Happy Christmas Week!

Hello, blog friends. Are you still out there?

So today is just a glimpse into the past 6 months. I will probably have to do a few catch up posts--pictures, mostly--because I just cannot let the whole season of fall go by without our happenings and pics. It is usually my favorite season of all! But this was NOT my favorite season of my life. In fact, in many many ways, I hope I never have another one like it.
Well, let's jump in there and start with it already!


First, our best/recent family pic...I included it in B&W and then color for your viewing pleasure---please note that the color combo is what happens when you are on vacation away from your house and you do not plan your outfits for the photo opportunities you forget you will have. ;-) Still, I like it both ways!

Today is Tues, Dec. 22nd. Yep, Christmas week! And we are SOOO excited around this house. As you may have read in the previous post, this has been an extremely busy fall for us, and just getting to Dec. 18th has been our goal for quite a while. And now that we are here, we are committed to enjoy every bit of it. We did take one Saturday a few weeks ago to decorate the house a bit, but it has been so cluttered that it took me most of 3 days to just get everything back in order. Can you say 12 loads of laundry??? (Blankets and towels in there, too, btw.) I still need to redo the tree (A REAL TREE! My first EVER!!!) because Matthew let Noah help him put the ornaments up, and well, it looks terrible. Matt and I have attended many a Christmas dinner or party already---7, I believe is the count: Combined Life Group Party(with the classic ugly sweater/white-elephant gift exchange), All-church Potluck Dinner, Church Board AND Staff Progressive Dinner, JUST-the-Pastoral Staff Dinner, Senior-High Party, Junior-High Party, and then Sunday was just-OUR-Life Group Party. They were all nice, but some of going thru the motions. There was also a Street-reach dinner in there that we were both sick for and could not attend--the one I wanted to go to out of all of them! Noah had I have been to two birthday parties this weekend! So we have had plenty of opportunity to celebrate this season with friends, but JUST this weekend I am finally able to BREATHE & feel & ENJOY the spirit of the season. I had to get all my school load off my back first. Now that I have my house in order, I can enjoy the hot chocolate, the music, the lights, the shopping, the traffic, the present wrapping, the decorating, the talk of Santa coming and the anticipation for Christmas morning with a 2, almost 3, year old. Oh, I can't wait!

The best thing about it is that WE ARE NOT TRAVELING!!! This is the first year in our married life that we have not traveled twice a winter for holidays. My family is on their way here, TODAY, from Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee. We finally have a house big enough to host and sleep our family, and with Noah being over 2, he doesn't fly for free anymore. So, my family all agreed to fly south for the winter. And we are so so so excited to be here with Noah, to see him run downstairs to see what's under the tree. And in the backyard--someone is giving us their huge playground set, and Matt's goal is to put it together Thurs. and surprise Noah. (yeah right, Noah will be out there "helping" him build it.) He's also really excited to share presents with his aunt and uncle and grandparents. I am looking forward to hosting my family, but since I don't have much practice with that, it might be interesting! I pulled out my Christmas dishes last night and played around with what the table will look like for Christmas dinner. I've had these stinkin plates for over 5 years and never used them for a real meal! Groceries have been bought, but I have not stressed over the meals we will eat. I think I'll let my mom take charge of the kitchen. I want to ENJOY the week! They will all be here till next Tues., and then Carrie will stay through New Years Day and then fly back.

Well, I think this was a good start for my return to the blogworld! I will try to post some pictures later when I get my memory card to work...it's not cooperating right now.

Much love to you all! Merry Christmas week!

Thanksgiving with the Hawkins

First, the boy at Gigi and Papa's..


Then, the fam:

Happy Halloween '09!

Busiest Fall Ever...

Well, hello there, blogger readers. Are you still there?

I have no perfect words to describe how I feel about the fact that it has been OVER 6 MONTHS since I posted on blogger. Shock? Frustrated. Sad. That has NEVER happened before. I can't believe it happened THIS time. But I guess it just goes to show how BUSY my life has been the last 6 months. Like REALLY, REALLY busy. I know several of you reading this know what that is like. Why do we let life get like this? I hate it, really.

Thus, here begins my catch-up posts. I'm going to entitle this one.....WORK.
Just got to get it off my chest first. (Not for the weary-at-heart readers.)

The last couple of months have been extremely stressful due mostly to my work schedule and responsibilities at school. Yes, I knew going back to work after being at home with your baby for 2 years would be hard. But boy, is that an understatement! The long and short of it is it has been a very demanding school year so far. To start with, the school where I am teaching is in a very low-income and highly disadvantaged area, and the expecations they have on us as teachers is simply unrealistic. They have huge expectations for our students, and in order to meet those goals, we have had planning meetings, data-analyzing meetings, getting chewed-out meetings, special seminars, etc. nearly every planning period and both before/after school. We are required to tutor after school and participate in Saturday school a few times a year. It's just all together TOO MUCH. On top of this, I had to take 40 hours of classes since the middle of October in order to be qualified to teach math in our district and gifted and talented students, which apparently my position turned into "unexpectedly". The deadline for all these classes was also the last day of school for the month, Dec. 18th...so for the last 2 months, every spare minute I wasn't working on lesson plans, grading papers, or calling parents, I have been online trying to complete these requirements. I even had to work on about 10 hours during Thanksgiving break at my inlaws house. It has been crazy.

And it has been all consuming at times. I feel like I have hardly spent time with my husband or Noah in the last 2 months without having school on my mind. Matt has been REALLY good to me during this time. He has taken up so much at the house and with Noah and there is NO WAY I could have made it thru this time without his support. Frankly, I'm not sure how we made it at all. Most days, driving to school, I just prayed that I wouldn't quit that day. It has been so tempting. But we did it. I turned in my final documents on Thursday and finished my final wikispace posts by the 5:00pm deadline Friday---about 15 min. early. And although I have a huge stack of papers to grade that I have gotten behind on, I have hope that next semester can't possible be as difficult. I'm hoping after Christmas, my family will help me get caught up so that I can start the next half of the year without being so behind.

So, all that being said, any teachers out there wanna give a shout out to unrealistic expectations! What struggles have you had this year? I know my father-in-law has had a very difficult year as well. If you're not a teacher, let me tell you---they truly have the most difficult job. I don't know that I would ever know this if I wasn't in education. And it gets worse all the time. I love it, and I hate it! I think that can be said for many jobs, but maybe not so many times each day ;-)

Okay, now on to happier posts!

Two trips down, one Big one to Go...

Hey blogger world friends---

We are back in Htown for just a few days---literally, a two-digit amount of hours--and so I thought I'd throw up a few new pics before we head off to the Mid/NW for 10 days.

Matt and I are going on the mission trip with 30 of our teens and sponsors from church. We are headed to do inner-city work in Columbus, Ohio. Noah is going to spend a wonderful time with Matt's family and Aunt Carrie in Nashville, TN while we are gone.

Pray for us, if you think of it. I've never left Noah for more than a 4 day weekend. I'm more than a bit nervous. More for me than him! He'll be fine, I'm sure.

So here's a few more pics of the house and a few from our recent trip to FL for General Assembly and then 3 day trip to Vero Beach to see our church family there.

The only family pic we took the whole week-Sunday after lunch at General Assembly.

Noah "ready" to swim at the Snodgrasses pool in Orlando (their rented house for the week).

Momma and Noah swimming in the Robisons' pool.

Noah and Kim at the Bowling alley in Vero---look at his little shoes!

Living Room, showing the fireplace better.

Noah helping me paint our gameroom while Matt was gone.

And finally, Noah's new cars and trucks room!

We'll be back online sometime after the 15th of July. Have a great 4th and emjoy the summer heat!

MayJune catchup

Awwww, blogger.

I have been quite negligent of you lately, but I have a nice, quiet afternoon alone, so I'll try to briefly catch up. And I have pictures to post! I have been using facebook lately to update friends and family, but I know that some of you only check my blog, so, Sorry!

This last month sure has been crazy! A whirlwind of events if you will. We have officially been IN our house for 2 weeks. The month of May was spent living with much anxiety and anticipation as to whether or not we were really going to be ready and able to close on the house at the end of the month. Finally, the weekend before our closing date, still without a final word on whether our finances would be approved, I decided it was time to start packing. Packing of the apartment compared to packing up our house in Vero was soooooo much easier! We had left as much as possible in storage, so I really only had to work on wrapping up glassware in the kitchen and securing boxes again. I probably spent a few hours for three or four days, and then just here and there stuff while the t.v. was on or Noah was playing by himself. Still, I don't want to see another cardboard box for a LOOOONG time!

*

So we closed on the house on Friday the 29th, beginning around 11a.m. and finally getting the keys at 4:30. It was a long and nervewracking day, but we had friends from the church and our Life Group that helped, and so it was relatively easy once the moving truck was in motion. Matt's parents were able to come in on Sat. morning and stayed thru Tues. night, which was such a blessing to have their help. Mostly, they just helped by being supportive and by helping watch Noah while Matt and I carried on with the meetings and schedules and the normalcies of our life. Too bad life doesn't just stop for a week when you decide to move. This was one of Matt's last weeks before the summer frenzy begins, so it was just as busy as ever. We enjoyed our time with Gigi and Papa, but it was all too quick.

*

And we love the new house! There are several things we really like about it, but my favorite things are (1) the openness the downstairs has, with the living room and kitchen being open to each other and the main entryway/stairwell right there. It's just a unique set up we had not seen in any of the other 40 (yes, forty) houses we looked at.

I also love (2) having a large master bedroom and bathroom, and CLOSET! which we've never had before. I could lay in my bed and just look around the room with a big smile on my face for a loooong time!

We have hardly been upstairs at all, so the gameroom area is my next to tackle. Hence, no pictures of the upstairs! Noah's room has his new bed in it, but it needs some character and paint. And finally, (3) the backyard is better than we expected! There is a cement slab off the breakfast room with a covered patio, with a grill, and a yard that is great for Noah to play in. I really wish we didn't have to wait a while before getting Noah a swingset!

*

The last two weeks have been quite a bit slower for me: changing all of our services over and trying to track down our mail...running errands and shopping trips for curtains, pillows, vacuuming cleaners and finally, groceries. (We were without a fridge for the first week at our new house, and lived out of a cooler and fast food!) Matt has been very busy getting ends tied up for the mission trip we're taking to Ohio in July and for the backpacking trip he left for yesterday (10 day trip to CO). Somehow, he managed to get done what he needed! Noah has gotten to go swimming 4 or 5 times in the last 2 weeks, and he LOVES jumping into the pool! He has absolutely no fear, and will literally swim till he pukes...which yes, has happened a few times. Check out the picks and videos I just uploaded to facebook when you get the chance. We just went to our neighborhood for the first time this morning...and I'm tempted to go back again when he wakes up from his nap!

*Also in these last 2 weeks, I interviewed for and accepted a teaching job for next fall, teaching MATH for 5th grade. The school is relatively close (for Houston) to our new house and tho it will likely be a challenge, I am really excited about it. Mostly, I'm excited that I don't have to fret over getting a job all summer! Especially with us being gone as much as we will be, I was quite nervous as to how that would work out. I have also put in my 2 weeks notice at the tutoring job, because after we leave for FL (General Assembly and 3 days of vacation) I won't really be able to work much more and will need to enjoy the short time I have before school starts.

So, as I said, alot has been going on! We are greatly looking forward to the mini vacation we are taking to FL, because after all this, we need some time to recoup a bit.

*How about you? How's your summer starting out?!? Leave me a comment or message!

The House

WE.ARE.IN.!!!!!
More to come, with pictures, of course.
But we made it to closing, they gave us the keys, and everything we own is inside our new house. YEAHAYAYAYHAYAYEAH!!!!

And then there was 30 ...

So I have waited one whole week to publicly acknowledge/discuss the fact that I have (gracefully ? ;-) entered the 30s-club with most of my friends. This last year I have noticed many of the gals I went to school with having little facebook comments popping up on my homepage or blogs about their impending birthdays. It has been humorous to see how each one relates to the "big" birthday in different ways. Some of us have approached it with serious fear and dread, while others seem to be excited about the new decade and its possibilities. I think maybe it depends in many ways on what is going on in your life currently. For those who are married and starting to have children, I think it is almost positive to reach a new level of "maturity"--at least in the eyes of others. (In my profession, being in my 20s still has always made me feel/treated so young and unexperienced) For those who are still waiting for their prince charming and/or their time to have children, I know it may feel like the clock is ticking faster than preferred and may be an unwelcomed sign of time passing. I think it just depends on how happy and content we are with where we are in our life. For those who have always been very athletically inclined, or for those who have always been conscientious of their youthful looks, I think the number hangs over our heads reminding us that our bodies are starting their downhill spiral. For me, that realization happened 2 years ago when I gave birth to my son! And my body hasn't been in good shape since I quit playing soccer after college. So the NUMBER of 30 doesn't mark a change in my outlook on my physique, just yet, anyway. We'll see how that metabolism changes! I have several friends who have started getting in BETTER shape since college, who are preparing for running half or full marathons right now, and for those girls, I stand up and applaude you. But from the SIDELINES. I need a goal of some sort myself, but running is NOT something for me to get excited about!

It also makes me laugh about how all kinds of people treat their birthdays differently. I know of people who announce their coming birthdays months ahead of time, reminding family and friends with a daily countdown and posting gift suggestions thruout the house and car. Some expect and love a big party with as many people possible to help them celebrate themselves. I'm not really sure what drives this type of person. I DO find them interesting...But I'll keep mum from more comments at this point. Then there's the OPPOSITE extreme, those who don't want ANY fuss to be done on account of them---who would just as soon spend a quiet day doing something they enjoy and having no acknowledgment that another birthday has come and gone. I tend to fall pretty severely on THIS end of the spectrum--although I've never (yet) wished to spend my birthday in total solitude or denial, I would just as rather it pass quietly with only a handful of people realizing it has come around. Cards in the mail from family are nice, cards from old friends who actually remember is maybe even nicer (because history shows they don't usually know, or bother). I do enjoy to have my husband do some sweet, thoughtful things for me, like surprise me with a good movie or concert or show I would like to see, and a thoughtful gift of something I need or would like but haven't even thought of lately myself...those things are nice. My dad used to always take us out to breakfast for our birthday, which is a tradition we haven't been able to do lately and I really miss. I would rather go out for breakfast than dinner!

Anyways, I know most of you reading this probably fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes too. I realized this year that how people prefer to spend their birthdays tells ALOT about their personalities and temperment, doesn't it? There's those who like the attention and are party people--sanguines, extroverted, like to be in the spot light, thrive on other's energy......versus those more intraverted types who prefer to be behind the scenes, spending time with just a few close friends or significant other. And I'm WONDERING what type my son, Noah will be as he gets older, since he LOVES birthdays right now and is ALL ABOUT CAKE and PRESENTS!!! GREAaaaT. Is that just "kids"? Or do I have an extrovert-making-a-countdown on my hands?

My birthday was last Sunday, and I actually, surprisingly, had a really nice day/weekend. As I mentioned, I don't like to have any fuss made over me at all, outside of my husband and close family. Well, Matt treated me Sat. to a nice evening out--chick flick movie and dinner at a Studio Grill (where you get to eat dinner IN the movie theater--cool idea.) Then we wrapped up the night with delicious pieces of pie at a cool little 24-hour pie diner he heard about. A definite new favorite. Well, so Saturday was GOOD. Then he let me go most of the day Sun. with only one public announcement--up stairs with the youth. Not bad. (I hate Sunday birthdays!) Chipotle for lunch---GREAT. When only a small handful of our Life Group was able to make it that evening to our regularly scheduled Life Group meeting, I thought I had made it out unscathed. But alas, as the door bell rang around 7:30p and they casually asked me to "see who it is", my face flushed, the blood pressure skyrocketed and I realized I had not made it out alive yet. At the door was of course another 20 or so friends from church, mostly youth staffers and a few younger gals/families with a huge cake, with my pic plastered on the top (from my freshman year of high school) aFIRE with 30 candles and 5 or 6 camera flashes going off in my face. I think there might have been a "surprise" yell in there somewhere too. And our hostess pulled out a spread of food Matt had brought over the day before, and a slide show of pictures from my life played in the background...

Thanks, Matt. Really. I know you thought you "owed me", but we are more than even.

I really appreciate everyone who came out to support me and celebrate. My hubby is a sweetie and I hear he had been planning this for a long while. It didn't turn out quite as he would have liked--many people were out of town or couldn't come for one reason or another *thank you GOD!*. But I do want to say how much he means to me and I know his intentions were to love on me and make me feel special.
It's just that...you REALLY shouldn't have!

Now that the worse part is OVER-the whole obligatory celebration and embarrassing thing---I am totally okay with being 30. As I mentioned, in teaching I have always felt in some ways looked down on for my lack of years in a profession that expects you only get better the older you get. (In most cases, that's true....but I know some older teachers who are synical CRANKS!). But more importantly, I am really looking forward to what this year and the next few have in store for me and my family. We look forward to our time here in Houston, possibly getting settled in our first purchased house soon, hopefully having more children, hoping for new additions to our extended families, and just feeling content with many things about my life---relationally, spiritually, etc. I am loving watching Noah grow and am enjoying being a mother more than ever. I've been working to be a better wife lately and this summer marks 7 years of wedded bliss for us. So despite the fact that the last 6 months have been the most stressful ones of my entire life, we are learning and growing and feeling stronger together and hopeful of the future.

So, 30 and fabulous, here I come. Now I just have to get my grown-up-lady hair-do on.
Maybe.

Happy May Day/Family News

Happy May Day to all of you.
Several new things to bring to you today.
Noah LOVES graham crackers right now. He cannot get enough of them.
Noah's feeling 100% better from this time last week, and has been over his fever for several days completely. He's still taking his antibiotic, and I'm still concerned it will really wipe out the infections. I need to schedule that appointment.

Noah has *started* potty training. I just want to record this moment in time, because SO FAR it's very cute and so very funny. I know that will likely soon change to be excruciatingly frustrating and "the death of me", so that's why I want to share how I'm feeling now before I forget. I have decided to make an attempt at what some might see as a different approach to potty training--letting Noah run diaperless during the day--hey, we're still in the apartment and have ALREADY run havok on this carpet in 4 months!--and also encouraging him to use the regular ol' big toilet to learn on. I read from several sources lately that this can help by not teaching MORE habits you'll eventually have to break them from as well...we're still fighting to get the paci away from him permanently, so I'm all about skipping the middle steps if possible. Matt bought him a little plastic potty when N had just barely turned one (wishful thinking! He had heard somewhere online lately that you could potty train a very young baby, and I nearly laughed out loud when he brought that thing home.) So we have it when we want it. I think I'm going to let him sit on it in front of the t.v. during his morning cartoon, until we can get a little bit of bodily function control under way---but my goal is to not rely on it completely. I want him to learn to be comfortable with the big one. He's big enough and strong enough to hold himself up, it's just a matter of being patient and staying there long enough! If Matt would let me, I'd post a pic of Noah hanging on to the big toilet, huge cheesy smile, but I know he would not approve. So maybe I'll work on that one. ANYway, Noah is really excited so far about the TRYING to go to the bathroom on the toilet. He climbs up and gets all set and then makes the FUNNIEST noises and faces, and then says, "Done!" And runs to the freezer to get his "pop" (half an icee pop--his reward for successful pottying.) Um, not quite, kid. Good effort tho. Maybe I need to get a smaller reward system for his whole-hearted attempts, but the popcicles seem to be a huge incentive. He's had 3 amazingly coincidental peeing episodes in the toilet, very small of course, but still...I'm going to say it's a start. Because you have to start somewhere, right? UPDATE: While I was preparing this for final posting, (working on the bottom) We had a REAL potty experience! Beginning to end! (Well, minus the first little tinkle that happened on my foot while Noah was telling me he needed to pee--I love motherhood;-) Here's the proof!Well, the afterproof.

Next news....last night after volleyball, I looked down at my hand while taking a shower and realized one of my side diamonds from my wedding ring is missing. (insert terrible swear word here). I'm soooo frustrated. Must have happened at the gym. I don't remember any particular time, but I know it was within the last few hours. I guess the insurance money we have saved by not paying for insurance on it the last 6 years will pay for it. Cause we're just rolling in savings right now!

Matt is at District Assembly again today. Yesterday, we ran into some old friends who ALSO met at Golden Bell the first summer when we did, which was almost 11 years ago! They look exactly, exactly the same. They live in San Antonio. Carrie, can you guess who? So now we "knew" 3 couples who live here in TX, before we moved here.

And finally...

Only the faithful find this one out!
We have all but received our copy of the accepted bid/contract for a house--yes, a NEW house I have not mentioned yet. The one we saw on Monday and Tues. and have been working on this week. We are somewhat anxious to get paperwork into our hands, but we have the oral word from our realtor that the sellers have accepted our offer and the contract has been ammended with the new agreed-on price and we should be going in to put our earnest money down today or tomorrow. What a perfect birthday present for me! I want the paperwork completed completely--and in a box, with a big bow on it, though. Matt and I will head out tomorrow night to go to dinner and see a movie of my choice, and I hope we can officially celebrate together. It has been a long process and I am sooo ready for a final word on it.

Perspective...on plan A

To begin with, let me just say that if you have been checking in on the progress of our transition from "unsettled-apartment-living" to buying our first house and getting "TRUELY settled" :

We did not get the bid on the house I mentioned in the previous post.

Apparently the bank decided to go with the other buyer.
Apparently there WAS another buyer after all.
At least I'm not suspicious of THAT anymore!

The last 24 hours or so have been difficult for Matt and I. First, Noah has not been this sick in a LOOOONG time, maybe ever. So we are all living with a huge lack of sleep and are on round the clock Noah care, it seems. Then, this house thing. Let's just say we are sulking pretty disappointed. We found out the "bad news" yesterday afternoon from our realtor--1st to Matt, while he was out on the golf course with a few guys from church, then he called to pass on the news to me. He'd already been having a terrible day playing-wise, worrying about all he still needed to do for this weekend's teen event and feeling guilty that he was out having a "day off" and spending money on golf instead of spending time at home with his sick son and ti-yerd wife...at least that's what he told me when he got home a few hours later. You know this has hit him hard because he has sworn off golf until we get INTO a house. That's pretty huge.

The reason why we're taking this so hard is because this was our last full weekend to look at houses and get something rolling before (30 days) the summer of constant travel hits. And that is the deadline we've had since we found out we were moving here. More specifically, it was a house we really liked, had been watching for a while, felt like we missed out on the first time due to circumstances outside of our control and feeling pretty sure that because it came back around, it was meant for us....we got our hopes/expectations up. It's so wierd to be feeling so much frustration and disappointment over this whole situation. We've never had to go thru this process before, and even though every one tells you how hard it was for them and gives you the light at the end of the tunnel or silver lining encouragement, it still sucks when it's you, and when you're in it. We thought we had been disappointed before, but not to this extent.

Thankfully, I at least was at home by myself and had a few hours to deal with it on my own before I had to face my husband and be sad/mad together. But after Matt called to tell me yesterday, and I got Noah down for his much needed nap, I finally got time to get into my devotion time for the day. Because I NEEDED it badly. Well, first thing I do is check on a few blogs I follow to see what was new, and amidst a whole bunch of other disheartening news, I read the following quote, from MckMama:

I am really sad. Yet what brings me great comfort, even now, is that none of this surprises God. The fact that this morning has not gone well, by our earthly hopes and standards, does not mean that God is wringing His hands. This did not come out of the blue for Him. As my friend Ann likes to say, God is not on Plan B. This is still Plan A. Indeed. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."Isaiah 55:8-9 And so, I press forward in that knowledge, tear stained face and all.

I SO needed to hear that. And I SO needed to hear that from her. Because if ANYONE has reason to give up hope right now, it's her. So I started to thinking. I've been thinking of this lately, but it really hit me hard today. And I started being specific with it.

Why am I so quick to sulk of my present situation?
Do I not have EVERYTHING that I need? And SO MANY things that I want?
Do I not live in a more than spacious apartment with the two men in my life who I love the most, with all kinds of toys and gadgets that we don't need and a great yard and pool and ball courts....
Has God not been SO GOOD to us?!?!
Has He not brought us to a new place of ministry where we feel blessed in so many ways?
Has He not ALWAYS provided for our every financial need? Do I not have story after story about how money came thru when we needed it most?
Has He not brought renewed health to Noah and do I not have faith he will do it again?

• I read and follow this blog of a woman who has spent the last 5 weeks with her 5 month old in the hospital while her infant son is fighting for his life and could go into heart failure at any moment. And yet she continues to give praise and glory to God throughout.
• I read of another woman who just experienced/celebrated the one year birthday (that didn't happen)of her youngest daughter, who only survived 2 1/2 hours outside of the womb because of a fatal condition discovered at 20 wks. utero that she would never recover from. That same woman who carried a dying baby in her womb for 17 some weeks just left yesterday for Calcutta, India, with Compassion International.
• I have 3 close friends who have been trying to get pregnant and have been yet unable to carry a baby full term.
• I have a friend who just decided to ADOPT 3 children under the age of 5 into her family in the coming month. They already have one child, age 4.
• I have another friend who just gave birth to her second child--healthy, thankfully--but is learning what it is like to be exhausted all over again now as she has 2 children to care for.
• I have another friend who just found out her older brother may have a virus that causes bells palsy, possibly a brain tumor.
• I have 2 siblings and several close friends who are still waiting for God to bring into their lives the spouses that he has planned for them.
• A woman in our Life Group just buried her mother, and 2 weeks later just lost her job.

I have sooo much....and I know of soooo many people who are struggling so much right now.
(Maybe you're one of them. Wanna be added to my list?) Anyway, my point is, I NEED this perspective in my life. I need to pick up my head and remember that I am not by ANY means the only one who finds themselves in a waiting time in my life, or feeling disappointment or frustration. And this is surely not the end of the world. It is just a bump in the road that will one day be a reminder of God's provision and providence in my life.

I. am.blessed. I thank God today for all the ways He has blessed me and my family. I pray that He would continue to do so---bless us---but I will CHOOSE to praise Him all the more even when He doesn't choose to make the blessings as evident--when "life happens" the way that it sometimes does--because "I know there'll be days When this life brings me pain But if that's what it takes to praise You Jesus, bring the rain".

Then, as if that wasn't enough for one day, after my time in the blogging world and that whole revelation, I get into my Bible Study of Esther. I had to miss this week's video session, and gulp, I admit I am a few days behind, for the first time, because of Noah being sick. So today's lesson was supposed to be done a few days ago, NOT today. But of course, what do I read? 1)Acts 17:26 "He [God] determined the times set for [us] and the exact places that [we] should live." 2) God will continue to "work out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." Eph 11:1; 3) "I am not called to an easy life; I am called to a purposeful life" BM, Esther Bible Study.

I about quit breathing all together when I saw that Acts verse. Can you believe it? I know we shouldn't take everything the Bible says literally, but come on now! On THIS day?!? So, today I choose to believe everyone when they remind me with all their cheesiness that "God must have a house all picked out for you!" and "You just haven't found the right one yet", because against all cynicism that creeps in, I believe it to be true, too. I know God has brought us to this place at this time and He will show us exactly where He has always planned for us to be. And this is not Plan B, but God's plan A. My memory verse for this week is Prov. 16:9 "In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Thursday Stuff

UPDATE: The bank went with option 3 of below and has given us till Sat. to raise our offer if we'd like to the most we'd be willing to offer towards this house. We already gave our realtor our answer, but are already second guessing our decision. Ugghh...

No pictures today, just a quick update for those who haven't heard from us this week:

Noah and I got him into the dr. today...dr. said he definitely has some kind of virus that has been causing the high fevers for the past 3 1/2 days, and a double ear infection to boot. Although she said the ear infections alone should not be causing his temp to be that high (104.6 yesterday). His temp spikes up during the night, but then yesterday afternoon is when we got the 104 reading. Rectally, so it's like 103.6 i guess. He is taking Motrin and Tylenol round the clock, so not one of the 3 of us are sleeping well. And now after 3 days of high fever, we are now dealing with fever blisters on his tongue and inside of cheeks--poor kid! I can't imagine! Please pray for him--he was doing okay, for the first few days, but seems to be pretty bothered by the blisters at times and can go from running around playing to downright miserable in a matter of about 20 min. It will take a few days for the antiobiotic to kick in and clear up his ears, but he never once complained about those, so who knows...dr. said it was good that he had the fever issue or we may not have taken him in or known about the ears for a while yet. I hope they all clear up by the weekend...it has been a long week.

Speaking of long week, on the house front: we put a bid in on a house we saw last Fri. on Monday morning and heard back from them the same evening--weren't going to come down on price much at all...so since the house was well over the appraised price to begin with, we decided to not sit around waiting on them...Then Tuesday, the very next day, a house that we had previously looked at and liked a lot dropped back on the market. It's a foreclosure, so we are dealing with the bank on this one. We put a bid on this 2nd house on Wed. and found out today that we are one of 2 bids they've received--and it's only been back on the market for 3 days. Apparently the bank can decide to go with either one of our offers, or let us both raise our offers if we'd like to. Of course we'd love it if they went with our first offer, since it was less, but we'd be able to raise our offer if they give us that option. We really hope that either way, they at least allow us to raise it instead of going with the other offer...we like the house a lot and it would be a great buy for us, too.

So, please keep praying for us concerning Noah's health and the house issue. Matt has 30 hour famine with the kids this weekend, and it doesn't look like I'll be able to help out much, with Noah being sick. Pray for Matt, too, as I know he is feeling very tired...the last week and a half have been very busy and he is sooo in need of a break. I hope he doesn't come down with something worse than the yucky cold feeling he already has been fighting off.

On a positive note, the work day at the church last Sat. was a huge success--the teens and young adults got soooo much done and got a lot of props for the hard work...and the next day's Pie Auction brought in $8,800 to go towards summer camp and mission trip! It was a great success in all ways, we've heard lots of good things.

Change in your Couch

I'm gonna try posting a few videos again...blogger doesn't like to host these very well, so we'll see...

A post-TAX day video for all you penny-penchers like me.

Easter Pics and this week update

We had an enjoyable and blessed Easter weekend. Noah got to participate in 2 egg hunts--one at our apartment complex:

and then the BIG one at church:

They were expecting 200-300 kids, don't know the final count. (It was def. well attended.) But there were some 7,000 eggs scattered all over the grounds, and probably at least 1,000 spread just on the playground for the little 0-3 year olds. Poor kids, they didn't even know what to do with all the eggs! For a while, they just toddled around, every once in a while, after stepping over or on a dozen or so, bending over to pick one lone egg up, shake it, and crack it open...then sit down on the ground and eat the candy. Noah was ALL about the candy. He and his little day care friends got in a circle on the ground and opened up all their eggs, dumping the candy in their baskets and the empty eggs back on the ground in a big pile. Pretty funny.

We came home after the plastic egg hunt and made our first set of REAL, hardboiled, dyed eggs with Noah. He got a pretty big kick out of this. Not too much into the decorating thing yet, but he loved dumping the eggs in the dye. "Again! Again!" he would say. If it were up to N, they would have ALL been GREEN! or PINK.

We had great services on Easter--teens joining the rest of the congregation for their choice of 2 services. Matt went to both, (apparently hoping to make up for the lack of service attendance these past 4 months) and I did nursery first service. Then between the services he hosted a Pancake Breakfast and mini service for the teens. It was a big hit, too. Glad that we planned to stay for the whole morning, because it POURED RAIN until after 2nd service was coming to an end.

After services we headed to our new friends the Andersons for a wonderful combined lunch with a few families from our Life Group. We had a great time eating, talking, and "sharing life together" with the adults...kids shooting marshmallows all over the yard with Matt's "easter gifts". We finally headed home around 4 pm. and Matt got to watch the end of the Master's at our Pastor's house while Noah and I got to take a well needed late-afternoon nap. I was very thankful for the down time! Overall, a perfect day (minus sharing it with our other families)

P.S. Mom, the broccoli salad and swiss cheese/green bean casserole were both hits. And I made the Chocolate Delight dessert, which is always well liked and always yummy....and leftovers are even better...

In other news, I'm involved in the Ladies Bible Study at church on Weds. now, and we're 4 weeks into Esther...always good. I'm memorizing Psalm 84 for my memory verses this month and probably first part of next Month. Remember what I said last post about 2 car issues is enough for now? Well, took both our cars in for some new brakes, oil changes, inspections...$670 later....ouch. Paid our taxes yesterday--bigger OUCH! Thurs. (last night) Matt and I had a great night playing volleyball together in a competitive league at a local fitness center. Every other week, we'll have TWO games, which will even be better. Matt said his shoulder felt great-- no problems, yet! And we played together, competitively, for the first time, and survived. And finally, in Hawkins news...

Matt and I squeezed in another round of house hunting this morning with our realtor, and we came home with a real possibility. We are waiting on him to get the specs on the neighborhood and the appraisal value of the house, but if things look good, we're hoping to talk thru an offer for it. It's a 1 story, 4 bedroom house with good sized rooms and a few upgraded details. Please pray that if this is IT, it will go thru, and SOON! We are getting close to the end of the month, which was our deadline for being able to get into a house before the summer. We are more than just a bit anxious to make a decision! If you want to see pics, comment me and I'll send you the link.

Have a great weekend!

TheRESTofUS

Check my previous post if you're looking for new Noah stuff.
This one's on the "rest of us".

We have been in Htown for THREE WHOLE MONTHS now. Wow.

We are still in the apartment. We gave our "60 days notice" at the beginning of this month, and then took it back just a few days ago. We are half way thru that time and have no place else to go yet! Actually, I re-noticed them, for another 60 days, in hopes that we will have found a place by the end of this month. That's about how much time we have before the craziness of this summer starts. Currently we are taking a two week break from real estate looking. Scratch that. I still wake up every morning and check the internet/email to see what the new listings are. But we have not gone out looking at houses, because frankly we're a bit frustrated with what we've seen so far and there's not much else out there that looks worth dragging Noah around in and out of the car for 3+ hours. We're still hopeful that any day now the perfect house/scenario will drop in our inbox!

Until yesterday, we still had a few houses in the back of our mind we were watching, but on the SAME DAY all 3 of them got offers placed/accepted. (from the weekend, I'm sure). It was a "bad day" as far as houses go. We had pretty much decided to make an offer on one of them. But we are having to wait right now for the church to rewrite their 0% loan offer to follow the new loan laws, and considering our options of going on ahead on our own, without that extra money. And apparently we waited too long. The house we were most interested in was a 4 bedroom foreclosure, about 17 miles from the church in a great neighborhood with great schools. It had been on the market previously, and not moved at all, so our realtor didn't feel too rushed. It's safe to say we feel our first disappointment about a house. I'd love it if this was the last, disappointment, that is, but I know it may not be. There is quite a bit out there on the market right now, but with such a wide range of locations to choose from, and with so many determining factors....it never lines up. If we like the house well enough, it's not in a strong school (economic)neighborhood. Or we love everything about the house, but it has 3 huge trees in the backyard with no extra space for kids stuff. Or we love the yard and community but the master bedroom is tiny. Nothing ever seems to have it all! Oh, that's not quite right, there are plenty of houses out there we love, house, yard, community, school, etc....they are just out of our price range. Of course!

So. We're feeling like we're back at square one. And the clock seems to keep ticking away.

Other things in our lives?

• I'm still working PT at the tutoring place, still haven't started subbing. I got about 17 hours last week which made up for the week before, when I got only about 3 hours (spring break for the kids.) I work about 3 nights a week and Sat. mornings.
• The Beth Moore Bible Study I was attending on Tues. nights WITH BETH MOORE herself is on hiatus for the summer...bummer...but a ladies Bible Study from church has finally begun again, and we're doing the BM Esther series that just came out this year, so that's good. It's on Wed. mornings, and there's childcare arranged, so THAT'S really nice.
• Matt and I just decided to join a co-ed volleyball league at a local fitness center with 2 guys from our church. We start this Thurs. night, and it runs for like 9 or 10 weeks. We are excited about it, but hoping it's not too much of a committment! And we hope Matt's shoulder can take it. He doesn't know how to play half-effort. He's also playing in the church softball league on Friday nights. And comes home in pain every night.
• We have a few things coming up this month with youth: Pie Auction, service project, 30-hour famine. May looks slow (who knows) and then starting June we are busy. 8 day backpacking trip to CO mid of June, Gen Assembly in Orlando end of June/July, 12 day mission trip to OH in July, and Camp the first week of August. We'll take a few personal days after Gen Assembly in FL to see Vero Beach friends, and then possibly squeeze some vacation time in there somewhere. Matt also has in mind to go see his friends in Alabama who are having their first child this May...something about their annual golf tournie...don't know when that's supposed to be...all I know is it will involve 3 plane tickets...ouch...
• We are really enjoying the people in our Life Group. We have been sharing our Spiritual/Life Stories the last few weeks, and it's been great to share with each other.

P.S. Tease Matt when you talk to him about not having his Driver's License for TX yet...I can't nag him anymore, but I sure don't want him to get a ticket for it...we already got a mysterious red-light running ticket in the mail and a cracked windshield this week. TWO car issues are ENOUGH!

March Post on Noah

Both pics from Zoo day

Creative Title, I know. That's how I'm feeling this morning. . . Just get things done!

Where have my Sundays gone? (My regular weekly blog time)

It has been nearly a month since I blogged last. 4 weeks exactly! I don't know if that's a record for me lately, but I think it is. I have meant to get on several times in the last few weeks, but not sure quite what to say or where to start. So be prepared, I have a plan in mind, but this might get random.

First, we'll start with the best things. So that those of you faint at heart can quit half way thru.

My last blog entry was the 3rd, Noah's birthday. We are already nearly a month into his 3rd year of life! If I had to give this time period a title, it would sound boring, but appropriately be called Language Development--and not boring at all! It has been soooo fun to hear and see the progress he is making in language in the last several months. When we left FL, it was still mostly names, and 50 or so simple words-mostly nouns. We were feeling like he was quite behind other kids his age, boys as well as the obvious girls. It was mostly Mama, Dadda, Do(g), Up, baw(bottle, or ball) and some occasional animal noises. By the mid of Jan. I started to lose track of all the words I heard him attempt to say, but some favorites were "Agaaaain!", "Ewwwww", "kite", and all the food he likes to ask for, like "cake", "cook-cook", "can(dy)" "pop(tart, popcicle, or popcorn)". The last two months, he has really grasped the repeating thing, and can repeat any 1 syllable word he hears. And he makes a good attempt on the 2 syllable ones. Now there is no point in counting anymore. We are hearing him put together 3 or 4 words back to back, only lacking the linking verbs and prepositional phrases to make them whole sentences. Like he'll say, "Dadda, Pey-ton (very clear sounding now), outside!!! (I ask why?) "Peyton, poopoo!" (Oh really?) "Poopoo, Baaaad..Dadda, bag" which means Dadda has to put the poopoo in a doggie bag. AND he says "Mama, wat(ch), No-uh, dunk! (which sounds great, but actually means Jump instead of dunk!).

Some of my favorite things he's been doing lately:

1) Of course, a huge favorite is hearing him say his own name. This has been so hard for him to learn! But now he's got it, and EVERYTHING is "No-uh (do by himself)."

2) Matt taught him that red light means STOP! and Green Light means GO! So now as we drive around town, Noah tells me from the back seat, "Mama, RED! STOP!" Or "Greeeee, go, go, Mamaaaa!" I'm sure Matt would say it's just paybacks, one backseat driver to another...Also, as we were driving around looking at houses a week or two ago, our realtor jokingly told Matt (quietly) that you can tell the kids that you can *blow out* the lights to make them change colors, which Noah of course heard perfectly, so now, (thank you, Michael) every time we come up to a light, Noah says, "Mama, Light! BLOW! NOOOO, No-uh, No-uh", which means HE wants to do it by himself, with no help (fine by me) and then when he blows too early and it doesn't work, he'll say, "Mama, blow!" so I'll *try*, and it won't work either, so I'll say, "Noah, help Mama, together," and we'll count, "one, two, two" (he doesn't really know three yet but he knows there's 3 numbers) and then this time, of course it works, because we've been sitting there so long, and so we BLOOOOOWWWW and the light miraculously changes, and NOAH's FACE LIGHTS UP like we were at the rodeo fair again, and he gets so excited and gives me a high five. And then we drive down 2 blocks, get stuck at the next light, and do it all over again...."No, NOOO-uh, No-uh" (do by himself)...

3) Last night he dumped all his coins from his broken piggie bank in between the cushions of the couch, pulled the cushions off (maybe first time he's discovered they come off) and jumped up and down on the base of the couch, like a trampoline with the coins bouncing all over....for like 15 min.

4) He gets a REALLY good "Sorry" look going and says "Sawr, Sawr" and rubs his hand over his chest (sign language for Sorry) when he gets in trouble or plays too rough and hurts you. He keeps it up until you tell him it's okay.

5) Then he gives you a "BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG Hug" "Biiiiiiiiiig hug, mama", "Biiiiiiiiiig Hug, Dadda!"

Who doesn't need a BIIIIIG Hug from such a cutie!

6)And last, some days, when I'm really lucky and Noah is in a good mood in the morning, after we get him ready for school in the morning, he carries his little lunch box and a toy to the door and says "Rea(dy), Byeeeeeee" to Mama, like this morning. What a good start to the day.

Things we've done this month:

The Houston Zoo, with Aunt Carrie visiting and Chuck E. Cheese's for Noah's birthday party

The Children's Museum, again when Aunt Carrie was visiting for her Spring Break. Noah loooved the Motion Commotion room, with all the golf balls and ramps and stuff.

The Houston Rodeo: Noah, Mommy and Daddy. We watched the real Rodeo and then Noah got to go on a few rides...like this one! "AGAIN, AGAIN!" he said.

Pump It Up-- an inflatable park for Preschool/Mother's Morning.

Here's just a few of the pics. You can see many more on my facebook account of flickr account.
And I'll come back for the rest of the Hawkins family news. That's quite enough for one blog post.

TWO

How is it that time flies by so much faster the older we get?

It was a big day in the Hawkins -of- Houston household.
Noah's 2nd birthday is today.
Seriously?
That's what I was doing TWO YEARS AGO toDAY?
It's crazy.
Here's just a few pics from today and a couple from weeks past.

At "Don's" for dinner and dessert..

Little Man & his chair-with-red-pillow pose...if you've been following me for the last 2 years, we took pics of him in this same chair with this same pillow EACH and EVERY month for the first year. We're now at TWO YEARS. (He wasn't quite sure about this photo shoot, because this has become his "time out" chair)

Mom and Noah at IKEA tonight. We were looking for Noah's next new bed...

Noah playing trains with his train conductors outfit on from Grandma and Grandpa Hays.

Noah let me squeeze his little head in his out-ground Cubs hat one more time for a picture. I had no idea I would love it so much!

No comment.

"Big, big, big" Tower!

Oh, just a 5 or so feet drop that Noah propelled himself off of some 30 something times at a birthday party this weekend. He's FEARLESS. Skydiving, here we come!

Noah helping me make CAKE!!!!!

I'll try to get on tomorrow (or soon) and write a little something of rememberence for this monumental milestone...but for now, it's nearing midnight and I was up at 6am for a sub training day. So enjoy the pics!