Busy Weekend

Busy, busy, busy but a great weekend! Mark Thomas was supposed to have his first camp out with his new Troop but some crazy northeast Texas weather swept through so it got canceled. But there's no disappointment in this house, not with Mark for a Dad. So he and MT camped out on the back porch. Lit a fire in the gas fireplace and plugged in the radio to listen to the Rangers win the AL Championship! Then the next day it was Raingutter Regatta time! Mark and the boys had mastered the design of Pinewood Derby cars so the boats were new to us but MT got 4th place. He was already mapping out his design for next year on his way home.

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Then we went to Carson's soccer game. She plays for FC Dallas, a premier club here in the metroplex and she's so fun to watch! Her skills are fabulous and every year she just gets better and better. I had wanted to get some good pics of her but again the weather blew through and the game was called off before of a tornado in the area.

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Then we did a little laundry....Whiskers likes to lounge in the craziest of places but the blankets were warm so I she decided to just get comfy.

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And then on Sunday Max had an opportunity of a lifetime to perform with the choir at Grace at the Youth Choir Festival. It was held at St. Andrews United Methodist church and there were 600 teenagers who sang their praises to the Lord. One of the many blessings we have experienced in this move has been the youth choir. Every Sunday during the early service we have a 90 member youth choir who sings. They practice once a week and then in the summer travel on choir tour. This summer they're heading out west and will stop along the way to see the Grand Canyon as well as other attractions. Max has really enjoyed it. I had to buy him some new black slacks and a white dress shirt since he just keeps growing and growing but he looked so handsome! Of course I'm biased but he's something else. Quite the charmer.

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The director, Dr. Anton Armstrong, from St. Olaf College did an amazing job presenting a concert of 6 songs. The kids were there from 1:30-5:15 and you would have thought they'd been practicing for months. Of course our choir director had done a great job preparing our kids too! But listening to them all sing was so heavenly, like listening to a chorus of angels.

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And last but not least, the moon. It was simply stunning. I could get very close with my telephoto lens but it still did not do it justice.

Family and Picture Update

This post is almost a month late. What can I say it's baseball season and there are photos depicting our evenings related to that subject down at the bottom. BUT, Ella turned 8 this month. She always starts off the birthday celebration train and it makes my life a tad difficult until March when they're all 4 back to evens. I prefer all evens or all odds when telling people their ages because it's just easier on my brain. But for now the kids are 8, 9, 11 and 13. Ella is so lucky to have some good little gal pals already for just having moved here. And of course she's got her fabulous cousins. So two of Ella's friends from school came over and then our neighbors next door have two precious daughters and they came over too a little later. Ella had a great birthday celebration!

Payton, Ella, Reese, Molly and Paige

What we commonly refer to as TRIPLE TROUBLE!


Mark Thomas had free time in art the
day of the party so he created this
one-of-a-kind hat and proudly let
Ella wear it at the party!


Ella's crazy face!



Bear was spade last week. She did fine
but the anesthesia was hilarious!
She just stood still staring at the floor
and would not move at all. Took almost
an entire day for it to all wear off.
Ben was an excellent care giver!



This is how you'll find Mark Thomas most
days after he's come home from school.
Bless his heart he just passes out
when he gets home!



I went to Molly's football game last weekend.
What an experience that was! Those
football parents were crazy! And I don't
say that lightly. We are a major sports
family and I have been to games all
over the place but these parents were out
of control. I really had to restrain myself
to not stand up and say something. I asked
Molly after the game, "do you hear those
parents yelling while you're cheering?" and
she said, "yes, but they're yelling at the
football players not the cheerleaders."
Too cute, but really parents, what kind
of an example are we setting when we
go to our kids' sports events. Everyone
is watching. All the time!



And this would be our weekly run down. Baseball
games usually 4 out of 5 nights a week and
sometimes all three will play on the same
night! So this evening, we grabbed dinner
at our favorite, Sonic, headed to the ball
park AND did homework in the bleachers!
Thank goodness our kids are A-B students
because our lives could be much more
difficult if it took us so much longer
to complete assignments.



My future MAJOR LEAGUE STARS!!!
We are loving cheering on the Rangers and
are excited for Game 6 tonight!



I gave all three of the boys hair cuts last week.
And I must say I was rather impressed with
myself. I paid $60 for someone to cut all
three last month and just thought
I can do that. Since they've out grown
the buzz cuts it's become more complicated
but I watched and learned. And
all three clients of mine were very pleased.



And Max only has one more game this season.
It's been a rough season for him. He's had two
major injuries. One documented in a previous
post and the most recent one too graphic
to publish photos. It required staples
near his ankle and thankfully it's healing,
not that well but it is healing. He has
really excelled this season under "Coach Charlie"
and is already ready for Spring ball. I am
hoping for an injury free season in the Spring.



He's quite the base stealer now.

Ok, so now we're pretty much caught up. And it's almost November. Where does the time go? We are still patiently waiting for our house to sell in Beaumont. We lowered the price this week and are hopeful that it will generate some activity. The new elementary school is almost complete and that should be a huge draw we hope. For now we're thankful that my parents are being so gracious to allow us to stay with them. People always say "oh my goodness that must be so rough" but really it's not. When you have parents as wonderful as both Mark and I do it's something that we do not take for granted.

We have narrowed down the development we want to live in and have decided to build. The plans have been defined and the kids have chosen their prospective bedrooms. So we're excited to move in that direction once the house sells. It's been fun for all of us to dream and start to plan for the future. God's timing is always perfect and we're very aware of his provision. So we wait patiently, trusting in his call to bring us to Plano and we look forward to the plans he has set before us.