Brad took me to see "Les Miserables" on Oct. 11th!!!! The Arkansas Reperatory Theater (http://www.therep.org/) was showing it, and my wonderful hubby knew I would love to see it. We managed to buy 2 of the last 40 tickets sold, numbers 37 & 38 to be exact. Whew!
It was just amazing! I have the original Broadway cast soundtrack, and I've seen the 10th Anniversary Concert, but you really do miss a lot of action between all the songs. The Rep has a rotating stage, and boy did they put that to use. The acting was wonderful. The orchestra just grand. The singing was just plain awesome. The Rep is a small theater, so you really do get to see all the action on stage upclose and personal.
Of course, no cameras were allowed, so no pictures to scrap. We did bring home a program, though. So I'll have to get real creative when I get around to scrapping this!
Elizabeth asked what the saddest part was. Well, considering all of the main characters die, it's got lots of sad parts. She asked if she could go, but I simply told her that Les Mis. just isn't for kids.
Now, the movie "The Tale of Desperaux" which hits theaters in December....that's a different story. "The Tale of Desperaux" is Elizabeth's favorite book and when she heard it's being made into a movie, she was practically begging to go. My response? "I don't know, we'll have to see." hehehehe Little does she know that we plan on getting her tickets for Christmas. Sounds like a great day for a girls' day out, to me. Shhhh!!! Don't tell, it's a secret!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Karate for Christ
Our church started "Karate for Christ" a few weeks ago. It's grown tremendously over the past few weeks, so much that we're going from meeting once a week to twice a week. We have two classes each night, an hour for kids from 5 and up, and then an hour for teens and adults. It's free, as long as you go to church (somewhere, anywhere) on Sunday. Both of the kids are doing it, and are enjoying it. We missed one night a couple weeks ago, and both kids were bummed. Most of the parents who bring their kids stick around to watch, so it gives me and other adults from our church an opportunity to talk with them and get to know them.
Our head instructor has been trained in "Karate for Christ", and has a 3rd degree blackbelt in karate, working on his 4th degree. Brad has a 4th degree blackbelt in taekwondo and helps as an assitant in the kids class. We also have 2 teen girls who assist in the kids class, one working on her red belt, the other has a black belt. It's a good thing our head instructor has so many helpers! :-)
Brad then works out during the adult class. It's been so long since he earned his black belt, that he's forgotten some, but it's coming back to him. When Elizabeth was in taekwondo, Brad promised me that if I ever wanted to take taekwondo classes, he would do it with me and start over. Well, he's keeping that promise and starting over in the adult Karate for Christ class, even though I've told him he doesn't have to start over. It's nice having his experience in the house though. It means that if I work out at home, he's here to correct my mistakes. He's so supportive of me in this! He's there encouraging me along the way, and gives me that extra push when I think I can't do it.
Apparently I did push it a bit last night, though. Part of our warmup in Karate for Christ is stretching. Well, apparently I pushed myself a bit too much stretching my right leg. Yep, it REALLY hurts today, difficult to walk, and don't even think about asking me to do a flight of stairs. I hope this works itself out by Thursday night, because the adult class will be meeting again then. I don't want to miss anything!
I've surprised myself in what I can do, though. LOL I have more power in my arms and legs than I thought I did. I'm not anywhere near Brad's power, though...just WOW! Brad hits or kicks the big 'wave bag' we have, and that bag knows it's been hit. I'm proud of the work I've done, though. I'm learning a lot, thanks to our wonderful head instructor. More than that, I'm slowly getting myself in shape. It's not always easy, but I'm glad I'm doing it.
It's also nice that I'm not the only woman in the class. Our head instructor's fiancee is in the adult class, plus another mom started with us last week. There's also a couple other ladies who want to join in with us, so hopefully we'll see them in there soon!
Our head instructor has been trained in "Karate for Christ", and has a 3rd degree blackbelt in karate, working on his 4th degree. Brad has a 4th degree blackbelt in taekwondo and helps as an assitant in the kids class. We also have 2 teen girls who assist in the kids class, one working on her red belt, the other has a black belt. It's a good thing our head instructor has so many helpers! :-)
Brad then works out during the adult class. It's been so long since he earned his black belt, that he's forgotten some, but it's coming back to him. When Elizabeth was in taekwondo, Brad promised me that if I ever wanted to take taekwondo classes, he would do it with me and start over. Well, he's keeping that promise and starting over in the adult Karate for Christ class, even though I've told him he doesn't have to start over. It's nice having his experience in the house though. It means that if I work out at home, he's here to correct my mistakes. He's so supportive of me in this! He's there encouraging me along the way, and gives me that extra push when I think I can't do it.
Apparently I did push it a bit last night, though. Part of our warmup in Karate for Christ is stretching. Well, apparently I pushed myself a bit too much stretching my right leg. Yep, it REALLY hurts today, difficult to walk, and don't even think about asking me to do a flight of stairs. I hope this works itself out by Thursday night, because the adult class will be meeting again then. I don't want to miss anything!
I've surprised myself in what I can do, though. LOL I have more power in my arms and legs than I thought I did. I'm not anywhere near Brad's power, though...just WOW! Brad hits or kicks the big 'wave bag' we have, and that bag knows it's been hit. I'm proud of the work I've done, though. I'm learning a lot, thanks to our wonderful head instructor. More than that, I'm slowly getting myself in shape. It's not always easy, but I'm glad I'm doing it.
It's also nice that I'm not the only woman in the class. Our head instructor's fiancee is in the adult class, plus another mom started with us last week. There's also a couple other ladies who want to join in with us, so hopefully we'll see them in there soon!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Introducing Nikkie
This is Nikkie on 9/20/08. She's Brad's 1 yr. old bassett. This pose is normal for Nikkie, because being a bassett is hard work. It's tough sleeping all day!
When we first brought her home in March of this year, that sad, pitiful look got to me every time she got in trouble. It wasn't too long before I could look at her and tell her "That look won't work on me anymore." LOL
Nikkie is a joy to have in the family. She loves the kids, the neighbor kids, our friends, and pretty much anyone else that comes in the house.
There's actually been someone that she hasn't liked, so I really do believe she has a sense of who's good and who's not. Her and Digit get along, and actually play together. It took several days for Digit to stop hissing at her, but he calmed down and now they at least tolerate each other if they don't consider themselves buddies. When Brad comes home, she wags her tail so hard that her rear end wiggles. It's so funny to watch.
She thinks she's a lapdog, but convincing this 50 pound bassett that she's not a lapdog is a different story. So her and I comprimise. She can lay her head or front part of her body in my lap and we're fine.
On the 28th of September, we noticed a huge lump on the underside of her neck. It was about the size of a lemon, and I will be the first to admit that I was scared for her. So off to the vet she went a couple days later. The vet says it's an allergic reaction of some kind. She'll be fine, it's just going to take time to get her all better. Short of sending off blood for allergy test, it'll be a bit hard to find out exactly what she's allergic to. So for right now, the vet's starting with a possible food allergy. This means only her food, no scraps. Sure, tell that to Nikkie, who's a walking vaccum. She can find the smallest bite that the kids drop on the floor. Her dry food can stay the same, but her little multi-flavored treats are going to have to change since she can only have the light-tan colored ones. In the meantime, she's on an antibiotic and gets a medicated bath. In the past, she's taken pills just find when they're hidden in cheese. Not now. It was like wrestling a walrus for the first several days. It's easier now though, especially since Brad started hiding it in a small bite of turkey lunchmeat. Oh, except for when she finds the pill hiding in the turkey and spits it out. Hmmm....I wonder if that's why the vet's office told me "Get as much of this medicine down her that you can."
Giving her the bath is easier than the medicine! She just stands there. But she started feeling better a few days after seeing the vet. She's really feeling better now, but still on the antibiotic and baths.
I knew she was feeling better when I had to fish the water bottle cap out of her mouth. Yep, the walking vaccum has returned! It's times like this that I wish God had given animals (or at least my pets!) human-like vocal chords so they could talk to me. That or someone invent a translator thingy for animals like they have in Star Trek. Of course, I may not want to know the thoughts that go through my furbabies heads!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Found a new toy!
I found a new toy to use with my stamping. It's called "Glimmer Mist", made by Tattered Angels. I went on a hunt the other day for 1 thing, and ended up at one of the local scrapbook stores, only to find out they didn't have what I was looking for. And since I feel it's my duty to help support my local scrapbook stores, I just HAD to look around. Plus, they had just moved to a new location and I hadn't been in the store for a few months. It wasn't too long before I spotted these small, 2 oz, spray bottles in various colors.
"Glimmer Mist" it said on the bottles. "What's this?" I asked. Come to find out, Glimmer Mist is a spray containing a pigment. They have a pearly, shiny, sparkly, look to them. Would you believe me if I said the gal made me buy 2 bottles? Ok, so she didn't but I really did buy 2 bottles. "Winter Pine" & "Coffee Shop" are now added to my new toys.
I played with them Friday night, and here's what I created.
"Glimmer Mist" it said on the bottles. "What's this?" I asked. Come to find out, Glimmer Mist is a spray containing a pigment. They have a pearly, shiny, sparkly, look to them. Would you believe me if I said the gal made me buy 2 bottles? Ok, so she didn't but I really did buy 2 bottles. "Winter Pine" & "Coffee Shop" are now added to my new toys.
I played with them Friday night, and here's what I created.
I used the Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist on one of the flowers from Stampin' Up!'s "Pretties Kit". It didn't take much of the Glimmer Mist to create the pretty brown flower! It really does have a pearly shiny look, but that doesn't really show in the scanned image. :-( The red flower was made using another flower from the Pretties Kit and dyeing it using Riding Hood Red Classic reinker (one of Stampin' Up!'s NEW In Colors).
I'm looking forward to playing some more with my two Glimmer Mist colors. According to the Tattered Angels website (http://www.mytatteredangels.com/), they have 52 different colors. I know the scrapbook store didn't have all 52 colors the other day, and that's probably a good thing...at least for my checkbook! LOL
Friday, September 12, 2008
Blog? What blog? (AKA Long Update!)
I almost forgot I had a blog! I think my memory leaks worse than I thought it did. LOL In my defense, I would like to say there's just been so much going on that my brain couldn't handle it all and had to shove things out. Yep, that sounds like a good story to me! :-)
We had a great summer here. The kids & I had lots of fun at Day Camp in June. The highlight of the week was Jordan wanting to accept Jesus as his Savior. Brad & I were concerned about the genuiness of this, so we asked our pastor (who's also one of our dear friends) to sit down with Jordan. So on June 29th, right after church, Brad, myself, and Jordan sat down with our pastor and talked. There's no doubt in our minds that Jordan knows exactly what he was doing or why it was such an important decision.
Jordan's sleep study went fine. I'm thankful for the Arkansas Children's Hospital and how hard they make experiences like this good for the children. Everything from the design and decorating of the main lobby to the caring staff. He got to watch a movie while the tech hooked him up to all the wires. (Although the glue they use really stinks, litereally!) Of course, I was there taking pictures all the way from waiting in the main lobby to getting hooked up. :-) The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night, and I honestly thought it was the wake-up call or something. LOL We've gotten the results back though, and no sleep apnea. There was moments where his respiratory stopped, but his pediatrician said that could be sinus drainage causing that. So all in all, no need to worry about his sleeping. YAY!
Vacation Bible School was so much fun! I was paniced about VBS because I waited way too long to start looking at the materials, but God worked wonders. We even had to do some emergency substitutions the week before we started. We did the VeggieTales VBS, and it was their "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" theme. Myself, and "me crew" LOL, all dressed up as pirates. This crew really got into the pirate spirit, too! I know the workers had a blast that week, and that helped the kids have fun, too.
August started off with my parents coming to visit for Jordan's baptism. What a treat to have them here twice in one year! :-) An even bigger treat and blessing, was being able to watch my husband baptize our son. And to know, like with Elizabeth, that Jordan received his spiritual gift(s) the moment he asked Jesus to come into his heart, is just amazing. And I get to watch him grow and discover that! I'm blessed with two wonderful, beautiful, caring, loving, Christian children.
School started Aug. 18th, and between the two kids, I've seen their pediatrician twice already. Yikes! I hope this isn't how it's going to be the rest of the school year. They both have wonderful teachers, too. I've applied to be a substitute, but only for elementary. I'm not sure I'm ready for middle school or high school! LOL
We had a great summer here. The kids & I had lots of fun at Day Camp in June. The highlight of the week was Jordan wanting to accept Jesus as his Savior. Brad & I were concerned about the genuiness of this, so we asked our pastor (who's also one of our dear friends) to sit down with Jordan. So on June 29th, right after church, Brad, myself, and Jordan sat down with our pastor and talked. There's no doubt in our minds that Jordan knows exactly what he was doing or why it was such an important decision.
Jordan's sleep study went fine. I'm thankful for the Arkansas Children's Hospital and how hard they make experiences like this good for the children. Everything from the design and decorating of the main lobby to the caring staff. He got to watch a movie while the tech hooked him up to all the wires. (Although the glue they use really stinks, litereally!) Of course, I was there taking pictures all the way from waiting in the main lobby to getting hooked up. :-) The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night, and I honestly thought it was the wake-up call or something. LOL We've gotten the results back though, and no sleep apnea. There was moments where his respiratory stopped, but his pediatrician said that could be sinus drainage causing that. So all in all, no need to worry about his sleeping. YAY!
Vacation Bible School was so much fun! I was paniced about VBS because I waited way too long to start looking at the materials, but God worked wonders. We even had to do some emergency substitutions the week before we started. We did the VeggieTales VBS, and it was their "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" theme. Myself, and "me crew" LOL, all dressed up as pirates. This crew really got into the pirate spirit, too! I know the workers had a blast that week, and that helped the kids have fun, too.
August started off with my parents coming to visit for Jordan's baptism. What a treat to have them here twice in one year! :-) An even bigger treat and blessing, was being able to watch my husband baptize our son. And to know, like with Elizabeth, that Jordan received his spiritual gift(s) the moment he asked Jesus to come into his heart, is just amazing. And I get to watch him grow and discover that! I'm blessed with two wonderful, beautiful, caring, loving, Christian children.
School started Aug. 18th, and between the two kids, I've seen their pediatrician twice already. Yikes! I hope this isn't how it's going to be the rest of the school year. They both have wonderful teachers, too. I've applied to be a substitute, but only for elementary. I'm not sure I'm ready for middle school or high school! LOL
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A joyous occasion
Back in April, our daughter Elizabeth asked Jesus into her heart! This is something that God has been preparing her for for a long time. Unknown to us, some time back she filled out a response card at church saying she wanted to talk to our pastor about becoming a Christian. In a later conversation, he asked if I knew about that, which I didn't. So we setup an evening for him to come by and talk to Elizabeth. Yes, Brad is the Children's Pastor, but this wasn't something we were going to take likely, and we felt that our pastor would have the wisdom to know whether Elizabeth was ready or not. Well, after talking with her, asking questions, etc, she was ready to ask Jesus into her heart! It's been awesome to see the change in her!
My parents have said for a long time that they wanted to be there when she was baptized, so we made sure they could be here. On May 4th, Brad had the wonderful privledge of baptizing our daughter. It was his first baptism, so he was nervous, but he was wonderful.
In 1 Corinthians 12 - 14, the Bible talks about spiritual gifts. What an amazing thought that my daughter received her spirtiual gift(s) the moment she received Jesus as her Savior! And I get the joy of watching her discover her gift(s), whatever they are, and watch her grow in her walk with God.
Sure, she's not perfect. Yet, who of us are? I know I'm surely not perfect. I pray for wisdom, though, wisdom to know how to help my daughter continue to grow spiritually. Oh, and patience as we begin to enter the beginning of hormones! :-)
My parents have said for a long time that they wanted to be there when she was baptized, so we made sure they could be here. On May 4th, Brad had the wonderful privledge of baptizing our daughter. It was his first baptism, so he was nervous, but he was wonderful.
In 1 Corinthians 12 - 14, the Bible talks about spiritual gifts. What an amazing thought that my daughter received her spirtiual gift(s) the moment she received Jesus as her Savior! And I get the joy of watching her discover her gift(s), whatever they are, and watch her grow in her walk with God.
Sure, she's not perfect. Yet, who of us are? I know I'm surely not perfect. I pray for wisdom, though, wisdom to know how to help my daughter continue to grow spiritually. Oh, and patience as we begin to enter the beginning of hormones! :-)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Jumping in!
It seems I've now joined the world of blogs! There was a time where I didn't think I would, but here I am anyways. There's a first time for everything, right? LOL
Here it is, the day after Memorial Day and my two kiddos are still in school. They think it's "not fair" that their cousin, 1 aunt, and 1 uncle are all done with school for this year. Of course, at the same time, my kids have at least 1 day off of school every month throughout the school year due to a holiday, parent-teacher conferences, etc. I just keep reminding them that they only have to survive until June 5th and then their summer will start! LOL
Summer! Summer! It's almost here! Sorry, but no matter what the calendar or weather says, it just doesn't feel like it's officially summer until the kids are out of school. LOL Usually, we make a trip to NM to visit my family. Alas, it won't happen this year. Instead, we're sending the kiddos to NM so they can spend 2 weeks with their nutty relatives out there. (I can say "nutty" because I'm related to them! LOL) Right after they get back, we jump right into Day Camp thorough our church. It'll be 4 days of fun, Bible stories, missions, and activities! This will be the first year Jordan gets to go. Of course, I'll be the counselor and I'll definately have my camera with me.
Right after that, Jordan gets to do a sleep study. He has various symptoms that all point to sleep apnea. Did you know kids can have sleep apnea? I didn't! But they can, and so Jordan gets to go through a sleep study. The sleep study will confirm whether or not he has sleep apnea. If he does, and depending on how severe it is, it will be treated with either medication, a breathing machine, or surgery. Personally, I would prefer either medication or the breathing machine!
So far, July plans are fairly quiet except for Vacation Bible School, in which I'm the Director again. But there's a whole month between now and then, so who knows! LOL Before we know it, summer will be over and we'll be getting ready for another school year!
Here it is, the day after Memorial Day and my two kiddos are still in school. They think it's "not fair" that their cousin, 1 aunt, and 1 uncle are all done with school for this year. Of course, at the same time, my kids have at least 1 day off of school every month throughout the school year due to a holiday, parent-teacher conferences, etc. I just keep reminding them that they only have to survive until June 5th and then their summer will start! LOL
Summer! Summer! It's almost here! Sorry, but no matter what the calendar or weather says, it just doesn't feel like it's officially summer until the kids are out of school. LOL Usually, we make a trip to NM to visit my family. Alas, it won't happen this year. Instead, we're sending the kiddos to NM so they can spend 2 weeks with their nutty relatives out there. (I can say "nutty" because I'm related to them! LOL) Right after they get back, we jump right into Day Camp thorough our church. It'll be 4 days of fun, Bible stories, missions, and activities! This will be the first year Jordan gets to go. Of course, I'll be the counselor and I'll definately have my camera with me.
Right after that, Jordan gets to do a sleep study. He has various symptoms that all point to sleep apnea. Did you know kids can have sleep apnea? I didn't! But they can, and so Jordan gets to go through a sleep study. The sleep study will confirm whether or not he has sleep apnea. If he does, and depending on how severe it is, it will be treated with either medication, a breathing machine, or surgery. Personally, I would prefer either medication or the breathing machine!
So far, July plans are fairly quiet except for Vacation Bible School, in which I'm the Director again. But there's a whole month between now and then, so who knows! LOL Before we know it, summer will be over and we'll be getting ready for another school year!
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