Update
We are having our very own episode of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds around here. We've always had barn swallows on the front porch but now they are swarming around the back windows as well and its FREAKY!!! They are literally flying around like crazy all day long and its especially noticeable in the breakfast nook where we eat because there are several nests in those eaves. Creepy.
Evy now likes to sing and talk to herself as she walks along or plays or does whatever. Her vocabulary continues to expand although many times we have to ask her to repeat something til we figure out what she's saying. She also has quite an imagination. Yesterday Gidget said she kept saying there were bugs in the couch and would stick her hand between the seats and say "eewww!" And also sometimes she'll whisper "whats that?" and look around suspiciously. Then giggle. Too funny. She loves her letters and knows the alphabet but just not quite in order yet. She likes to say the letters randomly "A E U B O" etc. She has an alphabet 'puzzle' and she can match them all up. She also knows her colors and shapes. We enjoy our four wheeler rides in the afternoon to take the trash to the dumpster and get the mail (she says "may? may?" and she tells me where she wants to go out in the field while we ride. She's very bossy. I can't wait to watch her boss her baby brother around, which I'm sure she'll do!!
I am enjoying the summer weather, trying to get a tan (or at least less glaringly white). Last Sunday I sang a 'special' song in church and it was great. It turned out to be Family Worship day so the kids choirs replaced the adult choir on stage and they were perfect! The song I sang was "Praise You With A Dance" by Casting Crowns and the kids danced!!
And finally, what I know everyone wants to know is my dating life update. Well, in that arena God is really teaching me some important things. I went through an Apples of God mentoring program a few weeks ago and it was great, but there's nothing like real life experience to teach you. I am living out some of those lessons on submission, purity and biggest of all PATIENCE. Not a strong quality in me, evidently! I never thought I was one to be impatient but when it comes to some things, I just want to know whats going on! So I am trying to patiently let Shane lead the relationship, which he asked me to do, but its an unusual position for me. Sometimes I'm not so patient!. And then I go back to my verses and most importantly prayer. You know the scripture "don't be anxious about anything but by prayer and petition present your requests to God..." thats my life verse right now. Every time I get nervous or anxious or worried or just plain confused, I have to stop and just pray. Otherwise my imagination will run away with me and make things worse. So I'm learning some important lessons that can be applied to ALL relationiships.
thats it for now! probably more summertime pics to come later. I have some cute ones on my phone I just haven't loaded them yet!
Hot Day Playing in WATER!
What better way to spend the first HOT day of summer than in a sprinkler!!! Gidget bought some fun water toys and so today we broke one out. Evy was a little scared of it at first but after running around through it with her she finally "got it" and after that had a blast. It was hard to pull her away but she was getting splotchy from the heat. But yay, SUMMERTIME!!!
Fun Weekend
This weekend went by way too fast! A few weeks ago I was asked to help with a bull sale in Austin this weekend. Knowing Austin is not far from Shane, I agreed - I'd get to see him AND get paid to work! The Bull Sale/Auction was put on by a couple from my church who I have worked for before and it was in between Elgin and Bastrop. My best friend Becca just recently moved to Lago Vista which is North Lake Travis and half an hour from Shane. Perfect! So I drove down Friday afternoon to have dinner with Shane before going to spend the night with Becca. We went to dinner at a place in downtown Marble Falls but just as we got there, a big storm blew in and right before we got seated the electricity went out! We really thought it wouldn't be out too long, so we ordered the avacado salad to take the edge off. But the electricity didn't come back on so we paid for our drinks and salad and went to Wendy's! It was kind of cool to have our salad over candlelight, though!! Staying with Becca was a blast - she and I tend to act like teenagers together, all giggly and girly. We stayed up way too late talking and then her boys were up at 7:30 in the morning! She and I had breakfast at IHOP (Yummmm) and then I headed to Sayersville for the sale which started at 12. It was quite an experience because some of the cows and bulls that were on sale were famous bred and quite popular. The sale was also on tv so there were bidders present at the sale but also bids on the phone. I got to sit in the auctioneer stand to help locate buyers from the list so that the producer could call out their names after the bidding was won. There were famous bull riders present which was really cool, and when the price kept going up the bidding got pretty exciting! After all that, I drove back to Becca's where they had ordered pizza. Shane came over and we all played poker, and for my first time I did really well! I actually won quite a few hands! We are all looking forward to doing that more often - Becca and her husband love to play poker and so does Shane and now so do I! On Sunday morning I drove to Shane's to help him clean his house and get it ready for his whole family who were coming for the afternoon. Then I went to see MY mom - Happy Mother's Day! As a whole it was a great weekend, despite getting very little sleep!! I am looking forward to more fun weekends in Marble Falls visiting Shane and my friends down there!!! Oh and for all who I know are curious, here is a picture I snapped real quick before leaving. I'll get better ones in the future, but this should satisfy you for now! I think we look pretty cute together!!
Daredevil in the making
I mentioned in my post about weathering the storm that nothing scares Evy. In fact, she likes the thrill of being "scared". Since the weather has been so nice I have been using the four-wheeler to take the trash to the dumpster instead of using the farm truck (saves gas too). Evy LOVES the four-wheeler and if you ride it without her she will scream. Andy and Gidget have been taking her for rides since she was little, and only recently have I started doing it too. We have a "seatbelt" for her - a strap that fastens her to us so she can ride hands free but still be held on. She loves this. She is very bossy on the four-wheeler. As soon as she is on, she reaches for the belt and fastens it (or directs you to if she can't). Then she points to the "run engine" button and then reaches for the brake and the key to start the engine. When the engine starts she points to the gear shift. Then she holds on to the front of the seat (perfect space for her little fingers) and is ready to go. on the way back down the road from the dumpster I stopped around the curve in the road just before a long straight stretch. I said "Okay, are you ready?" and she said "one, two, three, go!!!" and I gunned it - we went flying down the road and you know what she did? Threw both hands in the air and screamed. Yep thats right. She's ready for roller coasters - and no one taught her that! She did it all on her own. Crazy kid :-)
National Day of Prayer
Today is the National Day of Prayer and I am so thankful to have a Chamber of Commerce that is full of believers. We are having a big event tonight at the park, including worship by local churches. In fact, my church (Rocky Point) choir and the First Assembly worship band are joining together to perform "Revelation Song" by Hillsong and it will be so awesome! The President of our Chamber is a member of our church and she is incredible. Stephenville is blessed and I am proud to live here. In honor of today, please take a moment to pray for our country, our leaders, the Presidential Campaign, our troops overseas and here in the U.S., third world countries, etc. There are so many things to be thankful for but also so many things that desperately need God's intervention. May HIS name be praised today all across the nation!!!
