BABY CASH the BIG #1!!!

Okay.... so mom (as in me) went a little nuts with her 1st born's 1st Birthday!!

First we celebrated with grandparents, aunt & uncle with a birthday dinner for a traditional birthday cake on Cash's birthday!

Then we had a "Rock & Roll" party last Sunday!!

Cash's 1st Big Music Show! Friends & family came dressed up to celebrate Cash's big day!

I had so much fun.... I think everyone had a blast!!

Baby Cash's new ride!!!

u scream i scream.... Baby Ca$h Screams for Ice Cream

Check out Baby Cash eating his first ice cream cone.... and popsicle...


I didn't mean for him to eat the whole thing... but we couldn't pry either away from him once he got a hold of it... especially the ice cream cone!!

Eric thinks that last photo of him & the ice cream rocks

SHEAR GENIUS!!!

After almost 19 months of being "baby" centered... I decided it was time to update my look. I got a shorter hair cut back in February but decided not to highlight my hair. It's so expensive. So I decided to pass and wait until a later date.

So last week, for some insane reason, since supposely I'm an artist; my husband thought it would be a great idea for me to color/highlight my own hair. He helped me pick out a highlighting/coloring kit at HEB to attempt a mini makeover and we even used a coupon... $14.99... save $2.00 = $12.99 verses... a whooping $60 to $100 for highlights/cut/ wash/ style... etc

Well my sweet friend Julie helped me on Sunday afternoon...

We he colored... and highlighted... my hair.. and highlighted her hair... and her's came out... beautiful and

mine well after the coloring.. it looked great.. then we added in the highlights... and I looked like an skunk with brownish copper hair with ORANGE highlights... what a disaster! not reddish but ORANGE... I'm talking the color of NEMO in Finding Nemo!!

We attempted to fix the highlights.. but didn't leave the highlighting color on long enough... and oranger highlights !

we laughed... sorta of

I left Julie's chuckling to myself... so this is why I shell out $60+ for professional highlights!

I went home and decided to run to CVS to see if I could fix my do... "since I found Nemo... he was swimming in my hair!!"

I went to bed with out fixing it... too tired to think about it.

For some reason God decided to wake me up at 3 in the morning.... my baby woke me up and I nursed him back to sleep and then caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror...

YEP! still nemo hair!

I bought some wash in golden brown color at CVS ... and at 3:30 in the morning attempted to fix my NEMO HAIR ....

well I actually liked the results. redder not as orange, not quite so nemo...

before............................. and now

i didn't take a photo of the nemo hair... but trust me it was BADDDDDDDDDDDD!

I actually had a coworker comment on how she liked my hair and ask where i got it done.

Oh did I have a story to tell....

"Summer is Over... School Has Begun!"

As I embark on my 3rd week.... back to my 10th year in teaching... after taking 3 years off... working at the church... I must say... Summer is over, and school has begun!

God has blessed me this year. I was blessed with a new boss, "that rocks" last September, and once Baby Cash came... I was blessed even more by having the opportunity and the blessing of my boss... to take Cash to work with me since I was "nursing" him.

January '08 through July 2, '08, I worked full time with a baby attached to my hip...
I loved working with kids... and teaching them about Jesus.

I decided to go back into teaching for various reasons... financial, insurance... retirement... etc
But the main reason is because of the schedule... teaching has a great schedule for moms... especially once your kids are of school age.

God blessed me again... by allowing my sister and brother in-law to move back to Corpus... and my sweet baby spends his days with my sweet sister... his aunt..
he does great with her and loves to hang out with her and the puppies... she taught him to say puppy... he says... puuup pu

he takes two naps each day and hangs with dad from about 7 to 9am, since i leave so early...
for school.. I don't feel as though i miss so much since he naps for a total of 4 hours almost everyday at my sister's house... 2 two hour naps.... when i think about it like that... he's only awake about 4 hours (without me)... of the 8 hours i'm away from him...

What a blessing! He can be with family, though!

I am excited to share... that God has blessed me even more... with a great school and staff to work with and teach with.. I have several fellow teachers and staff that I have taught with at a former school that are now with me at my new school.. and I am so blessed to have them...

even moreso.... I am blessed with great class... well two awesome classes
I teach math/science to 4th graders...
and I love it...

God really wired me up to be a teacher... and I'm embracing this.

I miss my baby... but teaching makes me cherish my time with him even more.

I know all you parent's are happily shouting from the rooftops...
"summer is over... school has begun"

But I'm happy (even as a teacher) that school has begun... too
it's already taught me so many lessons...


"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him."Psalm 127:3

"Train up a child in the way he should go... and when he is old he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6

Let it Go, Let it End... Part 2

It's funny how God moves, speaks to us, grabs us, by our boot straps to get our attention...
It's not funny, ha ha... it's simply intriguing...it's just too COOL!

I began writing my last post on the 15th of August, but didn't post it until yesterday... on LETTING GO! Today as I was sitting in church I was chuckling to myself as I listened to the pastor speak on Letting Go.

Ohhh was I listening... God was speaking to me directly through Pastor Bil.

I definitely know God was speaking to me.... because this has been on my heart for almost 3 weeks now. And usually God gives me 3 confirmation...
#1 my closet (read my last post)
#2 prayer/scripture
#3 Bil's sermon

Do you have a hard time LETTING GO? What get's under your skin?
Do things, people, etc. BUG you?

I loved the analogy Pastor Bil used about flys/gnats/ mosquitos... the 3 & 4 Egyptian plagues... and making it relevant to today... I know things, people, ideas GET under my skin..... so this message is just reinforcing what God has already been trying to get across to me for some time now. (Go here to listen/view the sermon... it should be up by Tuesday it's entitled Principles of God's "Shock & Awe" part 1)

I MUST LEARN TO LET IT END, LET IT GO!!!! I will "Respond to God not React to someone." Willing to forgive even if they don't deserve it.... (Hey God forgave me... and I didn't deserve it)


Pastor Bil also discussed the 2nd plague... the frogs...

I found this so insightful...

I did know that the Egyptians of biblical times worshiped many many gods.... idols. I did not know that a "frog goddess" was one of them. They referred to her as "heqet" or "heket" and she was depicted as a woman with a frog's head, or simply as a frog, there are other depictions... but i'm not going to go into that. The Egyptians worshipped her because they thought frogs represented fertility and resurrection, since there were so many frogs near and around the Nile River. She was the goddess of fertility and childbirth. Frogs were "worshipped" an idol... so God used frogs tons of frogs, millions of frogs...as the second plague... indicating "be careful what you desire or wish for..."

Any way... my point is this...
My husband and I discussed how we have many "FROG goddess/gods" in our lives... and they keep multiplying...

Our number one frog god is: TELEVISION... ouch! Actually when i really think about it... it's technology... TV, video games, cell phones, internet, movies, digital cameras, blackberries, iphones, ipods etc.... do i dare say "blogging"????

I'm allowing all these "frogs" to take over my Home, my Relationships, my HEART, my GOD.

Media keeps multiplying in our lives, just like God used the frogs.. and it's taking over.... we are being INFESTED by the frogman or let's say "TechFrog" he/she's overtaking us.

I don't think there is anything wrong with media/technology...it can help us connect with others, (especially if they are ocean's apart from us) it can allow people to be connected to Christ who may not otherwise hear.... etc....

But when we allow it to CONTROL us... we revolve our lives around it instead of GOD it definitely can become a frog god... taking over and then it makes us sick


just like those frogs... God plagued on Egypt... don't you think they got sick... moreso disgusted.. looking, smelling, living with all those frogs.....

so my friend?

what do you need to LET GO OF? Do you have frog god?

Letting go....

I've discovered this week, I have a very hard time letting go. I mean I'm really, really bad at it! I want to hang on to almost everything.

This revelation hit me this week as I decided to tackle my bedroom closet. I was determined I could accomplish cleaning out my closet in about 2 hours. Wow... was I wrong. I couldn't decide where to start. Most of the clothing in my closet ended up on the floor in this huge heap of tangled hangers, scarfs, hats, sweaters, tops, bottoms, skirts and more. For those of you who really know me... know I have probably just as many scarves & hats as I do clothes.

As I shifted through my mounds of clothing, I seriously set out to "prune" myshelf "self" i mean, closet. But it became increasingly difficult.I thought... "I couldn't possibly part with that t-shirt, it's from my senior year in high school." (Mind you... i graduated from high school in 1992) or I thought..."Of course I can fit in these cute jeans from old navy.... size 4, again, that was only 6 years ago, i just need to focus on exercising & eating right."

So as I was having these conversations with myself when God starting nudging my heart.

I begin reflecting on how not only do I have a challenging time "letting go" of clothes from sixteen years ago... I simply have a hard time letting go.

God revealed to me:

1) I have a hard time letting go of arguements or frustrations... I may have with my husband. I want to be "right" or acknowledged that my view is valid and I desire to be validated. I have a hard time walking away even when my husband is taking the high road and diffuses the conversation so we can revisit it later when we both are calmer.... yet still... I have a hard time letting go.


2) I have a hard time letting go of friendships that I know I need to sever.


3) I have a hard time letting go of paths that God placed me on, for me to discover it actually was a different path He desired for me.


4) I have a hard time letting go of plastic containers....(throwing out in the recycling bin) including yogurt containers with lids, milk jugs, coffe cans etc.... that I can reuse for painting, storing, art projects etc.


5) I have a hard time letting go of my son each morning now that I'm teaching again... but he's in great hands with his daddy and my sister.


6) I have hard time letting go of silly little things that my step daughter does, although they usually aren't a big deal; I simply want so much more for her. I find myself unable to let go and want to turn every situation into a teachable moment.


7) I have a hard time letting go..... but I'm discovering letting go means...
I'm growing.

GO for the GOLD!

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24

I love watching the Olympics! I remember watching as a child; and always anticipating that 4th summer to roll around again. So I could watch! I loved how the athletes make it look so effortless. I love the energy and determination the athletes seem to possess during the games. And ohhhhhh that TEAM SPIRIT... the unity... Go Team USA!

The Summer of '96 was an exciting one! I was able to attend the 1996 Olympics in Altanta. My brother lived in Altanta at the time and it was so sweet to get to experience it all first hand and up close! We attended a few events, hung out at Olympic Park and just relished in the upclose history we were witnessing.

So as I watch athletes like Phelps & Torres (wow!), Finch and more (not to mention the men's 400 freestyle relay) go for the GOLD, I'm reminded that I too need to strive for GOLD in my life.

I believe Paul says it best:

"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown **(or in modern society a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal) that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. " 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (** I added)

Am I running to win the prize? Or am I simply running aimlessly?

Do I beat my body? Am I disciplined in my relationship with Christ? Do I have a focus? A Gold "goal" in mind?


"But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as GOLD." Job 23:10

I want to come forth as GOLD but I need to go through strict training in Christ... and it's so much easier to stay status quo, to be comfortable. To just compete. But that's not what He calls us to do. He desires us to push the boundaries, to step out on the ledge, to go over and beyond, to push ourselves to break our own "World Record" even by a fingertip if not by a whole body length or 2 or more. To Go for the GOLD... the crown of Life.

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

So we can share the GOLD with others... so they too can win the race.