it in when my life slowed down a little.

This is where this story becomes interesting.....I dropped Savannah off at her friend's birthday party at the ice skating rink....what a fun afternoon she was going to have.  I took Nicholas and Madison out to lunch and to a Christian homeschooling store.  Then we would pick Savannah up after the party and head home.....daddy was out of town.

After lunch on the way to the homeschool store, we smelled a smoke smell at a stoplight.  Remembering from driver's Ed that it might be coming from another car, I pulled away seeing if the smell would dissipate.  Well, it got stronger....BAD SIGN!!  I pulled into the parking lot and looked for the closest spot to park in so that we could get out of the car.  Madison all of a sudden yelled out "There's smoke!!!"

There was smoke coming out of the air conditioning vents.  It smelled like an electrical fire!!  We stopped the car (now had pulled into a place) and jumped out.  We briskly walked away from the car and then regrouped!  It was scary.  I went inside the store and called my love, Jeremy!  He'll know what to do!!

He called the Ford Dealership and we had the car towed away.....that time between the call and the tow was about 2 hours.  
OUR LORD WORKS THROUGH OTHERS

The people at the homeschool store were so nice to me.  They kept asking if I was okay.  Even the manager came out to see what he could do.
It is strange how our Lord works...I was just on my cell phone (standing in the foyer of the store...talking quietly).  I was not crying or acting upset.  Our Lord really gave me the grace to stay calm and not cry.  My mom said that my Guardian Angel sent these witnesses to let me know that He was watching over me during this scary situation!!  They were sent to comfort me and to remind me that He is always in control!!

Well, the tow truck could not fit me and the kids, so I called our GREAT friends, Lori and Felix.....knowing that they would help!!!  Felix dropped what he was doing and came to pick us up and take us to the dealership.  What a blessing they were to me!!  My friend Amy offered to pick up Savannah and keep her with her until I could come and get her.  What wonderful Christian friends I am blessed to be surrounded by!!!
Everything is okay now and the air conditioner is fixed!!
Here are the kids when Felix came to help us!!

BEST PART
When we were about to leave the store parking lot, I wanted to go inside and thank the manager and a sales lady for checking on me and for being so kind to me.  When I came in she was assisting some customers with the laminating machine.  Not wanting to bother her, I peeked my head around the corner and said "My friend is here to pick me up and I wanted to say thank you for your concern for me"  She stopped what she was doing and came over to pray with me.  She asked me my name and then held my head against hers and thanked God for me out loud in the store.  Then she prayed that my day would be better and THEN.....I cried....

MY FATHER IN HEAVEN IS ALWAYS WITH ME
IT'S NOT MY STRENGTH BUT HIS

Wednesday, August 8

LEATHER JEANS


  We are going on this couples trip to Wyoming with Tim and Michele later this month and I wanted to get some new trendy clothing for our date nights out in Jackson Hole
 Is the world ready for me to own LEATHER JEANS!!
Now I just need to work up enough confidence to wear them!!

Tuesday, August 7

A DAY AT THE FT WORTH MUSEUM

My friend Lori talked a bunch of us moms into purchasing Museum passes for the year!  Well, that was the easy part (officially bought ours online).....now we have to actually USE them!!  

Michele called this morning and invited me and the kids to go to the museum and a movie at the Omni-Max theatre with her and her kids.  What a great opportunity for us to use our passes and for me to feel like the BEST MOM IN THE WORLD for taking my kids to the museum.  It just sounds so enriching!!  We DO homeschool....you would think that I would be all over the museums!
 Madison hula-hooping at the "Motion Exhibit"  Doesn't the hula-hoop look weird in this pic?
 Here is Nicholas Hula-Hooping....You cannot even see the hula-hoop.  I promise that it is there!
 There is Savannah getting started hula-hooping.  The kids had a great time that day!  The Ft. Worth Children's Museum is great!  Everything can be touched and played with.  Science CAN be fun!!
 Here is Savannah and her sweet friend, Lauren sitting inside of a Dinosaur foot print....that is crazy amazing!!
 My little actress, Madison sitting in the print.  She is such a cutie!!
Nicholas looks so little in that huge foot print!  Can you believe that those huge mammals roamed our earth so long ago!
Here is little Luke Stopper.  He is Michele's youngest child and he is such a button!!  I just love him!!  He looks JUST like his daddy, Tim in a 3 foot body!!
Here is Nicholas and his friend Ryan inside of a play fire truck at the museum.  The kids had a great time!  They were running around and laughing!!
No, this is not the cutest little alien you have ever seen.....It's Nicholas in his 3D glasses at the Omni Max!  Doesn't he look so funny?!?!?  Look at those ducky lips!!  When he is sleeping, I come in to check on him and just kiss those little soft baby lips.....I don't ever want him to grow big!!

What a fun day at the museum!! Thank you for inviting us, Michele!