Christmas Card Picture Day

Every year Rocky and I send out photo Christmas cards. We have done this for 15 years now. This year was so fun. The girls hate slowing down for photo day, but we went outside and managed to get them to smile for the camera for about 15 minutes. I put together a slide show of some of our favorite pictures. They acted silly as usual. We haven't sent out a serious photo for several years now.

Drums for Christmas

Santa brought Parker drums this year for Christmas. I am not sure who enjoyed them more...Parker or Rocky. Here are two videos of their fun. Parker was very timid the first time she played them.


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Grace Fellowship Staff Christmas Party

The staff and MLT team met at Macaroni Grill for the annual Christmas party. Here are a few pictures from our fun night.

Gingerbread Houses

We got together with the Power's children and made gingerbread houses this year. Here's the slide show from our day of fun! The enjoyed eating the icing and candy as much as they did decorating.

Christmas

We spent Christmas morning at our new house in Texas. Santa was very good to the girls this year. Parker received drums...what was Santa thinking? Anna Beth got an ipod nano. The girls were both so excited about their gifts. Rocky enjoyed the drums almost as much as Parker. Here's a few videos and pictures of our morning.

Our kids

Here's a picture of our Rutledge children. As you can see they are no longer children. The story goes like this: BJ Rutledge was Rocky's youth minister in Bossier City, LA. Rocky was BJ's youth intern when he graduated high school. Rocky became a youth minister and served with BJ in Deer Park, TX. Jeremy and Julie were in Rocky's ministry...Josh was a 5th grader then. Since that time, we have seen Jeremy graduate high school and college; Julie graduate high school, college, and marry; Josh graduate high school and start college. Now, Jeremy is Parker's children minister and Josh is the youth intern and works with Anna Beth. Isn't that too cool? As for Julie, well, I get the privilege of hanging out with her as a newly wed. That brings back fun memories. I get to see her in that role and she gets to see me as an "old" mom. She gets to see other things about me and I'm not sure how good that is for her!! Our relationship is very similar to the one I have with her mom. Ten years ago it was Janet and I in the boat...me - a young married girl with no children and her - the mother of three. Now I get to be the mother of TWO not three and Julie the young married girl with no children. The next time we head to the hospital (they were all their for the birth of Anna Beth) I will be the one video taping instead of being the one on the other side of the camera...thanks BJ. This time I get to play "aunt" and Janet will be "grandma."

I took this picture today after church. Yes, we are all at the same church. It is so good to have them all in the same town again.

EC Late Night

Tonight was our first official "late night" with 5th and 6th graders. Remind me why I teach middle school and then go hang out with them more til 11:00pm at night? We had a great turn out...about 40 kids. They were goofy all night. Here are a few pictures of some of my family getting goofy. I can never just watch when the inflatables arrive. You would think by now I would learn my lesson. Rocky and I jousted. He cheated and won. Then I got revenge...wrestling the old-fashion way.

Fun with the McCown's

The McCown's, our friends from Nacogdoches, TX, came to see us this past weekend. Tracy led a preschool training for us at church. Our kids were in rare form as always. They had a great time playing guitar hero, the Wii (which by the way, left me sore for two days...how pitiful is that) while we waited on Rocky and Tracy to finish their training. Enjoy the slide show!

Staff Development at Camp Thurman

This has been a long week for me. It was a week filled with staff development. However, on Friday our principal took us to Camp Thurman in Arlington for team building activities. It was a great day. We had so much fun. We also had fun getting to know one another outside of school. I packed my camera and took as many pictures as I could while we were performing activities. It was the best staff development I have had in years. Just the fact that we didn't have to sit through another meeting was the best part. It was hot, but well worth every minute. I hope you enjoy seeing some of my collegues hard at work.

Anna Beth's Birthday

It finally happened. Rocky and I finally gave AB her birthday party. Her birthday was June 21 and we were in Chicago. She had a family birthday party in Louisiana and has been asking to have one with friends. We finally were able to fit it into our schedule before school started. She invited four friends to "Let's Jump" - an indoor facility with large inflatables. We left our house at 10:15am. Upon arriving at Let's Jump the girls went crazy. They were sweating after about 15 minutes. We jumped until noon and then headed for Chick-fil-A for lunch. After lunch it was back for more jumping. We left to head home at 2:30. It was a full day of jumping, but I think they had a blast. Rocky and I had fun just watching them and taking pictures. Check out the pics and a video of all their fun.

Sunday Fun

Sunday was a great time for fun in the sun! After church we ventured to the Rutledge's house for burgers and swimming. There were several families there. We had a great time. Chris and Debbie taught our girls to dive off the diving board. Parker and Anna Beth both learned to do a cannonball...alot of swimming firsts for the girls. They had a great time and we had a great time watching them.

After everyone left, we hung around to play cards. However, we ended up playing dominos...after we made our Dairy Queen run! You know "everybody likes parfaits." Chris was the winner of mexican dominos and BJ was the "green weinie." The boys kept us laughing the entire game.

Vacation...Camping in Louisiana

Our family went camping for a week in Louisiana at Lake Bruin. We had a great time. The girls enjoyed riding their bikes, swimming, riding the tube, fishing, playing with Corbin (their cousing that they just met), and playing with Gus...the dog. Rocky enjoyed fishing. He always enjoys that. We were sure how our week was going to go when Parker hooked herself on our first day there. It was not a fun time. She hooked her leg while carrying her fishing rod. Rocky and I had to hold her still while my dad pulled out the hook. Luckily, she was fine. We did have a relaxing week camping. However, I am not sure if Rocky and my dad thought it was very relaxing fishing with me. Just call me the "high maintenance" fisherwoman. I had to keep them on their toes.

Here are a few pictures of all the fun we had.

Our new house

I finally got enough boxes cleared out of my house to take some pictures. We have officially been moved in now for two weeks. My garage is still full of boxes. I am slowly going through each one and boxing back up the items I want to rummage. We are so thankful for our new house and are enjoying every minute of it. The girls are especially enjoying the pool in the subdivision. I will be emailing out our new address and phone number soon!
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Chicago Mission Trip

We are home after spending a week in the Roseland Community of Chicago, IL. What a great time we had serving along side the staff at the Agape Center. Each day from 12-4pm we house over 100 children for kid's camp. We took 43 students/adults on the trip. Our mornings were spent preparing for camp that day. Evenings were free time so we got to see a little bit of the city. I created a slide show of some of my favorite pictures. You will have to be patient because I changed them over to black and white to look like an old-timey picture show. You can see the real pictures on the Chicago blogsite. Just click on the link on the right side of this blog.

PZ Camp Video

Here is Thursday's video from PowerZone Kid's Camp. The kids had a great time. Thursday's theme was endurance and track/field day. We wore them out running today. "Flash Johnson: fastest man in the world" made his appearance today. It was quite a riot! Needless to say, he was such a hit that he came out during the welcome on Sunday morning. He gave a report from Kid's Camp, challenge BJ (our pastor) to a race, then ask our the Father's Day message, "Trick My Bike"...which he said he wanted to know more about how to "trick his wife." You just never know what he will say when you give him a microphone! Scary! He is still fortunate that his daughter's are not embarrassed by him yet. All Anna Beth's friends asked her at camp did it bother her that her daddy was so crazy. She just laughed and said how much she liked it!


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Landscaping

The yard at our house has been landscaped. Yippee! The only bad part is we didn't get to pick the tree they planted. I do not like Bradford Pear trees. They grow out and cover your house. So, hopefully we can find a tree. I've been online looking. I need to talk to a nursery to see what type of trees grow well in this area. I really like the red maple. They also planted a crepe myrtle in my flower bed...that has to go to the back yard. I want a tulip tree or japanese maple. Here are a few pictures of the house. Also, the lighting got changed to the brown ones we ordered.

PZ Camp Video

Here's is a video made from Tuesday's and Wednesday's pictures. Enjoy! You can also enjoy pictures from camp by going to our church website: www.gfcfamily.com Camp has been amazing. The kids are really enjoying it. It has been so much fun capturing their little faces on camera.

Tuesday's video...football day!

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Wednesday's video...basketball day!
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PowerZone Kid's Camp

PowerZone camp has officially started. Today we start day four. The first three days have been a blast. Each day focuses on a new word and a new sport. Monday's theme was cooperation and soccer. Tuesday's theme was discipline and football. Wednesday's theme was individuality and basketball. The kids have been having a great time...mine especially. Here's a slide show of some pictures I have captured of my own children and my third child, Rocky! He has been a different character everyday. He just can't resist dressing up!

Tile Floors

The tile floors are being laid. The lighting fixtures have been installed...oops...they put the wrong ones in. I ordered to rust colored fixtures and they have installed brushed nickel. It is really starting to look finished. We do our walk-through on June 15. Everything will be finished by next Friday. I can't believe it. After our inspection, they will fix anything that needs fixing. We leave for Chicago on Sunday and when we return we will have our closing. The day is approaching fast. Here are a few shots of the tile.


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Countertops

Yippee! We have countertops. The tile should be layed early next week. There was a problem with the order but it has been straightened out. We are still on-schedule. Looks like our closing date is June 25. I am too excited about that. I have already picked out my colors to paint inside. Yes, I will still paint a brand new house. However, my philosophy has changed some. I am only painting "accent" walls. I will paint one wall in each bedroom, the two walls in my dining (it only has two because it is part of the living area), the living room walls, and possibly some walls in my bath. AB wants turqouise in her room to match her new bedding. Parker cannot decide...go figure! I want a metallic gold color in my room. Started out wanting pale blue (ice blue color) and dark brown. Instead, I found black and white bedding that I love...so I think the gold will look great with my new black bed from Johnson's Furniture! Yippee! The living room will be the same color, or as close and I can get it, to the color we had in Nac in our living/dining area. The dining room is the trouble area. I want this mustard or pea green color (looks like something I changed in my girls diapers) but Rocky doesn't like either one. Maybe I will wait until he goes to youth camp to paint the dining...he! he! he!

Here are some shots of the countertops!

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The outside has been painted...all but the front door!

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The entire inside of our house has been painted now. They will install countertops next week. They will also start laying the tile early next week. It is looking more and more like a house...yippee! The outside has been painted. The front door still has to be stained. I have picked out the swatches that I will paint once we close. You know I can't leave a house with the same color for every wall. We are pumped and looking forward to our move!

The Autograph

Here it is the autograph...AB's finest moment. She was one happy camper.

Michigan - Baylor Softball Game

There is a moment in time where all things come together and that moment is perfect. This weekend was the moment for Anna Beth and me. Anna Beth fell in love with Michigan University softball team two years ago. I introduced her to college softball during the NCAA Softball College World Series. ESPN showed every game on television in 2005. AB does not play softball yet, but I decided that watching it would be a good way to introduce her to the game. Who knew that she would love it so much. That year Michigan was the "underdog" team. Their pitcher was a senior who had just lost one of her family members just months before the world series. I think it was her sister, but having a hard time remembering. That just made us cheer more for them. I always cheer for any team playing the west coast teams. Arizona and UCLA have won too many titles to count. Michigan made it to the championship round. The played UCLA for the title. You have to win 2 out of 3 to be champion. Here's how it played out: both teams had won one game, final game scored was tied 1-1 in the 10th inning, Michigan was home team, with two runners on base UCLA decided to pitch to freshman Samantha Findley, Samantha cranked the first pitch over the fence to win the game. AB went wild. She decided that she and mommy should go to Michigan to watch all their games. We had to have a geography lesson on where Michigan was actually located on the map!

Now present day...Michigan made it to the sweet 16 round. Only 8 teams go to the world series. The teams are posted and Michigan is headed to Waco to Baylor. I was on the phone at 8am the next day trying to get tickets. Amazingly enough, I got them. When I told AB she was estatic! We drove down on Friday after school and watched the first game. Michigan lost 9-0. They played horrible. It didn't matter, AB still wore her Michigan hat and cheered as we sat in the middle of Baylor fans. She was loving it and they were loving her.

Saturday finally game and so did the rain. The game was delayed until 2pm. Michigan came out on fire. They won 3-0. AB couldn't be happier. She screamed and screamed. However, Baylor wasn't ready to throw in the towel. They opened the final game with a 2-run homerun in the first inning. That didn't stop AB from cheering. The louder the Baylor fans were the louder AB got. Those old people around us couldn't stop smiling at her. Michigan did lose, but AB didn't lose her spirit. She congratulated all the fans around us for winning. Then we headed for the impossible...the get Samantha Findley's autograph. How do you explain to a 9 year old that this may not happen. As a college player myself, I know what it is like to make it to this particular game and lose. I wasn't sure their coach would let them talk, or if they would even feel like talking. We waited and watched patiently outside their dugout. Many immerged crying. I told AB that I wasn't sure this would be a good time, but that we would wait. Finally, we saw Samatha. AB said, "Is she crying?" When I noticed that she wasn't and that she was talking to other players, I told AB it was ok to approach her. She walked up to her and asked for her autograph. Samantha graciously accepted and signed AB's program. What a great experience! AB asked could she call her daddy and tell him. Yes, she was upset that Michigan lost, but she couldn't be more excited about getting Samantha's autograph!

That was the moment as a mom that I think I will always remember! Great times!

House Update

Ok, here are new pictures of our house. Closing is tentatively set for June 27. We are getting very excited as it looks more and more like a house. We took time to write scripture on the cement. It was so much fun.


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