What we've been up to lately...

School is out, and now we are playing! All the kids had a great year in school. Morgan is moving on to the middle school next year (man, I feel old), Haleigh is going to be in 4th grade, and Jacob graduated from pre-k. He is so excited to be going to big school next year with Haleigh. Here is a little of what we have been up to since school let out.

We spent the last part of last week getting the girls ready for camp. This is what my living room looked like trying to get 2 weeks of stuff ready for 2 girls at camp...

Once all the suitcases were packed, it was time to play Little People. Jacob was thrilled when we cleaned out the storage building and he found all his Little People toys that I packed away (because I thought he was too big for them). He decided that they are his favorite toys again! Apparently a five and a half year old is not too big to play Little People. I guess neither is a nine year old or a twelve year old!

We have decided that while the girls are gone Jacob needs to learn to ride his bike. We have waited long enough for him to learn, so here we go...

NO TRAINING WHEELS!

It was quite frustrating for all involved, and there were some tears shed. We are going to keep practicing though :) Here he is...all by himself!

Remembering Kay

Sunday, June 7th will mark the 10 year anniversary of Kay's death. The last 10 years have gone by fast in some ways, but in others, it has felt like an eternity. Life without Kay has been really hard on all of us. There are so many things that we wish we could've shared with her, especially her grandchildren. There are 7 grandkids on Mark's side of the family, but she only got to meet 3 of them. She used to laugh so hard at the things they did, and I know that she would've really gotten a kick out of the others as well. My heart hurts this weekend as we are going to be getting together to remember her, but it also hurts when I see things in the kids that I know she would love. Life is so weird some times. Why was she taken from us at such a young age? Why did she not get to see all of her grandkids? Why did she not get to see her own children grow into the fine men and woman that they have become? I know that she would be so proud of all of them, and we look forward to the day when we can be joined once again as a family in heaven.

Celebrating Morgan's Birthday

We went to the Ranger game for Morgan's birthday. Here is a shot of the new Texas Stadium (the home of the Cowboys). It's HUGE. Very nice looking. Perhaps we will see the Broncos play there one day!

Here is the Ballpark in the background with Morgan and her friends.

Stormi - always the life of the party!

We were in left field - Andruw Jones was really close!! There was only 1 home run during the game, and it was in our section, but a guy in row 1 caught it. We were in row 7, so we were too high up.

Here is the White Sox left fielder. I can't remember his name, but Mark said he is really good. Man, the crowd was brutal to him.

The Dot races...green won.

The girls after the game.

Watching the fireworks after the game.

We had a great time with the girls at the game and celebrating Morgan's birthday. What a special day May 2, 1997 was for us -- we became parents for the first time on that day. So, this day is not only special for Morgan, it is special for us as well. We have been blessed with 12 amazing years with an amazing young lady. I can't wait for even more years together with her!

My beautiful (inside and out) daughter...

Is it possible that my 11 year old daughter is more spiritual than me? She has a friend that is having some trouble with friendships/relationships, and she came over tonight to seek advice from me and Mark. I think Morgan was more helpful than us. Instead of just giving advice, she went to her room to get her Bible. She wanted to tell her friend what the Word said. I was so impressed with her knowledge of the Bible and her love for it. She is such a strong young lady with wisdom far beyond her years. She is truly a blessing to me and Mark as well as to others. I couldn't ask for a better example for my own life than my own daughter. She is so compassionate, loving, sensitive, and a true friend. I hope others appreciate her for who she is and see her the way I see her - an amazing example to all she comes in contact with. God will do great things through and with her, and I can't wait to see what that will be...I love her so much, and I am so incredibly proud of her this night.

Images

As my girls are getting older, I am more aware of the "images" that the world produces. They are scary. I was talking to a dear friend the other night about what she wants to look like, and I get so frustrated because I know that those "perfect looking" women aren't real - they are the product of Hollywood or the magazine company. Why do we (as Americans) think that the perfect look is a size -2, blonde, big chest, and perfect skin? None of it is real. The young people in our country certainly believe it is real though! Don't believe me? Just ask someone over the age of 10!!!! What can I do to prepare my daughters for the real world and dealing with unrealistic images? I pray often for guidance in parenting because it is NOT EASY to raise children these days (not that it ever was, but the Internet, TV, movies, and magazines sure make it harder). Mark and I saw this interesting clip one day, and I'd like to share it. It is something that every pre-teen to adult needs to see....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Scary, huh?

Camping in Jacksboro

Okay, I am frustrated with Blogger tonight because it won't let me arrange my photos in the order that I want them :( So...the pictures are not in order, but oh well. We had a great camping trip to start off spring break in Jacksboro at Ft. Richardson State Park with some old friends. Mark's friend from childhood and his family came to Texas for a wedding in Austin, so we got to see them for a few days of camping before they headed to Disney World. We had a great time camping, so here are a few pictures from our trip.

You can see that Jacob is a little hesitant to go up close to the ledge - I wonder if it has anything to do with his fall last spring in this same lake!!!!

The hammock is always a fun time for everyone!

I love this picture!

The Jones and Taylor clans - can you believe Jeff and Mark have that many kids?

The tree was a big hit too!

Can you tell that Morgan is more than frustrated with Jacob? She just wanted the hammock all to herself for just a little while. Did he cooperate? NO!

Jake is the male version of Haleigh!

Jacob's mad face - not too appealing, huh?

I just love my kids!

My kids are very unique, and Jacob and Haleigh have this "touching" thing. Some of you may have even been the victim of Haleigh's ear holding! Haleigh LOVES EARS. Every year when it comes near her birthday, she would say "this year I am going to stop holding ears". When she was about to turn 8, she decided that she was never going to stop holding ears. That's okay with me, I guess. Jacob likes to touch skin - any skin, but he is now on this neck kick. He really likes to tuck his hand under necks because he says it feels so warm. Jacob spends a lot of time in our bed because he wakes up almost every night and makes his way to our room, but he starts off in his room. This is how I found my handsome little boy the other night...he didn't even take off his clothes. Isn't he just about the cutest thing? Man, he is growing up so fast.

Okay, so the day I have been dreading has finally arrived. Morgan is now as tall as me. She has hit a growth spurt here lately, so now she has reached me. It will only last for a little while, I'm sure. She will be taller than me by next week! Her legs are already longer than mine. My pant length is petite or regular, but she wears a long. Nice, huh?! I actually thought it would happen sooner, so I guess I should be glad that it took this long.

Haleigh is such a character. The other day she was talking about something she did at school. I told her that she is just so much more awesome than everyone else. You know what she said? She said, "I know, I really feel sorry for everyone else because they are not as cool as me". Wow. She really likes herself! I never have to worry about her self esteem :)

On a sad note, we lost one of our dogs. Cookie went missing the other night just before bed time. We couldn't figure out what happened to her, but we found some evidence today. IF YOU GET QUEASY, DON'T READ ON. We found one of her legs in the back yard today. Our neighbors dog was victim to a coyote that has been coming around while we are out, and we think that the coyote also got Cookie. Lightning is sad...he looks so lonely. Here's a memory of better times.