Santa Uncertainty

Joel's Work Party

Last night Joel and I went to his school Christmas party. It was nice to get out of the house without Molly, but that girl decided to show us a thing by not going to bed for the babysitter and then staying up till 11:30 pm (1 1/2 hours after we relieved the sitter). I just love this time of year!

Trick or Treat!

We went to see Joel's parents this weekend and suprised them at the door with this little scarecrow. She really brought a smile to Gramma and Pappa's faces.
The scarecrow idea was decided when we realized that she could wear her favorite hat as part of the costume.

Homecoming Parade

Looking good in royal blue. It is taking some adjusting switching from kelly green to royal, but we're managing. Molly was so excited at her first parade.
We took a different approach to her cheerleading outfit. I saw this type of skirt in the mall for $30 and thought, "when tule comes $.77/yard, I can do that myself." She was quite a sight.

She is all girl!

My girl loves shoes! She gets that from me. I don't know how many times I have put all my shoes up in their rightful places and, within no time she has the strung all over the house. It is really quite funny. Never a dull moment with Miss Molly!

My Child the Stripper

Well, today Molly started a new favorite thing, taking her shirt off. And the worse thing is that I laughed at her and now telling her to stop is, well, not working. She took her shirt off three times today. "Whew, who! somebody throw this girls some Mardi Gras beads!" She kept trying to take her pants and diaper off too, but she was trying for the diaper first and she had trouble. My fear is that is won't be long till she figure pants then diaper. But I can guarentee I won't laugh at that(well, I hope not).
It has started out to be a nice week. Lots of rain and that is good, right? Last week Molly and I recovered from traveling (Joel too, but he still had to go to work). Molly and I were at my parents for a week and the I flew to San Antonio to meet up with some friends to float the river in New Braunfels. It was the first time I left Molly overnight with anyone, but she was in good hands with my parents. Needless to say it was a much needed river vacations, we have the best friends ever!

I have no excuse...

I have just put this on the back burner these past few weeks. Molly is keeping me busy that is for sure. She is very fast and a little too smart for her britches. She has been going through this "throw everything off her highchair" phase. I repeatedly say, "Molly, no!" or "Stop!" Anyway, she thinks that it is funny when I am looking to wave her arm back and forth above her food like she is pretending to throw her food off either side of her tray or she will hold a piece of food over the side of her tray until I am looking and then slowly bring the food to her mouth. I can guarantee she gets that from her dad. All in all she is so much fun. She is really saying all her animal noises and saying "thank you" without being prompted when I give her a drink or food. She loves to dance, especially when we are in the car and she is trying not to fall asleep (that's my little head-banger).
Joel's school year is starting out great. He is a little bit exhausted from staying up late working on class stuff and he is also having trouble adjusting from his summer hours to his school hours. I try to make him get more sleep, but that is like talking to a brick wall sometimes.
Next week I am going to my folks for the whole week. I am excited about that. Not too much planned, I am thinking about antique shopping one day and Molly's Nonie wants to go to the zoo. I really think Molly will love that. There is a little train we can ride while we are there.
I am also interested to see my parents' barn because there was a storm last week that blew the roof off of it and really flooded the hay-loft apartment and more. Thank goodness for insurance.
That is all I have now. Talk to you soon.

Belated Birthday Post

Sorry for the delay on me saying, "Molly is 1!" My parents came to Whiteface and helped with some move in stuff and had a blast with Molly. After they were here we went to Huntsville for a little over a week and enjoyed the 4th with them, Joel and I went to a baseball game for our anniversary and we had a great birthday party for Molly. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Moving Moments

Well, Molly had fun with Mommy's hat. And since she had the hat, I had to add the boots. I guess she is getting ready to ride horses at Nonie & Papa's house. We should be moved to Whiteface by this weekend. I can't believe we have so much stuff. We made a run yesterday to unpack some boxes so we could refill the boxes. Lots of fun! I think we unpacked 16 boxes, I have almost filled those up again.
Saturday I had a bit of a breakdown. We had wall to wall boxes, the house was a reck, and Joel may have been a little bit scared of what I might do if the situation didn't change. He promised me that if I would smile more he would take 20 boxes to the tool shed in Whiteface. So I agreed and I now smile more.
Not much to say, but we have been moving and packing!

Trip to Albuquerque

On Memorial Day, we headed to New Mexico. Joel's brother and his family were making the trip too, so we thought it would just be more fun all together. We met at Joel's parent’s house in Tatum and started the caravan to Portales where Joel's dad's parents live. We had lunch and saw cousins and took family pictures. That afternoon we went on our way to Albuquerque and spent a few days with Joel's mom's parents, Nana and Dad Bill. The entire trip was so great. We turned the sprinkler on in the backyard and Molly experienced that for the first time. We also went to the zoo. Nana and Dad Bill are both 84 and they are just amazing; they went to the zoo and just kept up with our own little zoo. The trip was great.
When we got back home we have just kept going. Joel is now going to be working in Whiteface CISD which is about 45 minutes from Lubbock. Not too bad, Levelland is only 10 minutes from Whiteface which has a Wal-mart and United. This is a shorter trip that from Ropes to Lubbock for shopping. We are planning on still going to Green Lawn for church. We will see how it goes. We will be moving in about two weeks. I'm excited about that, but more excited about Joel having a little bit better schedule. He is going to be helping on the girls' side of sports and no football! He also only had two class preps. Whiteface has great people. The principal and superintendent used to be in Ropes till about four years ago. They are good Christian men. Well there is a lot to tell. Catch more info in the next blog post. It will be much sooner that the last.

That's My Girl!

33¢ Stamps

Well I finally used up all my 33¢ stamps and old glue-back penny stamps this weekend. It was pretty hard not to just put 66¢ worth of stamps on a card size piece of mail (2 stamps and be done), but I did it, I licked six 1¢ stamps for nearly every envelope I needed to send out (and there were quite a few).
Here’s a little car update for everyone. We got a decent settlement for my car and they had someone come and tow it on Thursday. It was a little sad to see it go, but no tears were shed. But here is the fun part, on Saturday our one vehicle, Joel’s truck started acting weird and was sounding so bad Joel said we don’t need to drive it until we get it looked at. I agree, it sounded like it was dying. So our dilemma for Sunday came into play; how do we get to church? After a little brain storming and a few phone calls we took the white 97 Ford school van with “Ropes ISD” printed on the side to church. It was kind of funny, well to me and Joel it was funny. As of this morning we are a no car family Joel and another coach took his truck to Wolfforth to be worked on…$$$$. I feel a little bit trapped in the house, not that I was planning on driving anywhere today, but it is always nice to have the option. Since the accident Joel has been walking to school; a little perk of living a block from the school. We have been looking at new cars, just haven’t found our match yet.
Molly is changing so much. Her little personality is really starting to shine. She has really made Joel and I laugh quite a bit lately. She is really set on saying da da for everything, especially when we try to get her to say mama. I truly think she is just playing a game with me. She loves being outside and if she isn’t outside she loves to stand at the screen door and look outside. If she is awake when Joel leaves she loves to follow him to the door and shout out the screen as he walks away. It really makes it hard for Joel to leave.
This past weekend was when my brother was supposed to get married. About three weeks ago the wedding was called off. Travis seems to be doing okay, he is staying really busy. My mom has been working hard to return wedding gifts. I think she is just about done. I think she will be relieved when that is done. I just pray that this is what is best for both Travis and Mandi. They were so strong to call it off now rather than to wait till after the marriage began to realize that it wouldn’t work.
There are 4 weeks of school left. I can’t wait for Joel to have some time off, maybe let him get a few rounds of golf in and who knows what else is in store for the summer. But first things first, finish the school year.
I guess that is all for now, I know it has been a while since I updated, but hey, I am trying.

Happy Easter!

Miss Molly has her first Easter today. It really turned out to be a wonderful day. We were invited to go to the Taylor Family Easter lunch and egg hunt. The weather was great, the food was great and so was the company. It is really nice to have families that take us in as their own when being with our family isn't as geographically convenient.
On Friday Joel's grandparents from Portales came for the afternoon and we had dinner with them at Furr's. Joel's grandmother has been pretty sick and she called and said she was feeling pretty good on Friday and she and Grandad love to drive through the country and wanted to see Molly too. It was so nice to see them and after they left we realized how blessed we are to have such good people in our lifes. Joel always says that is he doesn't turn out right it is nobody's fault but his own because he has been surrounded with such amazing people. Joel's parents and both sets of grandparents are truly to blame for the wonderful husband that I have. Thank you Lord for them.

Just a Swingin'

Trip to the Park

Today we went to the park for the first time. Molly really had a great time. We went with the Davis clan. We got there ready to play and left rosy cheeked and ready to nap. There will definitely be more trips to the park.

The "What if" Game

Last Thursday Molly and I went to Tatum, NM for a jewelry show at Joel's mom's school. It was really fun to have Sheila get to show Miss Molly off. After the show we stayed around to be able to eat dinner with Pappaw (Joel's dad). It was getting dark and so I thought we should get on the road. It was about 8:15 (TX-time) when we left. Ten minutes down the road I am driving about 65 mph and see a light colored cow on the side of the road and think that slowing down might be best in case there are others out and sure enough, as I slow down I hit something. I screamed. All at the same time, Molly has fallen asleep and I scare her, she screams, but goes right back to sleep and I forgot to mention, Joel is on the phone. He hears my scream. As I pull the car to the side of the road I can hear Joel yelling, "what is going on?!?"
The car is pulled over and I pick the phone back up and tell him that I think I hit a cow. I turn around and just feel on quiet, sleeping Molly's little chest. She is okay.
At this point I'm doing okay. I am going down the checklist with Joel: light still on, hazard light on, car in park, I am far enough off the shoulder... I then get out of the car and go to check the damages.
I guess I was expecting less, because I am trying to talk to Joel and I started to cry and I couldn't say anything. When I looked at the car the passenger side headlight is busted, part of the bumper is off, the hood has damage, the side panel is damaged, the mirror is torn off and the bottom right corner of the windshield is busted, passenger door won’t open…
As Joel realizes that I am freaking out he tells me to just get back in the car. So I did.
I hadn't gotten but 10 minutes from Joel's parents' house so Joel called them and they got there as soon as they could. Joel's dad used to be a NM State police officer, so once he got there he was able to ease my concern of dealing with the situation.
To make a short story long...there were 3 cows that got out on to the road. Two black, one red. I hit a black one, so did a semi-truck. The ranch foreman came to the scene and shot the black cow. My car is still drivable and Joel's parents drove us home that night. They are really such amazing people. I couldn't imagine being in Joel's position. He really felt so helpless, but we were all so glad to make it home.
God really took good care of our family last Thursday night. The "what if" game scares me. Sure, if the cow had been six more inches to the center of my car, or what if I hadn't seen the red cow to start slowing down, what if my air bag opened? All viable "what if" scenarios, but we are okay, my baby is okay.
Did I mention there is cow hair all over the damaged area of my car, gross!

Yahoo for Rain!

Well it finally rained here in Ropesville. Yesterday Joel and I drove to New Mexico to see his parents and let them get their Molly fix. On the way there we say the aftermath of the fires there from last Sunday (over 90,000 acres by the Texas border to McDonald, NM). Joel's dad works for the electric co. there and told us some terrible story that happened because of the fire. My heart really goes out to those that were affected. We started to discuss what we would try to save if we knew our house was about to burn. It was a tough question to answer. Needless to say, hallelujah for the rain!
Spring break is quickly coming to an end. It has been so great to have Joel at home. It was one of those weeks that not much went on, but was so great because of it. Next week Molly and I are flying to Houston for a few days. I have a jewelry show and Travis and Mandi have a couples shower on Saturday. I can’t believe that my little brother is about to be married. I am so excited for them; they are quite a neat pair.
For about a week now, Molly has been crawling. She is really starting to move, but she is also really getting a good bruise count on her legs and forehead. She is really tough.
Anyway, that is pretty much all for now. Not too much going on, but that is the way I like it!

Plans Change, Roll with it!

Yesterday I went to Ladies Bible Class and dropped Molly off at Tuesdays for Tots (all usual routine stuff). After class I went to get Molly so that we could go run some errands. When I got there, she was not in the clothes that I brought her in and man did she smell sour. Apparently she spit up her breakfast yogurt that smells good going down, but not so good coming up. Well now I have a stinky baby in just a shirt and diaper. I usually would not have let this slow me down, but it was a little windy and the new shirt was really starting to get wet. Molly has about 2 or 3 teeth wanting to come through, which in turn leads to drooling. Did I mention that I didn't get to bed till about 12:30 am, Molly and I got up once about 3 am (not really sure of the time, it is a little blurry), and she decided to start our day at 6 am. I am one of those eight hours of sleep kind of girls. I am married to a man that can run on fumes for days, but not me.
Well, at this time, I have thoughts piling up in my head, I'm tired, Molly is under-dressed and wet and the long list of things that I wanted to accomplish quickly started to fade from my memory. So, Molly and I drove home right at noon, which is when Joel comes home for lunch. So, honestly it was kind of nice to see Joel at lunchtime instead of checking things off of my errand list.
God must have seen my exhaustion because about 1pm, Molly fell asleep and stayed that way until about 3:45. Hopefully you see where I am going with this; I too got a long nap. Oh happy day!

Too Cool!

Great weekend with Nonie

Molly and I just dropped her Nonie off at the airport. We had such a great weekend with her (just so you know, Nonie is my mom, Molly's grandma. Mom's name is Tonie...). The visit was too short, like most visits seem to be, but it was fun. We were able to get some shopping in which mostly consisted of things for Molly and we did some fun stuff around the house too. I was able to sew for Mom with the embroidery sewing machine that she got me for my birthday. She pretty much has open-ended access to my sewing abilities anytime she wants. She is way too good to me. Now we begin the countdown till the next visit. That is our routine. We visit, plan next visit during visit and then count the days till we visit again.
Joel and I went on a date Saturday night and Nonie babysat Molly. We went to Rockfish and then saw The Pink Panther. Steve Martin did a great job, but my opinion is, "it's a renter!" The date was great. Since Molly was born we have not gone out much, surprised? Well, we decided we have got to get out more. Hopefully we will.

I was searching for a family pic to include with this post and the last one we took was a Christmas. Molly changes way too much to not take more pics of us all together.

Getting Started

Well, here we go. I am just awful at keeping in touch with friends, so here is my attempt to get better. Things are going pretty good here is Ropesville. Joel and Molly are great. Basketball season is over and track season doesn't really start until March, so I get to see my husband for a little while. It is great! Molly is growing like a weed. She is just a rolling anywhere she wants to go. Crawling isn't far away, but I am definitely in no hurry to get her there because I know I will really have to chase her. I am still in the jewelry making business. It is keeping me busy. The more active Molly gets, the harder it is to get to my jewelry, but I have found that naptime is a great thing. My mom is coming to visit us this weekend. We are so excited, Joel and I are going on a date Saturday night and Nonie and Molly will hang out together. Well that is all for now. Hope you have a great rest of the week.