The Fire

Sunday night, the kids are in bed and I'm watching a movie. All of a sudden I hear a TON of sirens. I knew it sounded close, but didn't know how close. I was home alone and you just never know what the sirens are for, so I just kept on watching the movie (keep in mind, we have had a shooting at our apartments...this was shortly after we moved in...no problems since, that I know of). Then a couple minutes later I hear windows breaking. It wasn't on the side where the cars are parked, so I'm thinking someone is outside breaking windows of an apartment. Well someone was. But for good reason. The building next to us had an apartment on fire! I looked out the window and saw flames and smoke coming from a bedroom. As the firemen were putting out the fire, I am assuming that is what broke the windows since our windows are paper thin and the pressure from the hose could easily burst right through them. The fire was only in one bedroom, so it could have been much worse. After they had the fire out and the smoke cleared they emptied the entire contents of this childs bedroom onto the lawn where they then hosed it down even more. I am sure this is normal procedure for a 2nd floor apartment because I can only imagine how much more damage all that water would have caused. But let me tell you, it is absolutely heart breaking to see melted hula hoops, burnt barbies, a burnt mattress, a dresser burned so badly you can hardly tell it was a dresser, a pile of clothes barely looking like more than a pile of ashes. I know it's all "stuff", and "stuff" can be replaced...but wow, a fire changes your life in a matter of minutes. I have no clue what caused the fire to start....but this is certainly a good reminder of all the basic things we already know to prevent a fire! If you haven't checked your smoke alarms recently....please go check them! I checked ours before going to bed on Sunday night! I wouldn't have slept if I didn't!

Potty Training

First of all, if you haven't watched the video of Caleb teaching Erika how to poop in the potty, go here to watch it....I think it's pretty hilarious! We are doing pretty good with potty training, but no where near the finish line! Most days she stays dry the majority of the day. I know she'll do it fully when she is ready. I'm trying not to push it, but man oh man I am looking forward to her being done with diapers! As you can see from her chart, we are lacking on the #2 in the potty.


I took this picture up close so you could see that she is so much like her mom....it's scary. She likes order and organization....even on her potty chart! That is so me, it's not even funny!

If you have any sound advice for potty training....pass it my way!!!

We have a date!

May 8th!!! That is the big day! We plan to pick up the moving truck in the morning. Pack it up and drive to Oklahoma City. Spend the night there and then finish the drive on the 9th! On the 10th we'll go to church and then unload the moving truck. I'll get to spend mother's day with my husband and kids unloading the truck! Not ideal for Mother's day, but we'll be IN MN and I couldn't ask for anything more!!!!

David's tattoo

Last fall David got a tattoo of Dylan and I finally took some pictures of it! (well I took pictures right away, but it looks much better now that it's all healed!)

It was done from this picture by Portraits By Dana. I recommend her 100%. She did an unbelievable job!

There are a couple of parts on the tattoo that are different than the original picture that I don't like....but overall I LOVE the tattoo!!

Cinderella and her prince

The other day Erika wore her Cinderella dress all day and in the afternoon she asked me to turn on princess music so she could dance! It was adorable! She has never done that before. So I turned on princess music and Caleb came out and asked her to dance with him......yep, my heart melted.

Look what I made!!!!

That's right, homemade chocolate eclairs!!!! They were DELICIOUS!!!!!! Having never made anything like this before I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but man oh man. To die for! My husband said they were better than any store bought ones he's ever had! The recipe came from Rachael Ray. The only thing I will change up next time (because believe me, there will be a next time!) is the cream filling wasn't as thick as we would have liked it to be. So I'll add more corn starch next time. The recipe made this plate and about 10 more...and yes they are gone! The kids loved them too. :)

Slacker...

That is what I have been lately!!! At least in the blogging world! I do have a clean house though...so I guess that is good! David is heading for Minnesota this Sunday, so every moment I get I spend with him. I'm sure you all understand! Next week I'll have nothing but time to blog!!

Fire Ants

We had our first experience with fire ants in Texas today. We were at a friends house for a Valentines Day party this afternoon, the kids were playing in the backyard and the mom's were chatting (also in the yard) when all of a sudden Erika starts screaming and Caleb tells her to "go to mom" She comes over to me and there is ONE ant on her arm. A few hours later....two red welts on her arm. Poor baby!!! I feel so bad for her! I had to explain to them that the ants in Texas aren't as nice as the ants in Minnesota and that we can't play with them. Like many kids, mine are fascinated by ants. On the way home from our friends house Caleb says to me "I'm sad I can't talk to the ants anymore, I wish they were nicer"

Cross country move #2

Where do I even begin? First of all if you haven't read my blog about change you should, so you can get caught up on the events of 2008.

David traveled to MN this weekend for a job interview today and after that interview he decided to stop by his old work just to say hi and see if they happened to still have his Bible that he had forgotten in one of their trucks last year. Little did he know he would end up getting a job with them!!! There have been many changes within the company in the last year and it's exactly what David was looking for. We are still a bit in shock. God is amazing. He had paperwork to fill out and a drug test to do today and he will start in two weeks. So hard to believe this is happening! I'm so in awe of how awesome our God is. He knows the desires of our hearts.

Was moving to Texas a mistake? Absolutely not! I can't make that more clear. We most certainly believe that our steps are ordained by God. Our move to Texas had a purpose, in fact several. I won't go into all of the things that have happened to make it clear to us that we are here during this season for a purpose because the list could go on and on. And there are many many things that play into us wanting to move home, but again, I won't list all those things because it's a long list.

Ultimately, Minnesota is home (at least on earth!) and that is where we want to be.

This has all happened MUCH sooner than we could ever have anticipated. Because of that we do not yet have the money saved up to pay for the big move, plus we still have a lease on our apartment. David will be in MN in two weeks and then our goal is to have me and the kids moved sometime in April. I will break up the time with a visit to Michigan in March to see David's side of the family. Then I'll be home and ready to pack!

We appreciate any prayers during this time of transition!!

We've been busy.....

I haven't blogged at all this week, for a very good reason! My friend Jolene and her daughter have been here since Monday morning! It's been a great week so far! They are here until Monday night! We still have a few more days to pack lots of fun into. The weather here this week has been great! It's been a nice break from the MN winter for them.

Also be praying for David and I this coming week. I'm not quite ready to share with all my wonderful blog readers what it's about yet, but next week I will. Thanks for understanding and just praying.