My husband is an…interesting…sort of guy. This was my Valentine’s Day gift.
Yep, he had a cockroach named for me. Isn’t he great?! “Cockroaches can survive a nuclear holocaust, and so can our love.” His words.
Yay.
It’s gross, disgusting, and possibly insulting, but to be honest, I’m smiling as I write this. Somehow he came across this and couldn’t resist, and it IS kinda funny :)
And he was smart enough to bring home flowers and chocolates…
Sooooo…it’s been 7 months since my last post, and yet, it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long to me! I guess it’s true that as you get older, time goes by more quickly :)
There’s no way to recap everything we’ve been doing so let’s just say that we’re a busy family of nine! Ya'll can use your imaginations!
School is in full swing again, but we did take Labor Day off for a special reason. Daddy-man ran his first 5K! He’s been running for a few months now and was looking forward to this event. We all wanted to go to see him cross the finish line so we woke up bright and early (well, early- it was still dark out!) at 4:30 a.m. and made the hour-long drive to Saguaro National Park. It was crowded, and the area around the start/finish line was much smaller than I had envisioned!
The kids and I, being the ever-dutiful cheer section, managed to make some signs for dad to see as he finished. We even managed to keep them a secret!
As soon as the runners cleared the starting line, we lined up!
The sun was rising in full force, and of course we were looking right into it! The kids were a little antsy- after all, they were up so early with a pathetic breakfast in the van and then nothing to do but wait. Thankfully a 5K is pretty short, and it wasn’t long before the first runners began their way back. Not long after that, we saw him! We held up our signs and cheered!
The kids ran to him, and we congratulated him, and told him we loved him and were proud of him.
There really weren’t a lot of ‘extra’ people out there (like the kids and I), and we were the only ones cheering. Having never been to a race, I really wasn’t sure of the proper etiquette, and felt slightly out of place, but I figured at least everyone would know that We Love Our Dad!
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P.S. The rest of the day was spent being exhausted (shocker!)
Ten years ago, I married a wonderful man! I was young (18), but I knew the Lord had brought us together and had planned something great for us! Maybe sometime I’ll write about how we met (we don’t actually remember!) and fell in love (I knew I loved him when I was 16!), but today I just want to share 10 things that I love about him.
In no particular order (except for number 1):
1. He’s saved AND following the Lord. Needless to say, in the ministry we see often the struggles when this is not the case! Marriage takes work for even the most faithful Christians, and I can’t imagine going through it with a man who did not have a heart for God.
2. He WANTS to be a good husband. I mean, he is, but he is because he makes an effort to love and care for me like Christ loves the church.
3. I never fear talking to him. I know women who do not feel welcome to open up to their husbands, so they instead share everything with everyone else! Even if I’m not always sure how to approach a matter, even if I’m fairly sure he won’t agree, I know I can talk to him. I rarely feel a need to talk about my husband to anyone else because I know I can just talk to him!
4. He’s an incredibly involved dad. He changes diapers, he gets up during the night, he’s willing to take on the majority of the discipline…that doesn’t mean he likes to, but he does them anyway! He plays Parcheesi, Red Light Green Light, wrestles, gives hugs and kisses, and…he’s not afraid to take all six kids out by himself! Which leads me to number 5-
5. He’s understanding to my need to get out every now and then. Even aside from being a stay-at-home mom, my personality is such that I like to go out and do things! He is willing to let me go out by myself for a few hours and often will tell me we have 20 extra dollars this week so why don’t I go look for something to buy. That’s the best :)
6. He’s funny. We share a sarcastic and mostly nerdy sense of humor. Those of you who know us, know that we’re nerds and we’re okay with that!
7. He works hard. And I mean hard. I’ve never been under another pastor who has shown so much effort, time, and study when he preaches. He’s always making a visit, calling a church member, and praying for someone. He puts his heart and soul into the flock that God has given him, and it shows.
8. He’s hot- and he keeps getting better looking every year!
9. He’s very discerning. I appreciate that he knows the Bible and has the ability to interpret a passage accurately. He can see things about people, about why they may be acting a certain way, about what the real issues are behind it, and he’s bold and caring enough to address it. And if I see something differently than he does, he is often discerning enough to listen to me :)
10. He is proud of his family. I love it (and somehow am embarrassed at the same time) when we go out somewhere, especially to a pastor’s fellowship meeting, and he introduces the whole family by name. That’s quite the list to get through…
Of course there’s more, but I’ll pace myself. There’s always next year!
My hubby’s home tomorrow!
My hubby’s home tomorrow!
My hubby’s home tomorrow!
My hubby’s home tomorrow!
If you can picture that I’m doing a little song and dance, you’ve got that picture right!
Don’t you just love getting packages?! The FedEx guy just rang our doorbell, delivering the gift I bought for Daddy-man. I LOVE it!!!
On the off-chance he’s reading this (he’s under orders not to), I won’t say what it is, but it’s one of the few times in our almost 10-year marriage that I saw something and knew right away that I wanted to get it for him! Usually, Christmas, birthday, and anniversary times roll around, and I have no clue!!
While passing time on my flight to Hawaii, I browsed the Sky Mall magazine and found it! I was able to get a little extra money, shopped on amazon, used two $5 amazon e-gift certificates (thank you Swagbucks), and got it at a steal!
If you’re really that curious, here’s the link to see it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001FVRUFQ/ref=sr_1_6_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1291787067&sr=8-6&condition=new
If you know my husband, you know he’ll like it! I think it’ll be great in his office! Because I don’t want it in my house :)
About an hour ago, our mail carrier rang the doorbell, delivering some way cute Croc shoes I got at a steal for Sweetheart Girl. Two pairs (I bought a bigger size for later) plus a jibbitz (a charm for the shoes) for $9.48 shipped! Here’s what they look like: http://www.crocs.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-crocs_us-Site/default/Search-Show?q=gabby
If you know Sweetheart Girl, you know she’ll LOVE getting new shoes…it really must be born into some girls- she’s loved shoes since she could make her opinion known!
I still have a few homemade gifts to post about, and I promise they’re coming! I finished one more but still have two to go.
One of the gifts I’m making for the twins is a matching game with pictures of our family. So today I went through all of our pics from this year, and I came across several that just made me smile! Don’t get me wrong- I love all the kids pics, but sometimes you get some that are just a little extra special!
We took the kids bowling for the first time ever, and Hero never could bowl without his mouth open! Most of the time his tongue was hanging out!
Sweetheart Girl had so much fun tossing leaves, and the delight on her face makes me smile :)
Twinkle has been the happiest baby, and every morning we woke up to this face (but maybe not this hair!). She’s almost one year old now, so her grin has changed a bit, but she still always smiles at us in the morning!
Awesome McAwesome accepted Christ on Father’s Day this year. I love this pic of my husband baptizing his 2nd son!
This was the Minions’ 2nd birthday, and I just love the mischivious grin on Minion 1’s face. He’s wearing orange.
Come on, this one’s obvious!
Sweetheart Girl’s first time singing in Patch the Pirate Club. Tell me she’s not the most adorable sailor ever!!
This one was taken about 4 hours after Minion 2 fell and knocked his tooth out of his mouth! It’s a miserable story, but he’s a trooper!
Twinkle spent at least a month doing this constantly!
They’ve only done this twice!
This picture makes me smile because of the story behind it.
The ‘men’ were out chopping down a tree, and McAwesome didn’t want to help. This is his pathetic ‘Please let me in’ look. I didn’t let him in.
Sweetheart Girl loves her boots!
There’s a story behind this one, too, but suffice it to say, McAwesome wants a mustache ;)
Minion 1’s arm around Sweetheart Girl makes me smile a mile wide!
Because Daddy-man and I so rarely get a picture together…though neither of us actually like the way we look in this one…
On the other hand, I actually like the way I look in this one…if I could photoshop the red nose :o)
And, finally…
This one was taken on my hubby’s cell phone camera and is a bit blurry, but if I could be left with only one picture of Twinkle, this is the one I choose! Daddy-man and I smile and laugh every time we look at this face!!
Daddy-man and I had last weekend all to ourselves! My parents offered to take the kiddos from Friday afternoon to Monday morning since my dad had to work the 4th, and they wouldn’t be able to come up (they come to Tucson every weekend for church). They usually take the three older kids for a visit every now and then, but this was the first time they’ve taken the babies, too! Minion 1 and Minion 2 are finally starting to creep out of all that baby fussiness, and they are a little easier to handle (sometimes!). And let’s face it, Twinkle is an angel-baby and, therefore, practically sinless :)
So I drove the kids to meet my dad at the junction (where I-10 and Hwy 30 meet), and we switched vehicles. So not only did I not have the kids all weekend, I didn’t even have to drive a minivan! Wow!! It’s been a looooooong time since that’s last happened. I cruised home in the truck with University of Oregon paraphenalia all over, and when I made a stop for a few groceries, I had a momentary panic attack when I thought I must have left the kids in the car. But it passed, and I headed home.
Daddy-man and I went out to eat at Red Lobster: YUM! At one point the waiter (excuse me, seafood expert) came out to tell us that Daddy-man’s trout had committed suicide by jumping off the plate just before they brought out our dinner. It really wasn’t a problem for us as we were in no hurry, but the manager came out to apologize and didn’t charge us for the trout!
Saturday morning, Daddy-man had Men’s Prayer Breakfast so I thought I’d have a leisurely morning before leaving for soul-winning at 9:30. I wanted to remember what it was like to take my time to make a delicious smoothie for breakfast, get a little reading in, and actually iron the top I wanted to wear that day. Of course, when I got up at about 8, I looked at the clock to discover it was actually 9:06- so much for leisure…
We had a great morning soul-winning- a lot of our teenagers went out, and I had two of the girls in my group. After that, we had a church leadership meeting, and we were invited out to lunch with our Children’s Ministries Director and his wife (also good friends). After lunch we went to visit one of our deacons who just had major surgery. That was a real joy to me because I don’t often get to make visits- something about inviting 6 kids into someone else’s home…
We intended for Saturday evening to be a quiet night at home, but we got a phone call from the couple we went to lunch with, and they had tickets to the circus that they couldn’t use and asked if we wanted them. We went, along with their daughter (she’s my age) and really enjoyed the show. Barnum & Bailey’s Circus was an incredible improvement over the little rinky-dink one we took the kids to a few years ago. Here’s a pic of us:
And here’s a pic of Deana and I with our clown noses:
The next day was church. I woke up on time today (yea!), but when I pulled my top out of the dryer, I found a tear in the seam, so I had to do a quick patch job (not too bad, if I do say so myself). We had a retired pastor that just moved to the area visit us, and we were blessed to be able to invite him and his wife to lunch. It’s always a joy to get to glean a bit of experience and wisdom from those that have faithfully served in full-time ministry! We enjoyed a quiet afternoon- meaning, Daddy-man napped, and I (not a napper) read and surfed the web. That evening at church we had a surprise missionary- a young couple from West Coast Baptist College on their way to El Salvador. They were a great couple! They will do a great work for God in El Salvador, and I really pray we can be a part of it. I am almost in love with this family! We took them for ice cream after the service Sunday night.
I didn’t forget, though, that it was Independence Day! We climbed up on the roof to watch the fireworks at A Mountain, and Deana and her parents climbed up as well. We didn’t get down till almost 11!
And there you have it. I met my parents at the junction Monday morning, and brought everyone home. Daddy-man went into the office, but I asked to him to be home when we got back because I figured the kids would be pretty wound up! And boy were they!!
I won’t post about their adventures for time’s sake, but I was already tired within 30 minutes of them being home! But I missed them, especially the babies since I’m never not with them! Daddy-man and I were ready for them to come back home, but it really was a wonderfully relaxing, calm weekend on our own. So thanks Mom and Dad! We love you, and now we have definite proof that you love us, too!
