Omaha, Nebraska

When I told some of my friends that Drummer Boy and I were going to Omaha, Nebraska for a mini-vacation, I got some confused looks.

Them: What's in Omaha?

Me: The College World Series!!

Them: Are there other things to do there besides baseball?

Me: Does it matter?

Drummer Boy and I ate, drank, and slept baseball for 3 days and we loved it! We watched 4 baseball games, experienced a crazy storm with 75 mph winds, chatted with the locals, ate some yummy-to-my-tummy meals, sat through a 2 1/2 hour rain delay before they finally called the game, and cheered like crazy for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Unfortunately, Vandy lost the game that we attended, but they aren't out of it yet. They beat UNC twice and now they face Florida tomorrow night. We are back in Houston now, but we've got our gold pom-poms ready to cheer from home!

Me and Sonny Gray, starting pitcher for the Commodores

Yummy Breakfast at Amato's

TD Ameritrade Park (I love the designs in the grass)

Participating Teams in the CWS

The crazy storm with 75 mph winds

Matthew 6:20-21

"Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where theives do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also."

This summer, I have planned several craft projects (because my girls and I love crafts) to help us hide the word of God in our hearts. Each craft project will help us illustrate or discuss or understand a bible verse, and I hope that in the end the girls and I will have a tangible item and a great memory that will help us to memorize God's word and put it into practice.

So, for our first project I picked Matthew 6:20-21. The girls are already familiar with this verse because it is put to music on one of our Seeds CD's and it is one of the girl's favorite songs on that CD. I bought a couple of inexpensive wooden boxes at Hobby Lobby and the girls painted them. Princess painted a heart on hers and Pumpkin put happy faces all over hers. It was so cute!

Before I let them start painting, I read Matthew 6:20-21 and we talked about what it means to store up treasures in heaven and why it's better than storing up treasures on earth. The girls were both so excited to do this craft, it made me feel like a good mom for once!

Anyway, after the paint dried, I painted the words of Matthew 6:21 on the top of each one.

Then, the next day we read Mark 10:21, "Go sell everything you have and give to to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" and 1 Timothy 6:18-19, "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." We talked about what the bible says about how you store up treasures in heaven. Then I had each of the girls write down at least three ways to store up treasures in heaven and put those in their treasure boxes. Pumpkin wrote about giving a meal to someone, sharing her toys and helping out someone with a broken car (we stopped to help a lady whose car wouldn't start on the way home from Mimi's today). Princess also wrote about sharing and helping out someone in need.

I think it was a great craft. The girls enjoyed it and I think they understand a little bit more what it means to store treasures in heaven. And they each have a cute little treasure box to keep in their rooms. And, last but not least, they loved it so much, they can't wait for the next craft! I heard several times during this project, "you are the best mommy ever!" A smile on my face.

Cover Girl

Princess recently starting taking art classes at a nearby art studio. Not suprising...she LOVES it! And, she's really good! I am quite impressed by the creations she brings home. Here are a few of her creations:

After a couple of classes, the instructor asked me if I would be okay with Princess being featured in a magazine. The magazine is a local one that services our neighborhood and two others. The art teacher took a picture of Princess and sent it into the magazine staff. A few days later, I got a call from the magazine. They had received her picture and thought she had so much personality, they wanted to put her on the cover!

It was so much fun! We went to the art studio and they did a photo shoot and then asked us a bunch of questions. They did a great little article about Princess and her love of art.

Six years old and already a published artist. What's next?

Lemonade for 25 Cents!

One lazy afternoon during Spring Break, Princess had the great idea to have a lemonade stand with her cousins. Luckily, I had a can of frozen lemonade in the freezer. We set up a little table at the end of our culdesac, Princess made a sign, and I made some lemonade. A few minutes later, we had our first customer. We went through a little slow spell and the girls started yelling at everyone who drove by or walked down the street, "Lemonade for 25 cents!!" They were very persistent and recruited a couple more customers. We sold our whole pitcher of lemonade and the girls made $4.75. It was a fun, spontaneous, profitable venture.

Wines, War and a Long Weekend

A couple of weekends ago, my mom and sister and I took a few days and went to Fredericksburg, a cute little town in Texas wine country for a girls' weekend. We had a really great time visiting wineries, poking around the shops on Main Street, relaxing, and enjoying each other's company.

We found a great little olive oil and balsamic vinegar shop where we tasted some pure goodness. I bought a balsamic vinegar that was good enough to drink! (small amounts of course)

The bed and breakfast we stayed at had several sheep who had just given birth about a week earlier. The little black lambs were so cute!!

Our last morning in Fredericksburg we tried to tackle the National Museum of the Pacific War (a 3-7 hour museum according to the guide) in about 90 minutes. Needless to say, we were unable to see much of the museum, but we decided we'll just have to make sure we give ourselves plenty of time when we come back next year. I sure hope we can make that happen.

Have You Ever Seen a Cuter Face?

Heidi had her first grooming appointment the other day. When I picked her up, she had bows in her hair! I thought I would not ever want bows in her hair because I don't want a prissy dog, but she looked so cute, I just couldn't take them out. I hope Drummer Boy is not too embarrassed to walk such a fabulous dog down the street!

My Last Day Until...

Today is my last day of work. My last day at Cy-Fair Medical Center and my last day to be a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. Maybe forever. Maybe not. I'm not sure about that. What I am sure about is that my most important job is being a mother, and I need to put as much time and energy into that job as I can.

This all came about after the Mom Heart conference I attended in February. While reflecting on the things I heard and learned and the things I felt that God showed me at the conference, I realized that my current job really didn't fit into my vision for my family, for several reasons. My job is very stressful and besides being physically away from my family on the days and nights that I work, I am also usually emotionally and mentally checked out the next day because I am exhausted. I realized that my family is being sacrificed for this job, and I don't even enjoy the job! That doesn't make sense. Why am I doing that to my family?

I took the job 1 1/2 years ago because I wanted to keep my skills sharp and my knowledge current so that when the girls were older, I could go back to work easily. Again, I realized that just doesn't make sense. I'm working part-time now and not enjoying it so that later I can work full-time and really, really not enjoy it? What was I thinking? I realized that I was holding onto this job because I wasn't trusting God with my future. I wasn't trusting that if I went away from the field for 2 or 4 or 8 years, that God would still be able to provide the right job for me. I hate when I realize that I'm not trusting God with my future because I feel so stupid. Who else can I trust with my future? Myself? Not hardly!!

So, after much prayer and a few discussions, I turned in my resignation. And once I did that, I couldn't wait to be done. I am positive that this is what God wants for me and my family right now. And that feels really good. I am a little sad to be leaving the nurses here because they are good nurses and really great people. I'm also a little nervous because the future is uncertain. I don't know if I'll ever do this kind of work again, and I know I will miss it. But I am trusting that God has a plan for me and whether it includes working as a nurse or nurse practitioner, or teaching, or running a bed and breakfast, or just being a mom, it is the best plan for my life. I choose to have faith in that. I'm so happy and I'm really looking forward to having a little more freedom and a little less stress in my life for a while. Yippee!