Introducing.......THE HIP HOP GIRLS

You many not know it, but Allison and Abby are now the HIP HOP GIRLS. You may be wondering how you become a HIP HOP GIRL, well you must wear a jean jacket buttoned up and you also must wear blue lipstick. There were some other rules also but I am not sure what they were.

It was too funny, the girls came home from school and got the makeup out and started putting on blue lipstick. Allison then put her jean jacket on to match Abby and before I knew it the HIP HOP GIRLS were formed. Now do they even know what HIP HOP is, I sure hope not!! Though when I was taking pictures of them I told them to act like the HIP HOPS GIRLS and Allison stuck her hand on her hip and cocked her head. Too funny!

My First Hat

The other day Tyler just started wearing hats around the house. I was so proud - except for the fact that the only hat he could find was a pink one with hearts on it.

Needless to say I ran out that week and found him a REAL hat!

Doesn't he look cute?

The Dialogue

Morgan: [with fear in her eyes...]

Tyler: What are you looking at?

Carter: Exactly, we didn't do anything...

Tyler: I'm holding her the right way so stop looking at me!

Carter: This is the same way they look at me when I hold her...

Morgan: What a beautiful ceiling you have - is there any way I can be propped up a bit? These guys don't have a clue what they are doing...

Carter: That's my sister for ya...

Tyler: I'm going to marry her someday.

Weekend Warrior

[Photo by: Becky Callender]

There was a time when I would tell people, "Hockey is life." My father taught me to play, we watched it growing up, we went to NHL games (back when ticket prices were realistic), I "worshiped" Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers, I collected hockey cards, I memorized the 21 NHL teams and the divisional structure of the NHL and I attempted to play every variety of hockey there was growing up (except for field hockey - never did understand that sport...).

I never played organized Ice Hockey - probably due to the fact that we grew up in a small Wyoming town of 5700 people, but I was able to play in floor hockey and roller hockey leagues over the years.

But Ice Hockey is the ultimate - every other form must admit that it was first played on ice. So there is just something special about putting the pads on and getting back out there.

Last week (after being off the ice for years) I was asked to play in an annual alumni match for the University I attended. I won't tell you the score - because I do have some pride - but will admit it wasn't pretty.

But I had a lot of fun - and I didn't break anything!

Did I forget to tell you, "Hockey is life?"

Morgan Grace Is Here!!!!!!!

Todd and Jami had their little girl this morning at 8:01. I got the chance to go up to the hospital tonight and hold her. She is SO cute! She is one of those newborns who came out looking like a little girl. She is absolutely perfect! Pictures to come later!

I cannot wait to see what the rest of the kids think of her. It is official there are now as many kids in our house on a Saturday night as adults, now that is scary.

Congratulations Todd and Jami! We love you guys!

Nashville and more...

About 2 weeks ago, I had the privilege of going to Nashville with Lifeline as a leader. I was very excited about this opportunity for a couple of reasons. First off, I love to hang out with high school students on trips like this. When you spend 24/7 with them for a few days you really get a chance to know some of them and have meaningful conversations. The other reasons I was excited to go was to see Nashville, I had never been there before, and to hang out with the adult leaders as well.
The reason for the trip to Nashville was to attend the Clarity conference. I have to admit I was a little surprised when we got to the conference. I am used to attending Acquire the Fire as a leader so I just assumed it would be like that, but instead of it being held in a college stadium it was held in a church. It was kind of nice to have a much smaller crowd and for it to be a more intimate setting, but at the same time there is something to be said for worshipping with a few thousand students. There is really nothing like it.
I would have to say that my favorite part of the weekend was hanging out with my 2 high school girls. We had a great time together, one of them I knew and the other one I had never met before. We had some quality time together where we got to really talk. We also had some time where we got to shop, the mall we went to was amazing. It was cool to just hang out the 3 of us while we did one of the things girls love! It was an amazing weekend, and I am so thankful I had the opportunity to get to know these girls.
After we got back, I got am amazing gift. Johnny, who basically ran point on the entire trip, sent each leader a thank you card and a CD where each student had taken the time to thank the leaders for going on the trip with them. I cannot begin to explain to you how good it felt to hear the kids say thank you! Johnny you hit the ball out of the park, thank you!

Oh, for those of you who are wondering whether I did what God was asking me to do, from my last post, I can tell you YES I did. Now we will see where it goes from here...

There has been something I have been needing to do for awhile now and have just not done it. About a year ago God started prompting me to do this thing. I was a afraid to do it and kept putting it off and putting it off. I still kept feeling that prompting from God, but I didn't do anything about it. Sure enough as time went on the prompting went away and I totally forgot about it.
Well that all changed last weekend on my trip to Nashville with Lifeline (more on that later) the prompting came back louder then ever and with it came a sense of knowing that there is alot riding on whether I will obey or not.
So, here it goes, I am off to obey.

Tough Girl

The girls have been taking ice skating lessons for the past week or so and they love it.

But...

It is their first real attempt on the slippery stuff and so they take their spills in the learning process. Allison took a fall last week and unfortunately the typical, "I'll put my hands down to catch myself" thing didn't work. The hands shot out to the side and the face hit the ice.

The fist black eye to be sure. And while it just hurts to look at it (you feel badly for them) there's also that small part of me that thinks it looks pretty cool. My daughter the hockey player!

You look great Ally...

Ice skating anyone?

I said in my previous post that while on vacation we took the kids ice skating. This is something we try and do once a year. Daryl pretty much lived on ice skates as a kid and it is pretty cool to watch how well his entire family ice skates. I am hoping someday our kids will be able to keep up with their dad.

Allison and Rachel did great, by the end of our time Rachel was out there on her own. Allison was a little more dependent on the walker type thing they could hold on to, though she was trying to jump with it by the end. The girls had a great time and we pretty much had to bribe them to leave the ice.

This was Tyler's first time on th ice and be honest I was not sure how he would do. We decided to just let him out on the ice with his boots on and he had a great time. He was all smiles and followed his sister's around wherever they went. I think his favorite part was slamming his walker thing into his sister's. We decided to try skates on him to see what he would do. He was a little freaked out at first, but with his daddy by his side he did okay. Watch out NHL!!!!!

Allison and Tyler on the ice.

Rachel out on her own!

Tyler trying out the real thing.

Thanks for the great time Lori, Brian and kids. We had a ton of fun!

Vacation

So this is a little late coming, but hey what is a girl to do. Last week was absolutely AWESOME! Why, you may ask? Because we were on VACATION! It is the first time in a long time that we have had an entire week together as a family. No school, no work, no agenda, just fun! We did a lot of staying up late (yeah we totally screwed our kids up with this one), sleeping in, hanging out with friends and family and just doing nothing.
Some of the highlights of our week were spending Christmas Day with family, seeing Charlotte's Web with the girls, having dinner with friends, taking the kids ice skating, painting the office, having dinner with friends again, seeing "Holiday" with my girl friends, and ringing in the New Year with friends. My favorite part of vacation was getting to spend time with friends and just being together as a family. The month of December was crazy for us, so it was nice to just "be" for a week with no real agenda.
I have to admit it was really hard going back to work this week. I did not want to be there. I found myself thinking about Daryl and the kids all day on Tuesday and wishing that our vacation had not ended. I guess I will just have to start a count down till our next vacation.
As much as I love going away for vacation, I have to say there is something to say for just staying home and doing whatever you want whenever you want. I think I just need to be on the same vacation schedule as my kids, which would mean a vacation day at least once a month. I think I need to propose that to my employer :)