Baby Dedication!

3 of the sweetest new babies in the world were dedicated yesterday at Church. Well more than that, but I'm just talking about 3 of them :)

The awesome Dutch Lowrie (who I didn't get a pic of), but he was totally sporting the 80's look :)

Then of course the lovely Sophia Aviel


And most definately the cutest little munchkin to rock this world, Judah Reign



He looks a little nervous :)




Being prayed over by Poppy


Courtney and Selah and their boys


My daughter looked so cute yesterday at Church. I love her outfit, but I couldn't get her to sit still to get a good pic of it. It had a matching coat and everything! So precious! :)



I'm waiting before I post the blog about my dad's birthday party. I want to get all the pictures that Brad took. The night was absolutely fantastic!
I wish we could have invited everyone, believe me, it was really hard for Court and I to narrow the list down to 35 as there were so many people we could have invited and my dad would have loved to have been there. But alas, the room would only hold so many! (as you'll see by the pics, we were squished as it is). So if you weren't there, know that you were missed and it by no means is a reflection of how loved you are... if you're offended, just blame it on me! :)

So I'll post a ton of pics and re-cap hopefully today!

Holly's Shower

Well my brother gets married on April 11th to the lovely Holly Ward. I must say I was a bit apprehensive going to a personal shower due to the fact that the groom is my little brother... but I survived! :) Although I had to keep telling my sister not to dialogue! :)

Anyways, here are some pictures of the evening!

Party Pics!










These items were a little more what I was comfortable with her opening! :)





She was a great sport though




So yes, good times. I managed to sneak into the other room during the shower games. I don't do shower games. Call me a bad sport, call me a fuddy duddy, but I just don't do shower games! :)

Well I have a lot to do to get ready for tomorrow night and I'm not really sure of everything... I should probably convene with my sister pretty soon!

But for the time being Lyric is napping, MY NEW DISHWASHER is washing it's 2nd load of dirty dishes, the laundry which never ends is going. I've picked up the house, cleaned the kitchen... and it's just 10:30am! :)

I hope everyone's Saturday is delightful!

Latin Impact

So I went to the most hilarious aerobics class last night at LA Fitness!

It's called Latin Impact, and boy can I tell you that Abby, Tiffani and I have absolutely NO rhythm! We could not keep up... and Abby is half Mexican, but obviously, she didn't not inheret the Skillz! :)

You basically shake your booty, do pelvic thrusts, drop it likes it's hot and dance the entire hour. It's a lot of fun though. It will definately be my must each week. We are going to be going consistently every Thursday at 8pm.
We laughed the entire time, which I'm sure helped burn off more calories!

Then we have pilates on Tuesdays at 7pm. Courtney, Abby, Tiffani and I all have LA Fitness memberships, so we are going to keep eachother accountable and move our butts! I really do feel better after just 5 days of eating better food choices, drinking more water and working out.

I told Jon that obviously I'm already hotter because the guy in the Time Warner truck whistled at me when I was going into Subway yesterday! :)

So ya, anyone with an LA Fitness Membership is welcome to join us! We go to the one off of I30 by Pappasitos.

Ok, well that is lovely! I'm so glad today is Friday! I need a weekend, like I don't need this crappy weather.

We have a shower for Holly tonight and then my dad's party on Sunday! I'm so excited about that birthday party... it's going to be fun! :)

A good night

I've had a pretty good evening so far.

Basically all day has been good. I had a good productive day at work. Then I picked up Lyric, came home and had a spurt of energy and finished putting away the rest of the laundry. Cleaned the living and dining room and played with the baby.
Jon was working late tonight and then going with Aaron to pick up our new dishwasher, so I went to Courtney's house and hung out and ate yummy food, but the best part was not having more dishes to wash by hand! :)

Then we came home and Lyric got a bath to wash all the spaghetti out of her hair. We watched American Idol together.
Lyric personally likes to watch American Idol in the nude... what do you do? :)



I was personally totally ok with chackeezee going home or however you spell his name. I liked him, just not as much as David Cook, Brook and Carly. I also really like Michael Johns, but he's not as consistent as the other 3 of my faves.

Well now the baby is in bed, Jon is still not home, and I don't really have anything to watch on tivo... so I think I'm going to just go ahead and get in bed.

Just wanted to blog about my nice relaxing night. Even though I got stuff done, it was still relaxing! I think the majority of it had to do with not cooking dinner, so thanks Courtney! I love you!!!

I don't work out.

I went and worked out tonight with Courtney and Abby. I started out by just doing 15 minutes on the eliptical, keeping my heart rate way up. Not bad huh? Well then we went into an hour long Pilates class.

DEAR GOD! I'm already sore. I'm going to hate my life tomorrow... what was I thinking! I don't work out!! But I do want to have another baby in the next year, so I guess that means that I finally need to lose this last 10 pounds or so I've been carrying around for the last year... I got on the scale today and I seriously have not lost one pound (but I also haven't gained any) since October... I am getting so sick of not comfortably fitting into all of my clothes... I'm so tired of feeling fat... I'm SO tired of my gut! Seriously! Today was the first time I ever have worked out with a gut! It's harder to crunch up into that pilates ball with stomach fat! :)
Do you guys realize I haven't really worked out like that since before I got pregnant? That is like 1 year and 9 months (or more) of me not having a hard work out... that's a long freaking time!!

I am doing better on my eating, drinking more water and I'm going to continue to work out. Then I'll lose it all, just in time to gain it all back with baby #2! :)
But that's the cycle of life I guess.

Well anyways, I really need to put up all the laundry I just folded. Thanks to Abby and Courtney for dragging my butt out of the house and making me work out! I had a lot of fun and laughs with you guys tonight! Especially when Abby was rolling around int he pilates ball! :)

Always something...

There is always something to do isn't there?

I worked a full day, not even stopping for a real lunch break, trying to finish an informational brochure for our new dispatch program at work.

Work a little late, then drive to the grocery store.

Make a meal plan on the back of an old receipt while sitting in the car in the grocery parking lot.

Go into store, purchase all food. Randomly run into brother-in-law and two oldest nieces and prepare for the tackling I will soon receive as I they scream DEE, running past the cheese aisle and the meat section...

Get home, lug in groceries as to not disturb my husband's burst of energy in the form of "I decided to clean the living room and Lyric's room." He was on a roll.

Love on the favorite little girl who I hadn't seen all day as I left the house before she got up. It's about 6:30pm by now.

Deal with my daughter being "mad" at me for being gone in the form of not letting me put her down for 45 minutes as she thinks I'll leave again... que waves of guilt washing over working mother.

Husband puts up groceries while I go into the bedroom and begin sorting dirty clothes into piles. Husband walks in and we once again begin to talk about me working part time, but then never can come up with answers on how we'll work out all the details, So we sigh and decide to start fixing dinner.

Husband starts marinating the chicken and steak, I start preparing the mashed taters and corn on the cob...

7:30, daughter is hungry, dinner is not ready, only mashed potatos, so I go ahead and give her that. Daughter thinks she is big enough to use a fork by herself and doesn't like me feeding her. Leave daughter to her own messy devices... she does somehow get the food in her mouth (and hair, arms and squished between fingers). Finish the rest of dinner, mine gets cold as I take the time to cut up daughter's food and shave off the corn off the cob. Daughter then refuses to eat anything else as she has gotten full off the mashed potatos.

Eat half of my dinner before daughter decides she is done and is ready to get out of her chair. Give husband pitiful look and trade dishes for bath duty... bad decision. Dishes are piled up as there is still no dishwasher in my house. Takes me the entire length of daughter's bath to finish dishes.

Daughter plays, I continue to do laundry.

9:30, daughter is given a bottle then put to bed. Husband gets on the xbox, I read my OK Magazine.

Do another laundry load exchange, piling the clean clothes into the middle of the newly cleaned living room floor. Sigh and think, there's a job that will get done tomorrow night.

Ridiculously exhausted, I now prepare to take a shower then go to bed.

Just to start my full day again tomorrow.

So I ask this question... will I ever get a break?

Book Review- The Shack

The Shack
By: William P. Young

Although my father is an avid reader, he doesn’t really read novels, actually, let me rephrase that. My dad DOES NOT read novels. So when he recommended one to me, my interest was immediately piqued.
The basic summary is as follows (I’m going to try and not give anything away, the back of the book basically tells you as much, but this is a book review.)
A good Christian man, with a seemingly content life, takes his youngest children on a camping trip. During the trip his 6 year old daughter is kidnapped. Although they don’t find her remains, evidence that she has been brutally assaulted is found at a remote shack and the lead character Mack is called in to identify his daughter’s ripped and bloody red dress, lying next to the fire place. This starts one Man’s journey to the pits of despair. He refers to this period as The Great Sadness. As he wrestles with his own personal guilt and shame, alienating those around him, he receives a note inviting him back to the same shack for a one on one time with God.
It’s in that Shack and his experience with a God that is totally unlike anything he imagined, he is restored and healed.
From the first page of the Forward (which is actually part of the novel, so make sure to read it), I was immersed. I love that feeling, when the world around you begins to fade away, and the words you are reading begin to take on an almost theatrical production in your mind’s eye…
I found myself crying and imagining myself in Mack’s shoes. What would happen if after 6 amazing years with my daughter Lyric, she was taken away so violently? What was she going through when that man took her... Would she be crying out for me or her daddy to help her. Did she suffer long… I know it might be morbid, but I felt so involved with this book in just the first few pages that I felt it was some life experience that I personally went through. I found myself grieving with him and felt I could relate. Not in the death of my physical child, but there have been many deaths I have experienced, especially lately. They aren’t physical deaths of a loved one, but they were emotional and life altering nonetheless.
When God makes his/her/their entrance, I was taken back at first… this wasn’t the way I thought God should be portrayed… but then a little farther into it, I realized, that’s the point.
God is so much more, is so much more intricate, with more depth and understanding than I could ever grasp… any stereotype I have of God can’t possibly be accurate. Anything that I know of Him, can’t be the full truth.
Because it really is all a love story isn’t it? A story of his unending, beyond logic love for me, whom he is exceptionally fond of… just like it is a story of his unending, beyond logic love for you, whom he is exceptionally fond of.
Bad, horrible things happen in this world, but that was never His intent. He never ordains people to suffer or tragedy to happen. All of it is a result of our independence from Him. Could He personally intervene? Absolutely! But does He all the time? No. This obviously leads us to question and become, in our own sense, a judge and jury of God’s actions. Does he ordain tragedy? No, but he uses it for our good all the time, day in and day out. Though this isn’t in the book, I feel like it applies. I once heard Tim Watson say, that God’s will is exactly what we would do if we knew everything past, present and future. Sometimes we can’t see the hand of God, but he is always there.
For anyone who’s suffered loss. For anyone who’s questioned why things happen... this book gives you a lot of comfort.
I’ve heard a lot of people who say they don’t agree with all the theology in the book. I personally find it pretty sound, taking into account that this is a fictional version of what one man views the way the Lord would interact with you. Yes, if you are an atheist, you won’t agree with this book. Yes, if you are a Christian who feel that they’ve got it all figured out, then you won’t agree with everything in this book. But the whole point is to knock off what your preconceived notions of God, the Holy Spirit and the Son are, and make you do a double take on your personal expectations towards God, your grudges towards Him, and what you feel He didn’t do for you.
There are so many different themes and areas that were covered that I’m not even going to get into it. However, when talking to people, everyone seems to have a different theme they walked away with, which is where I think the beauty of this book truly lies. I learned about forgiveness, others may have learned about the Father’s love (which is so amazing!), others about dealing with hurt.
Okay, I can keep going and when I get home, I’ll post a few of my favorite quotes, but I don’t have the book in front of me right now to do so.

If you want to read this book, I would encourage you to order it directly from the author’s website, www.theshackbook.com as he gets the most of the proceeds this way. Also, there is a forum where you can post thoughts and questions.

To wrap it up, I wholeheartedly recommend this book and encourage you all to go to www.theshackbook.com and order a copy (or two) and sit back, and be open to allow a change in your worldview.

I felt I took the journey with Mack on this one. Hurts, betrayals and personal tragedies in my life were highlighted, ministered to, loved on and then released while I read this book.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter

Well my little Easter bunny Lyric woke up in the WORST mood ever and it has stayed with her so far all day. :(
So the following pictures do not accurately capture the cuteness of what she looked like, but oh well! :)

Here are the Watkins girls


And my daughter so not cooperating! :(


Lyric and I at Church


Aaron and Christina rockin' it out at Church today!


We quickly went over to Courtney's house to conduct a birthday surprise preparation


Cute brothers-- guys, Landon is getting married in just a few weeks! Crazy!


The girls with their easter baskets. Lyric didn't get one because she was too small and I was too busy to think about it






This was about as good as it was going to get with all 4 of the girls in their matching dresses


Because my daughter would not stop doing this


Kadyn was trying to tickle her and we see how much she loved that


She got in a little better mood dancing around with Preston


Goodness, she is just adorable! Even when cranky!


The family went to my moms house and had delicious roast and mashed taters and all the fixin's and boy was it DELICIOUS!

Lyric is taking a nap and I'm about to follow her lead, but I wanted to post those pictures first. Jon is down at Nathan's house playing xbox, so the house is very quiet... nice. :)

Okay, love to all! And I hope you guys had a great Easter morning!

HE IS RISEN!!!
HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

Beautiful Saturday!

Today was nuts! Jon and I slept in till 11am! I'm sure it had something to do with the flowing wine at Purim and not getting to bed till late, but that doesn't explain Lyric! I had to WAKE her up at noon! So we woke up, then left to go order my dad's cake for his party, then went to Dallas so Jon could get his paycheck. We ate at Chueys and then had some yummy frozen custard at Harry's. It was glorious and it was SO pretty outside. We took Lyric's car instead of her stroller and she thought she was awesome. Everyone we walked past she smiled and waved at! She even kept her sunglasses on for part of the time. So cute!




Then we went and returned the stuff that Jon didn't get a chance to wear (the Darth Vader stuff) and the crappy flat iron that didn't work right (I realized I had to spend the extra dough to get a Chi again), and then looked dishwashers, then headed home. We found one that we liked and fits the price range, so hopefully Jon will go back and get it tomorrow.

Now Tiff is about to come over and spend the evening over here and all is right in the world! Well except my dirty house. I cleaned a little Thursday, so it's not as bad,


Oh and finally, here is a video of Lyric who loves herself some Barney!

I LOVE Purim!!!

Ok, seriously, I think Purim has to be one of my all time favorite holidays! If you aren't sure what Purim is, it is the celebration of when Esther saved her people from destruction. Everyone dresses up in costumes and celebrates, eats hamantashen and well has a great time!!
Last night was no exception as you will see in the following pictures:

First off, here is my little pirate!




Lyric and I (I was suposed to be a Pirate, but I turned out like a gypsy)


My mom was a "Ceiling Fan" and my dad was Hangman (aka Hamen)


Preston was a gangster


The Watkins were awesome! Nathan was Willy Wonka and court and everyone else were oompaloompas!


The Smiths were dominos


The Hippmans. Kristina was the "Esther" bunny, Dan was "Hey Man" (Hamen) and Truth was a Princess


Abby's was pretty awesome too! She was a barista and she made Korbin and Sophie's onsies herself. Korbin was breakfast blend coffee and Sophie was Tazo Tea


Jodie was Queen Esther!


Danny was white trash and Pres, once again being gangsta'


The Vandeputs: I was a gypsy, Lyric was a pirate and Jon was a soccer player. He had the most awesome Darth Vader costume with a cape and we have this Darth mask, but when he put it on, Lyric FLIPPED OUT, so he changed. I mean she would not come near him, and had tears streaming down her face and she was shaking. So he decided to be a soccer player then.


The other Smiths


The Aguirres


Cas was a cowgirl


Austin and his nurses Hannah and Olivia


Ryan and Tiff were peanut butter and jelly


Kadyn and Judah- the oompaloompas



Classic Allen


Courtney, Judah, Christina and Saeler


Queen Jodie with her tea Sophie


Kristina and Cristina


Lyric playing football with Tiff and Ton-Ton Austin


best buds Truth and Ashlyn


Tiff and Lyric


Soccer star... or should I say football star en francais


Ladies


Me and Abs


Austin and Nate


Dan and Judah


Tiff and I


Jon and Lyric


Getting hungry! Bring on the grub!


Dr. McSteamy... or so he likes to think


Hamentashen- aka Hamen's ears- they are really yummy!


Tiff and Kade


Mom announcing dinner was ready


Lyric and Korbin eating eachother's food. Lyric wanted to sit at the big kids table and she did great! She has even started to eat with a fork. She prefers it, though hasn't mastered it yet :)


Sophie and Saeler


Aaron and Christina (it was also Aaron's birthday shabbat)


Some of the kids


Cas, mom and Tracee


Korbin!


Kristina the Esther bunny


Aaron blowing out the candles


Getting ready to read the story of Esther


I posted the Story of Esther that I wrote HERE so click on it if you have a few minutes!

So that was our night! It was a blast!

The Story of Purim

The Story of Purim- by Destiny Vandeput

There once lived a king in the land of Babylon named King X He was a fairly nice king as pagan kings go, but he was just a little too trusting.
One day he was having a feast with a few thousands of his closest friends. Who knows why he got it in his head, male pride, maybe he drank a little too much, but King X wanted to show off his wife’s hotness to all his friends. He wanted her to stand in the room wearing her crown (and some say ONLY her crown).
Well the Queen, in the middle of her own dinner party, was obviously insulted! As if! She would not go be some prize to be stared and oogled at by a bunch of drunk men! So she told the King, “HECK FREAKING NO!”
Well King X got royally pissed like only royal people can! He decided, well if you refuse to be oogled, then you aren’t fit to be queen! So he banished her to a far away land, never to see her again!

After a few days he thought, crap, I need a hot Queen. So he decided to host a Ms. Babylon Beauty Pageant and the winner would become his new queen.

Well it just so happened the hottest lady in the land was a young beautiful Jewish girl named Esther. Esther was an orphan who was raised by her Uncle Mordy. Uncle Mordy was a very respected Jew who loved his God very much.
When the day of the open call for the beauty pageant came, Uncle Mordy told Esther to go and that when she filled out her paperwork to not check the Jewish box on the demographics section. Esther being totally hot, and very obedient, did what her Uncle Mordy asked and quickly became one of the top contenders for the crown.
The preliminary rounds were QUITE long, 2 six month periods to be exact. Esther, being the fabulously humble and sweet girl she is, won the heart of the lead pageant coordinator and even won Ms. Congeniality.
Finally when it was her turn to show off her evening wear in front of the king, he immediately fell in love and crowned her Ms. Babylon, which also made her QUEEN ESTHER!
Well Esther wasn’t the only one getting press. Uncle Mordy one day overheard a plot to assassinate King X. Being totally loyal and of sound morals, yet still very smart, he goes to Queen Esther and tells her of the plot and she is able to inform King X, giving kudos to both Queen Esther and Uncle Mordy.
Well, being that he is a pagan king, we can’t expect King X to make right decisions all the time. SO here it goes. His big no-no. He appoints this evil conniving man named Haman to be his prime minister. Haman is totally full of himself and thinks he is just about the best thing since the invention of the chariot. In his hot stuff mentality he gets a declaration signed by the king, that every time he passes anyone, they have to bow to him. Well one day as he was riding through the streets, enjoying everyone’s bows, he notices that there is one lone man standing up. Who is this man? Well none other than Uncle Mordy. Uncle Mordy can not bow to anyone as it violates his religious beliefs as there will be NO other Gods. Haman took out his little notepad right then and there and wrote, “Uncle Mordy- Enemy #1”.
One night King X was having trouble sleeping. He tried his usual counting sheep thing, but that didn’t work. He thought about reading, but that seemed too hard. So he got his legislative liaison to come in and read to him out of the daily report for the last few weeks. When he got to the part where Uncle Mordy saved him from an assassination attempt, he stops. “Did we ever give this guy a reward?” The Liaison looks at his papers, “I don’t think so” he says. “Hmmm… get Haman in here.” When Haman arrived the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who I think rocks.” Haman, being full of himself, immediately thought the king was talking about him. “Well, I think he should be given the royal treatment and ride through the city on your horse with someone walking in front yelling, “The king thinks this guy rocks”.
The king then got a huge smile on his face, “That sounds GREAT!” You personally go tell Uncle Mordy the great news as we need to honor him for saving my life a few weeks ago.
Well this sure ticks off Haman. He can’t stand Uncle Mordy and now this dude is getting the honor that HE deserves. Well he right then and there devises a plan that would kill not only Uncle Mordy, but all the Jews, because if there is one bad apple, the lot must be bad as well. He went to the king and slipped it by, with talks of an evil people who want to overthrow him, blah, blah. The king said, “Whatever you think Haman.” With the King on board, all he needed was a day to do all of this on, so he threw some dice and it landed on the 13th day of Purim. That sounded great to him! The 13th would be the day of the Jewish annihilation!
News of this decree spread quickly throughout the land. All the Jewish people were FREAKING out! Uncle Mordy quickly got a message to Queen Esther asking her to plead with the king on her people’s behalf.
Well this wasn’t just like going into the kitchen and randomly talking with your hubby. The king had been a little stressed and she hadn’t seen him in a month. If she went into the throne room unannounced and he didn’t give her the A-OKAY, she was gone, just like the Queen before her!
But she knew she had no choice. So she fasted and prayed for three days, put the dress she wore in the evening gown competition of the beauty pageant that originally won the king’s heart, took a deep breath and entered the throne room…
DUM-DA-DUM-DUM

When the king saw her, his face lit up! Oh boy did he love Queen Esther. He immediately gave her the thumbs up and said, “Esther my dear, I’ll give you anything you want because you are so hot and nice. Up to half of my assets, liquid or invested”
She saw Haman there, the Jew hater, staring at her, no idea that the Queen herself was a Jew. She decided not to out him right then and there and quickly devised a plan, as she was very quick on her feet.”
“All I want my dearest and sexiest of all kings, is to have a dinner with you and your top man Haman.”
“Well of course most hot of all Queens. We’ll be there!”
That night, after eating a great meal and some find cabernet sauvignon, the King asked again, “Oh hottest of all Queens, I know that you didn’t come all the way to the throne room, risking your banishment, just to invite me to dinner, what do you really want?”
She paused, almost told him right then and there, but then decided on a new twist.
“Well, what I was really wanting was… you and Haman to come to dinner again tomorrow night.”
“Whatever you want Ms. Hottie, we’ll be there.”
Well now Haman thought he was big stuff. The Queen just invited him to 2 private dinners in a row with the king and her! So as he was walking home, full of himself, he saw Uncle Mordy by the gates and he got ticked off again. He decided to order a special killing device to kill Uncle Mordy the next day, knowing that the king would not tell him no after he had been so honored by his beloved wife.
Well the next night at dinner, after eating a fantastic meal and drinking some fine Bordeaux, the King once again said
“Oh hottest of all Queens, I know that you didn’t come all the way to the throne room, risking your banishment, just to invite me to dinner two nights in a row… what is it that you desire?”
“Well ok, my favorite king ever.” She said. “I’ll just lay it to you straight. I’m being murdered tomorrow.”
The king spit out his wine, “What!”
“Yes, you know the decree Haman just issued to kill all the Jewish people tomorrow?”
“Sort of” said the King… “I deal with a lot of paper work sweetie”.
“Oh I’m sure you do oh smartest of all kings, but the thing is. I’m also a Jew and that means tomorrow I have to die.”
“WHAT!” Said the King!! “This is an outrage!! Haman, did you know about this!”
Haman began stuttering, “Your-your-your highness, I, I, I”
“We have to change this immediately, and you, buddy, are in BIG trouble! You tried to have my wife killed!!!” The king stormed out of the room to get the legislative liason.
Right when the king left, Haman threw himself at Esther’s feet to beg for his life. “You can tell him it wasn’t my fault… tell him! Tell him it was a joke. Tell him you aren’t a Jew! Tell him!!”
“Whatever” said Esther. “You’re a dirty rotten Jew hater, and I will do no such thing!”
Well that sure pissed Haman off, “Why you little”. And he lunges at Esther, who then loses her balance screaming, and they fall on the couch together.
Right then, the King walks in and well, it doesn’t look good. The Queen screaming for help, Haman in a rage on top of her on the couch… looks like attempted rape to him.
So he calls his secret service detail and they take Haman out.
When deciding what to do with him, King X see’s this pretty nifty killing machine outside in the courtyard.
“Kill him on that thing,” he tells a guard. And so they do.
And that is the story of how Queen Esther saved the Jews.
When the Jews found out they had a HUGE celebration which they called Purim. Esther moved from being just a pretty face to saving the Jewish race. She realized she could do something, even if it cost her everything. And through her, a nation was saved.

Purim

Hello everyone!

I'm getting off work early today and I'm so excited because tonight we are celebrating the festival of PURIM!
It's the Jewish festival which celebrates when Esther saved the Jewish people from annilation. I have a funny story I wrote about it if you care to read it. I'll post it later! :)
Anyways, tonight at Shabbat, everyone is dressing up in costumes! I think the Vandeputs are going to be Pirates! :) I think I'm going to make Lyric a boy pirate and draw a beard on her! :) hahaha!

So I'm off work in about 10 minutes, but just wanted to wish everyone a fantastic PURIM!

I'll post mucho hilarious pics later!

Shabbat Shalom!!!

Shows I LOVE

Don't missinterpret my blog about shows I rarely talk about... misinterpret it as if thinking those are the only shows I watch... oh mais non!

Here are the shows I gladly, shout from the rooftops that I LOVE!

1. Grey's Anatomy: McDreamy, I really want you to stay hooked up with the nurse. Meredith has way too much emotional baggage! I'm glad that George and Izzy are over, what a strange couple... I think soon George is going to come out of the closet... mark my words.

2. Which leads me to Private Practice: Addison is one hot, doc and I really enjoyed this show. Mainly because it has so much to do with babies and pregnancy and such... but seriously, I really liked this show. And Taye Diggs is hot!

3. LOST: Even though it's SO frustrating, I've stuck with it all 4 seasons. I'm glad that the last season has been set for 2010 (or is it 11), so that they can finally start wrapping the season up. The worst was Season 2. I don't think they knew what they were doing. I think they thought it wouldn't catch on.

4. House: I LOVE Dr. House! He's so cute and smart alec... he just rocks my world. Everytime I don't feel good I ask Jon to get Dr. House on the phone. That is an awesome show, though I'm not feeling the new group of residents he has... boring.

5. CSI: New York and Las Vegas that is. Miami bugs the crap out of me because of Horatio.

6. American Idol: Enough said. I talk about this enough so you all should know my obesession with it. Lyric is going to be on it when she turns 16 and she is going to WIN!

7. So you think you can dance: I just got into it this last summer. Heck ya! That show is awesome!! I really love to watch dance (i know, wouldn't have thought it huh?) and a few of the performances even brought me to tears!

8. Heroes: Seriously, gotta love it! I wish that they wouldn't play them week by week and just put the DVD's out... that way I wouldn't get so anxious with them.

9. The Office: The Office. I mean seriously. Need i say more?? That show is hilarious!

10. The Shield: Vic Mackey is rutheless... I love this show, but it gets under my skin... I've only watched them on DVD, not throughout the season, because I get to worked up watching them... don't know why really... but I do!

11. Amazing Race: Just plain amazing! I think that if either Courtney or I could ever learn to read a map and not get lost, then I think we could win it!

12. I know I watch more shows... I'll update this as I think of more

Twitter

If you notice to the left of my blog, there is something called Twitter. I've put the title as "What I'm Thinking"
I think I've blogged about it before, but I really like this thing and have decided to use it more consistently.

You ever just want to write a one liner and don't want to put a MySpace bulletin out or write a blog? Well there you go. Here is your platform.

I guess it's sort of like the "status" thing on MySpace, but I like this one better because you have a record of everything you were thinking at that given time. Unlike the MySpace ones that erase when you put a new one in, so you don't know the progression of that persons status throughout the day.

The thing that I like is that you can text in your Twitter, or IM it, or do it on the web directly.

For example, yesterday I was at Walgreens and there were like 3 employees in uniform, smoking right outside the front door. I just thought, man that looks really unprofessional, so I decided to Twitter it.

Why get start Twittering?? Well yes, it's a little self indulgent. Yes, it shows you love yourself and want everyone in the world to know what you are thinking.. but didn't you already know that about yourself when you got a MySpace/Blog anyways??

Here are a few tips. Sign up to www.twitter.com and you need to set up your account it's free.

After you fill out all your info, it will take you to your status page where you can type in what you are thinking.

Then at the bottom of your status page, there is something that says "Grab a Badge" well fill out where you want it, MySpace, Blogger, etc. and then copy the code and post it in your about me section of your MySpace or it will give you directions for the other stuff.

If you want to "Follow" me, go to the column on the left and at the bottom of my status messages, it says, "follow me on Twitter". Click on that and you are following me!

So anyways, I encourage everyone to Twitter. Not enough people do! Basically the only ones I follow during the day are Jenae, Daniel and Brittny. So get to Twittering!!

Shows I Watch But Rarely Talk About:

I read my dear friend Missie's Blog as she so bravely admitted she watched American Idol... she came out with it...
It got me thinking... what shows do I watch that I might not broadcast to the whole world, but hey, I like them.
So let's think.

1. Wildfire: It's on ABC Family. It's a show about a troubled teen who found a troubled horse and they went on to horse racing victory. It has the love triangle, the surrogate mother/father aspect, family issues, abuse issues, you name it, this show has it. And you know what? I love it!

2. Sex and the City: I love this show. Yes it's crass and definitely shouldn't be watched by the younger generation, but over the 6 seasons, I found myself thinking that Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda were real and I was truly watching their lives. When it ended with American Girl in Paris... I cried, and cried. When she broke Aiden's heart... I cried and cried... yet I knew it was for the best. Her one true love was Mr. Big... now there is a movie coming out next month and I couldn't be happier! So yes. I love SATC!

3. Lipstick Jungle: Just came out and is written by the writer of SATC. I was a little questionable when it first came on, but I love it! I really hope they re-up it for another season. The finale is tomorrow. But it definitely has a SATC vibe, just the women are more ferocious!

4. Project Runway: Speaking of ferocious, I love project runway and I unashamedly love Christian and was happy he won... although I do think Jillian's line was more wearable.

5. The Real Housewives of Orange County: yes it's dumb, so freakin' dumb, but I watch it week in and week out. Now they have the Real Housewives of New York and it's even more stupid... but yes, I'll keep watching it.

6. The Girls Next Door: Yes, so trashy. But kind of interesting. Note: do not rent these on DVD as there is a lot more "revealing" things shown...

7. Judge Mathis: I'm a sucker for some reality court tv shows... what can I say? I also like People's Court and Judge Judy.

8. Snapped: It's this crime documentary show on Oxygen about women who SNAP and kill their husbands/boyfriends. They also just came out with Captured about women who go to all ends to see their attackers captured. Then we open up to American Justice, the First 48, Forensic Files... oh Lordy.

9. Big Love: That is such a great show... a story about a polygamist and his wives... oh the drama! But I don't have HBO anymore so I have to rent the series.


I'm sure there are more, as I watch entirely too much tv for someone to still be considered healthy... but hey! What do you do! :)

So what shows do you watch???

Messy House

I sit around and view the small expanse of my house and think... how in the world did it get this dirty?

Well, one reason could be the surgery my husband did a few days ago in the kitchen to get the broken dishwasher out. I could add that he accidently broke a water pipe which got stinky, nasty, fetid water that had been stuck in the dishwasher for a month all over my floor... it smelt like rotten eggs.

Or could it be the table COMPLETELY covered in scapbooking stuff. I'm trying to finish Lyric's first year scrapbook in time for her birthday party in a few weeks... which reminds me that I never got those invitations out today... crap.

Maybe it's the clean laundry sitting there, begging to be folded... or maybe the dishes that have to be hand washed waiting in the sink... could it be the food that Jon didn't clean up after we got done eating, sitting on the stove needing to be put in tupperware and placed in the fridge?

Maybe its the diet coke cans littered about the house along with small board books, which Lily has dropped and picked up a dozen times since she has the attention span of a 1 year old... which obviously she is.

Could it be 2 ride-along cars and a play kitchen sitting in the living room next to the basket of other toys and books begging the question... is this a living room or a nursery?

Or wait, maybe it's the 5 no 6 pairs of shoes I can count sitting in the living room...

Let's not even venture into what could be called a master bedroom, though there is nothing masterful about it. What with the sheets that need to be changed, the closet that needs to be cleaned out, the 40 some odd pair of shoes that need to be reorganized... not including the dirty clothes beginning to pile up behind the door.

Care to know about the bathroom with bath toys strewn about the bathtub. Do I pick them up when I take a shower, or just step around them... you're right... step around them.

Then there is Lyric's room, which I haven't picked up since her cousins came over for the evening and got all the books, puzzles and games out...

But here I am.
Sitting on the couch writing this blog instead of doing anything about it.
Well you know what?! I worked 8 1/2 hours today, picked up my daughter from the sitter, scrapbooked 3 months of her life, played with her, fed her, cleaned her up, put her to bed (twice), cuddled with the hubby, and uploaded some pictures.

I'm way too dang tired to do anything else.

So looks like the dirty house will remain a dirty house for another day (at least). By the way, no one's invited over to my house.

Here are a few pics from the evening:

Pretty girl


She is telling the dog to "shhhh", but she doesn't know how to do it yet with just one finger.


Hanging out with mommy. I scrapbooked, she read her books


Yummy spaghetti!




So now I'm off to bed to read my new book, The Shack...

Oh and is anyone else sad that this is the last season of Wildfire?? Or maybe I'm the only one who watches it, hence the last season of Wildfire.

I made this

I made this today, and I kind of liked it. It's not super artistic or anything, but it kind of describes where I'm at.

A Clean Slate?

So today has been one of those days… you know the type when you can’t concentrate on what’s going on now, and you dream of a life you wish you could be living?
It’s not that I’m unhappy with where I am now. Far from it actually. But there is something in me that keeps wanting more. I know that I can be more than who I am right now…
I guess that’s the hard part of life huh?
I keep trying to figure out what it is? Is it the expansion of my family… well yes in part… Is it a change in my job situation… well yes in part. Is it a change in finances… well yes in part. Is it a change in location… well yes in part. Is it about getting more involved in things that actually matter and can impact the future… well yes in part.

You see it’s not one of these things that I want, but all of them at once. See I don’t want to start working part time. I don’t think that would make me happy as then I would have more time on my hands to not be doing the stuff I feel called to. I don’t want to just have another baby, as that just brings more difficulties to the pot. Work. Money. Childcare. Everything gets more complicated.

I want, in its entirety, a clean slate.

Is that possible? Who knows.

But what I do know is that I don’t want to wake up when I’m 30 and I’m still living the life I’m living right now. It’s fabulous and fantastic, but it’s normal and ordinary.

I’m not normal and ordinary. My husband is not normal and ordinary. My daughter is not normal and ordinary (she’s a genius I tell you!).

I just want more! Is that so bad?

Fun with Friends

I know I'm a few days late, but Saturday night we went out to Buca de Beppo in Southlake for Aaron Smith's birthday. Good times had by all! I love the food there and it's fun because each dish is made to share with at least 2-3 people, so everyone gets a variety of things and the whole table just passes it around. Even the salads are made to share. YUM! My mouth is watering just thinking about it... oh and my Italian Margarita! :)

Here are some pics of the night:













Aaron's brother and his girlfriend


And the birthday boy!




The group (minus me of course)


Dad stirring his tea... I told you everything was larger at Buca's


Mom and Judah


He was disturbed by the guy at the table next to us... he was LOUD talker!



Random pics:
Here is Korbin after Church on Sunday. Someone stuck his nursery sticker on his head, and it didn't bother him in the least bit!


Here is an old pic that I just rediscovered as I was trying to finish Scrapbooking Lyric's 1st year book in time for her fabulous Elmo birthday party!
This was when we were in Paris at the Louvre. She was deciding where to go next! :)


So ya, last night we had a girls night... it used to be a small group connected with the Church, but then the requirements to be a sanctioned small group got too stringent and to be too much for our fearless leaders to keep up with, so we decided to just have random nights out. We went to Pappasito's last night, but I forgot to take pictures... oh well!

I had the worst cramps I've had in a very long time yesterday and left work an hour early because they were getting worse and I couldn't concentrate. I was soooo stinking tired and achey and in pain. Plus yesterday was such a crappy weather day I think it made it worse.

Lyric is doing better since that tooth is finally starting to poke through... Baby Orajel actually works for her... so kudos to them!
I'm trying to get her newest tricks on video. First, if you ask her any question, she nods her head yes. It's really funny. Then you ask her what a lion says and she growls! So cute!!

Well, I think that's all I got. I'm hungry, so I want to go and get food. Plus I have some errands to run.

That's all folks!

Pictures From Shabbat!

We had a fantastic night at Shabbat this past Friday. It was Tiffani's birthday and so we all got together and celebrated! Lot's of fun! It took me forever to get these uploaded because Brad (who took almost all these pictures-- click HERE for his site) put up a blog and because I already saw most of these, I just mentally checked it off like I had already posted a blog about it.
So anyways, the night was so gorgeous, we spend the first part of the evening outside letting all the kids play.

Lyric and Tiff checking things out


Korbin flying


Saeler playing tball


Lyric playing tball


Korbin was the mac daddy that night. Here he is hitting on Lyric


Then Kadyn


But he doesn't really like younger women


But he loves him some Kadyn!


But how could he choose Kadyn over this gorgeous girl!


Racing with the girls


We always end up having a jam session of some sort


Dad playing the mandolin


Aaron on guitar


Korbin playing the piano


The girls dancing


Lyric praising Jesus


We had ourselves a regular little praise session! :)

Us girls


My beautiful nieces



Ryan praying a birthday prayer over Tiff


The kids table


Lyric in mid-run. She thinks she has to run everywhere now, but ends up falling... silly girl.