Some Very Special Ladies

I've been extremely blessed to have grown up around some pretty special ladies. Each had their own little niche in my life and in their own way they impacted my life. Of coarse my Momma is the one that I hold dear and near along with my Grandma and Grandmother...but when I look outside the realm of my kin folk, I have to admit - I'm pretty stinkin' lucky. I'll always have very fond memories of my Mom #2 and her great big smile and hugs she always gave me - I cried for weeks when she passed away so unexpectedly. I also have a Mom #3 who always seems to appear just in the nick of time to bail me out of whatever "catastrophe" I may be having - sewing, cooking, or just talks! Then there is the blessing of a wonderful mother in law, who is an amazing example of faith and love. I have loads of aunts, ladies from my church growing up and even a very special friend that I met when I was 7 at church camp, she still sends me a birthday card every year. Heck, I even have old boyfriends moms and grandmas who are still really good friends and a great comfort when I need a prayer or some advice. Yes, to say I am blessed with the wonderful influences in my life would be an understatement.

But I've got a three more ladies that I just have to brag on, because they are an absolute, undeniable blessing, not only to myself but to my family as well. About four years ago when Keith and I moved to Tyler, we begin the hunt for a church family. I have to admit, I am a country girl and small churches are really where I feel at home. I treasure all those close relationships with people from all age groups and in a larger church, that seemed very hard to accomplish. But Keith was not comfortable in small churches, and thus our journey began. We found Shiloh Road church of Christ. The church was a fit for the most part, but after having gone for the first two years, I couldn't honestly say I felt at home. Then we had our Carli and we met Ms. Patty. Ms. Patty is in charge of the nursery at Shiloh and never for a moment did I doubt that Ms. Patty loved our baby and loved us.

We slowly got to know Ms. Patty over the year or so of Sunday mornings/nights and Wednesday nights. We shared stories of our families. We prayed for our families - heck, we even shed a few tears. Ms. Patty is an amazing lady and a true inspiration. But you know, there are times when you have your life and then you have your "church" life. It shouldn't be that way, but lots of times the friends you have a church sometimes don't get introduced to the "real" life world of the weekdays. But Ms. Patty wasn't like that. When we were blessed with Ava, Ms. Patty and her family were going through some tough times health wise, but wouldn't you know that this wonderful lady and her daughters drove 45 minutes to our house to watch my children so I could get some rest?! The day the Mascorro women showed up at my doorstep was the day I realized what a true gift from God they were to us. They put aside their needs, wants and worries and took care of my family - and quite honestly that was hard to swallow. Ms. Patty showed me that day what selflessness is - and I've been working ever since to pay it forward.

So, with that all said, Kayla (Ms. Patty's daughter) graduated last week from High School and we had the privilege of being invited out to her graduation party on Saturday. The girls and I spent most of the morning running around town putting together Kayla's gift...it was original to say the least...We got her a few dollars to put in some gas in her truck for commuting to her classes, a gift card to the ever important Sonic for some caffeine to stay awake studying and then an iTunes gift card for some music to relax, procrastinate or study with! :) The girls had a blast putting the money in the gas can - we were going to leave it all nice and rolled but who could resist the grins and giggles they had putting each little penny, nickle and dime in? :)

Carli just had to help Kayla open her gift...

It took Carli awhile, but she finally warmed up to all the people. She had a great time playing and kept a close watch on her little sister too.


Thanks Kayla for inviting us to your party. Congratulations on your graduation! We are very blessed to know you! And thank you Ms. Patty for raising two amazing young ladies and sharing them with our family. We love you all very much!

Happy Memorial Day!

We are most definitely indebted to our service men and women this memorial day! We have several family and friends who have served in the past and present and we want to say THANKS from the bottom of our hearts!

Carli LOVES all the American flags that are flying around this weekend! We get in the car and she makes a game out of spotting them...only she calls them "Ranger Day Flags." Her Daddy is so very proud!

And when given the chance...she hugs everyone she sees! :)

Logan's Party

Last weekend we all loaded up and headed down to Waco to celebrate Logan's 4th birthday! He had is party at one of those inflatable jumping places. We actually have one here in Tyler but have never been. We just assumed Carli was too small, but boy did she prove us wrong! From the moment we walked into the place, she never stopped bouncing, sliding and climbing! She completely wore herself out! Ava tried hard to keep up!


My camera couldn't focus fast enough on the quick moving little ones, so we had to settle for some video footage instead!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Carli kept a close eye on Logan while he opened all his presents...

After the official part was over, we all headed back to Logan's house for some burgers and homemade ice cream. Carli and Logan never slowed down! They wore me out just watching them! Since we got to stay the night at Logan's house, Carli did eventually decide it was okay to go to sleep. She did wake up at midnight and wanted to go find Logan and play. I didn't stay up with her but when I woke up at 2:45 am, she was quietly playing games on my phone. To say she was a little excited to get to play with her cousin Logan is an understatement. The next morning they got to go to Sunday class together.

We tried to sneak in a picture of the two before it was time to head home...

Stinkers!

We all had an awesome weekend with Logan, Uncle Andy and Aunt Chelle!

Ava's New Shades!

Since both my children have light blue eyes, our pedi has told me they are more sensitive to the sun then their green eyed mother. I splurged and got Carli some nice sun glasses awhile back, but just now got Ava some to wear this summer...

So far, she thinks it's a fun game for us to put them and see how fast she can pull them off!

From Baby to Big Girl...

A week or so ago, I had an unexpected full day alone with the girls. Our planned play date fell through and we were stuck at home alone all day. I was a little bummed at first but then decided we might as well see about this potty training issue that I kept putting off. So at 9:30 Friday morning, Carli threw away her last diaper and put on her big girl undies. By the end of the day we had gone through at least 15 pairs with as many accidents and had a couple of successes, but we were in good spirits. I really hadn't expected much so I wasn't disappointed either. Sunday morning Carli woke up and announced she needed to tee tee in the potty! And that day she proceeded to go to the potty twice at church and did an amazing job at home. She even told her Daddy when she needed to toot! We were very surprised and pleased! We've had our up and down moments but I can't help but be proud of her progress!

That same Friday night, we put the girls to bed as usual. Keith was working on his computer and I was cleaning the kitchen. I looked up from washing a pot and was startled to see Carli standing silently behind Keith (who was oblivious) with this mischievous little grin on her face! And so it was that Carli decided she no longer needed to sleep in a baby bed either!

We have taken the side off her crib now and her big girl bed is in storage. We need to work on getting it home soon! Her first night sleeping without the side rail of her bed was a success - she slept all night and didn't even fall out!

A Wkd with Naggy & Pappy

So way back in April, Keith and I went to a couples retreat with church and Naggy and Pappy came to spend the weekend with the girls. It was the first time I had really left Ava for more than one night, but we both survived. Naggy and Pappy did an awesome job with the girls and all were quite worn out when Keith and I returned home! :)

Yes, Carli still using the doggy door as a means of entering and leaving our house...

Pappy and Carli eating some breakfast.

A sweet picture of my big girl.

My sweet girls!

Such a cheese ball!

Ava woke up early from her nap, but apparently she didn't get her nap out!

We are very grateful for Naggy and Pappy and the time the spent with our girls! How blessed we are!

Ava's Party

We have an awesome turn out for Ava's party. Her momma is not the social bug that Ava is, so while I was a bit stressed, Ava was having a blast! :) Thanks to all who were able to come and help us celebrate. Here are a few pictures from the festivities...

Ava with Sassy

All the kiddos eating up some cupcakes and ice cream

Ava with her Grammy

We thought Ava would be our baby that dived into her cake and up until a week before her party that is pretty much how she approached any type of food! But go figure, just the week before, Ava started pinching off bites of food to eat. I guess she was watching us tear off pieces of food for her. She did eventually do a good job at demolishing her little cake -it just took a while longer than we expected.

Carli decided to come help and true to her little personality, she insisted on using a fork.

Our friend Sarah made Ava's cake for us - it was super cute! And very yummy too!

After cake, it was time for presents! Ava did a pretty good job helping to open them all!

And Ava LOVED her balloons!

An awesome picture with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan

Ava LOVES her new little push car - we've taken many, many walks with it!

And one more awesome picture with Uncle Tone, Uncle Andy and Cousin Logan.

A big thanks to our friend Ashley for taking all of the pictures for us - just one less thing for me to worry about! And she did an awesome job!

Ava's One Year Pics

I couldn't resist...

Ava's One Year Video

Uncle Tone is so good to us. He helps us do our little updates that we send out and he has done videos for Carli and Ava both. He finished Ava's one year video just in time for her birthday! He did an awesome job, I'm not biased at all about the producer or the star! :)

Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com