Catchin' Up

So this weekend has been pretty full. Our days are pretty full right now in general but mostly with fun stuff and not all the packing and planning junk so I don't mind this kind of busy.

Saturday, Tori and Jakeb had their Kenya trip training and I went to take the team pic. I'm not a photographer but at least it's captured. They are really excited about going now as if they weren't before. The trip is in July. You'll be able to follow along on the Kenya blog soon.

We are staying with my parents right now since we have no home. It's weird coming back to my mom & dad's house with your whole family after being married for 20 years. But, hey, it's better than living under the highway. :) This is my mom, Matthew (my nephew) and Anna playing Canasta and one of the things I love the most about staying here. My mom is always up for a game with her grandkids and she rarely shows them mercy. Look at her face. She's goin' in for the kill and they don't know what's about to hit 'em.

Saturday night, Tommy's brother and his wife took us all and Tommy's parents to Perry's Steakhouse. Man, what an incredible meal and a rare (no pun intended) treat for us. I'm not sure I've ever been that full! Thanks, Toby & Kim. It was a very memorable evening for us.

This place was right next door to Perry's. I thought it was funny and ironic.

So, on Sunday, we went to see some good friends and a previous pastor of ours, Bro. Robin and Diane and their son Daniel. They are now at FBC Crosby and we really enjoyed going to church with them and then eating Mexican food at Iguana Joe's in big ole' Crosby, Tx. I so regret not taking any pictures. I had my camera in my purse but I guess we were just having too much fun talking and eating.

This picture is from Ecclesia where Robbie Seay leads worship and Chris Seay is the pastor. We love that place and it has been a sacred haven for us for over 5 years now. Tommy even figured out that our very first time to visit Ecclesia was on The Day of Pentecost many years ago so we thought it was pretty ironic that we were there to say farewell on The Day of Pentecost. Ecclesia and the Seay's will forever hold a special place with us.

The Communion table at Ecclesia. (sans bread)

The Crocker's met us at Ecclesia and we went to eat dinner afterwards. We just can't get enough of some people! We love you guys!! (Oh, and Anna and I got new glasses this weekend with transition lenses. They look kinda dorky in pictures when they're tinted. Kinda hippy like. I'll have to keep that in mind.)

The Stunz and Crocker kids.

And this is what your kids do at the end of the day when they've been couped up in the back seat of a Mazda 3 for about 12 hours. Anything to pass the time and forget about how much their booties hurt.

A Perfectly Wrong Kind of Day

So, yesterday was lousy. Getting in bed last night was a welcome end to a perfectly wrong kind of day. Alot about this move seems perfectly wrong. We know we are supposed to go and we are excited about going. It's what God wants us to do. We are completely confident in that fact. But that doesn't make it any easier to pack up our life, say goodbye's, and get on that plane.

Did I mention that yesterday was lousy? I think I did. So, I wake up this morning and this email is in my inbox. I have an incredible daughter. I have three incredible kids. I'm trying to be strong for them through all of this and they come through for me. I've got it good.

Hey!

This is one of those Joy Williams songs that I told you about.

Anyway you should listen to it and THEN go have a spectacular day in Dallas and make today not "one of those days". Unless of course "one of those days" means wonderful :)

Love you!
-Tori

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynyA6qPjUpo

I love being a mom!

Tommy thanks me all the time for being the mother of his children. I always tell him that it's one of my favorite "jobs." I love being a mom!! I always wanted to be a mom. I can remember being a young child and thinking about having my own babies someday. I didn't like playing with those fake babies. I liked the real ones. So I got three of the seven I once wanted. Thankfully, God does indeed know our limitations. I LOVE my three and they are an immeasurable blessing. I could not be more proud to be their mom.

This is one of my favorite pictures with my kids. It's from a couple of Christmas' ago.

Here's one of my favorites videos of a "true" mom. Just for fun!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhkymT0Af_0


Don't spend your Mother's Day cleaning. Go sit on the couch with your kids!

Children's Museum - Houston

Anna reminded me that I never posted about our trip to the Children's Museum in Houston. The kids and I went a couple of weeks ago and I posted the pictures on my facebook and then sort of forgot about it. We did have a great time because after all, whether we're 41, 18, 16 or 10, we're still children!! The newly remodeled museum is incredible! We spent way too much time on the "educational" stuff and then we discovered the massive and incredible play area and wish we'd had more time. Seriously, though, when you go, don't go to the play area first because you'll never leave and you'll end up not even going to the educational stuff. And it's all good! Either plan more time overall or enjoy the educational stuff quickly and leave more time at the end for play. :)

We went on a Thursday and we timed it just right. Homeschooling and college hours afford us a flexible schedule so I wanted to arrive when all of the regular school field trips were leaving and before the free hours began at 5pm. (It's free after 5 on Thursday's and it's insane!) We got there around 1:30 and stayed until 4:30. It was not crowded at all because the school kids were gone and the other crazy people were all waiting until 5 to get in free. Definitely not worth fighting that crowd! It's only $7/person anyway and it was worth every penny!

Girl's Day!

This past Saturday, we surprised my sister, Gwen, for her 40th birthday. Yep, now she's finally old like the rest of us. Well, almost. Her birthday is not until May so we really did surprise her by celebrating in April.

I spent an awesome day of shopping and eating good food with my three sisters and my mom. And then we met the whole family for a murder mystery dinner theater that evening. Family time and friend time is super precious to me right now. I don't know, something about moving across the ocean for a couple of years makes you take notice of what really matters. It's kind of almost like what it must feel like if you knew you only had 2 months to live. Not really, but kind of.

Anyhoo..... Very rarely do all five of us get to be together at the same time. It was a great day and I am so grateful to have had this time with them and to have this photo of us together. This will be one I will frame and take with me. Not to the grave, just to Singapore. :)

I heart my sisters and my mom!

Easter Family Fun

We had some fun last night coloring eggs and making Easter cake balls. Some of my family came over to dye eggs and decorate cake balls. I don't think Bakerella would be to proud of us but we had fun. They really are hard to make, she even says so herself. I'm definitely taking this baking idea to Singapore with me. They are just such a cute holiday or birthday treat. Sure to be a hit! Thanks, Ashley D. and Cyndi R. for introducing us to these yummy little goodies.

What were supposed to be cute little chicks turned into slimey green monsters. I'm not sure that is Easter appropriate but, oh well.....

Wanna get away?

I did. More like I needed to get away. So I did and I'm grateful that things worked out so I could.

Before this school year started, I didn't really find it difficult to grab some "me" time here and there. Even though I worked, the kids were in public school so I could usually find a few hours here and there to just be me. Now, with homeschooling and the kids being home 24/7, cleaning alot since the kids are home 24/7, planning an overseas move, selling a house, cleaning alot since the house is for sale, and normal wife and mom routine, there is very little time for me. I very rarely get to leisurely shop, not even for groceries, read, or even think about things that aren't on my list. I know, somebody call a "waaaah"mbulance...

When we started home schooling I was a little disillusioned to think that I'd get to leave once or twice a week for a coffee break with friends but that has maybe happened two or three times. I thought I'd get to go to the gym or go for a walk alone, read a book, or focus on my health. It's not like I'm a prisoner or anything, it's just that if I want things to run smooth around here, "me" time and God time gets pushed to the back burner and it's just not easy to make those things happen. Plus, I'm just plum tuckered out by the time the necessities of the day get done. Life is just going at a furiously crazy pace these days and it's often hard to organize the priorities.

So, I got away. For a few days. To Georgia. I lived a couple of days in the life of the Bennett family and enjoyed every minute of it. We joked about me being on a decision making vacation. It was funny that things kept happening in their home that I thought would make a good blog post, only it wasn't my family :) It was nice not to have to figure out what's for dinner. I slept, I read, I sat, I watched the rain, I watched kids cartoons, I visited with my friend, shared stories and caught up. I just was. And it was nice.

I'm glad to be home. I love being with my family more than with someone else's family. (No offense, Suzanne.) When I missed my kids, kissing someone else's kids on the forehead helped. It wasn't the same, but it helped. I certainly didn't try it but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way with husbands. :)

It was good to hug my grown up girl at the airport when she picked me up. It was good to sleep in my bed. It was good to kiss my kids on the forehead and my husband on the lips. (My kids are grossing out now if they're reading this.) I love being in my home. There's nothing better than being home but sometimes it takes getting away to remind me of that.

It's okay to "wanna get away". I'd venture to say it's necessary to get away, at least it is for me. Getting away makes me want to come back.

Now, I'm going to fold laundry and make my bed and probably scrub a toilet or two. For today, I'm thankful that I'm home and it's a privilege. It'll probably wear off in a couple of weeks. :)

Thanks, Suzanne (and family)! I love you guys!!



Suzanne's 4 yr. old took this! A little crooked but not bad...

February Photo Catch Up

Here are a few pics to catch up for February. It's weird that it's March already. The beach birthday bash post is next.

Jakeb & Tommy ran with Jason Culverhouse to pace him on his 100 mile run for Segera. No pictures of Tommy and Jason were taken because Tommy ran with him at 3 am. This photographer was in bed. It was a cool thing to be a part of.


Anna and Tommy got some awesome tickets to a Rockets game. That Ming guy is a giant!! Anna was impressed to see a "real" basketball game up close. They had a good time. Thanks, Mark!!

We took Gwen & Mike to Zushi's in Houston. It was incredible!! The spicy tuna was Tommy's favorite. I think my and Gwen's favorite was the Shaggy Dog. Cool name and tasty sushi! Guess which one that is... (we had already eaten some off of the plate when I took the picture)

Tori's nose ring! She turned 18 and this is the most rebellion we got out of her. I think we're pretty lucky! :) And it's actually pretty cute.

Anna was asked to puppy sit these super cute (and super expensive) little puppies for an afternoon. We had so much fun with them! They are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Anna and I are already saving for one when we get back from Singapore. Is it a sin to spend $1000 on a dog???

Time For Change

So, a lot is changing in our world these days so why not change up our blog as well? We're retiring our previous blog banner that Jenny made us over a year ago when we transferred this blog over from Tommy's blog to our family blog. Jenny recently took our family pics so she voluntarily made us a new one. Look up. Up at the top of the blog page. It's pertty! Yes, I meant pertty. I'm putting our old one on this post so I can look at it when I want to.

Thanks, Jenny for keeping us current and making us look so good!

So much fun.... so little time.....

There's so much to do these days with birthdays, a big move across the ocean, selling a house, etc. My list is growing longer and longer every day. Very few things are getting checked off at this point. Almost seems impossible and it is definitely overwhelming.

BUT..... this weekend is going to be fun, fun, fun! Tomorrow is Anna's first double-digit birthday! She'll be 10!! It's hard to believe. We will also be celebrating Jakeb's 16th this weekend even though his birthday is not until March. We got a beach house for the weekend and are really looking forward to spending quality and quantity time with family and friends - not to mention eating a ton of good food. And it looks like the weather is going to be incredible!!

Jakeb is having some friends out on Saturday to play and eat. We ordered his favorite ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery, cookie do delirium, and will make over an hour drive to pick it up and pay way more than is reasonable for a cake but it is sooo yummy!!! It's his birthday! On his real birthday, we'll take him to Zushi in Houston. He loves sushi and we're pretty happy about that cause we do too and that restaurant is awesome!

We always fix the kids whatever they want for breakfast and dinner on the day of their birthday. Since tomorrow is Anna's birthday, I asked her what she wanted and she told me she wanted El Toro (a local Mexican food restaurant). I told her we'd be at the beach house so we won't be eating out. She matter of factly said "Oh, I thought we were catering." I think I laughed out loud. I at least snickered out loud. "Well, we won't be catering", I told her, "so what's your next option?" We're having bacon sandwiches. The kid loves meat! She eats meat for dessert. I bought plenty of turkey bacon (she loves turkey bacon) and will probably buy white bread too! It's her birthday!!

I will post some cute pics of Anna tomorrow.

Anna's tearin' it up on the court!

Here are some videos and pics from Anna's basketball games this season. This is her 4th year to play Upwards Basketball. She knows what she's doing out there and it's fun to watch her play!

Anna and big sis', Tori.

Anna & big brother, Jakeb

Anna and the team & coach - post game pep talk.



Thanks for coming, Pawpaw!!

This wasn't Anna's shot but it's fun to watch when they play as a team.