Master's Master Plan

Today we signed the lease renewal on our apartment. We have had it in our possession for a little over a month now. I waited until the last moment possible to turn it in just in case something else turned up. Nothing turned up..so we signed it and sealed our fate that we will indeed be spending another year here. The way I see it I have two choices, I can be thankful for the place that I have to live or I can be discontent and complain for a year. When things don't go according to your plans...you stop and ask yourself...I wonder if there is a purpose to this?? Does God exist, and if He does, does He have a plan for my life? Am I just wandering aimlessly? If He is real and He does have a plan does He care about the little details of my life? I am not trying to be too deep thinking here...but if we are honest I think we all have these questions from time to time. If you would ask me, Does God exist?, I would assure you that He does. Just step outside and look around...The magnitude of His awesomeness is portrayed in His creation. And if you would ask me, Does God have a plan for our lives? I would say yes, of course He does. If I am saying what I truly believe then why do I worry? If God is God and He is in control why do I spend so many moments of my life fretting over things? Do I have a job lined up for the fall? No! If it is meant to be will God make it happen? YES, then I need to learn to let it go. Either I believe God is real or I don't. This where I think the rubber meets the road. It is very easy for me to have 'faith' for you but I must also have it for myself and my circumstances. If Avery came to me upset and worrying about the electric bill I would feel terrible as a parent. She doesn't need to worry about those things. I want her to trust that we, her parents, have that covered. How much more does God feel that way towards us? He wants us to rely on Him for everything...even our very next breath. On the flip side of that...I am not just going to sit on the couch and wait for a job to come to me. I am actively pursuing a teaching job....but after I have done all that I can do I will rest knowing that God is ordaining the next steps in my life. I will not worry but set my mind on the truth that God is in control.

My former pastor, Frank Friedmann, drew an illustration on an overhead of a huge chair (kind of like a large lowercase h.) Then he drew a very small stick figure sitting on that chair. That stick figure was us trying to sit on the throne of God 'chair' and control the world. We were never meant to do that. I love that simple illustration.

So maybe living in an apt another year and not having a teaching job by mid-June wasn't what I had planned for my life....but clearly it is in God's plan. So, I will choose to be content. I will choose to trust Him and be thankful for what I have...because when you stop and look around..I have more than money will ever buy...I have my health and the family I have always dreamed of. God is real...He is good...and I am thankful that He has opened my eyes to that Truth.

I have so many pictures to share...and a few ideas for new ones...so I will share a few with a promise to add the rest soon!

The first three pictures are from Avery's 2nd 5th Birthday party. We invited a few friends from church and dance class. It was really amazing to see how many people came to her party. We had a lot of fun! Avery and I made the rainbow cupcakes for her party.

The next 2 are of Avery and Andrew @ Avery Elementary School. Avery is such a good sister to Andrew. About once a day, I ask her to 'babysit' Andrew for me while I do something around the house. She is always, always excited to help me. On this particular day, she told me I was not allowed to pick up Andrew from school yet because they were having story time. I had to run and snap a few photos of that before I made a quick exit. Getting time to get things done has become more of a challenge these days.

The next one is of Avery's 2nd birthday party. Yes, I had to bribe her to stand in that tree. She inherited my fear of heights.

The 7th one is of Avery at Emler Swim School. She had just finished up her first semester of swimming lessons. She went from being afraid to put her face in water to swimming underwater 5 feet. Mrs. Lisa, her teacher, was amazing! Unfortunately, Avery is very brave these days...she knows just enough about swimming to get herself in trouble..so she is enrolled in another semester of lessons with a new teacher at Emler.

The rest of the pictures are of the visit when Kenny's parents came up for a visit. They drove in on Avery's actually birthday to take us to The Great Wolf Lodge. We had a great visit. These photos were taken at the park where we had a picnic lunch after church. I need to upload the pics from the Great Wolf lodge from my small camera.

The mute button...

I think that I have finally found a way to make the voices in my head to be quiet. My whole life as I can remember it I have always seem myself as overweight. When I look at pictures of me before kids I looked good...but didn't know it. As my awesome children have came into this world...I have focused my attention on them and put myself second..third..etc. As much as I try to hide from scales and mirrors...eventually you realize that you can't hide the fact that you are overweight..and well, fat. As I am approaching five years of being a parent next week, I realize that I as a person have developed a lot and I am beautiful on the inside..it is just my outside that doesn't match. As I sure you have heard me talk recently, 6 weeks ago, Kenny and I decided enough was enough. We want to be more healthy and be around for a long time. As of today Kenny and I have lost a total of 30 lbs. (15 each). That is three 10 lb bags of potatoes! I haven't eaten fried food in 6 weeks PEOPLE!! That is totally a record for me..since I love fresh hot fries with lots of salt. But the few minutes on the lips is totally NOT worth it. There is nothing worse than the voices in your head (and aren't we our worse critics) constantly accusing you that you are fat and then just feeling sad about that and doing nothing. There is nothing more empowering to me than hitting the pavement and just me, (no husband or kids..sometimes the dog) running until I can't breathe. The voices in my head don't have much to say anymore because I am making the changes that I needed to make. My husband keeps looking at me and saying what a difference he can see in me...and that feels really good.

As I look back on 2009, I will remember Avery's 5th birthday party as one of the best days of the year. It wasn't that the clothes I chose to wear that day showed off my newly lost weight (because that isn't the case), or that I had a good hair day (certainly not since I didn't get a shower that morning due to having to tie up some details on the slideshow and left at 7am) or because I won a million dollars that day...it was completely because of the friends and family that were there to celebrate Avery's birthday. I think moving away made me appreciate even more my roots. I felt warm and fuzzy for days after her party. Thank you too all of you that joined me in celebrating Avery on that beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was by far her best party yet.

Within the next couple of weeks we will be renewing our lease on our apartment. Kenny and I agreed today that this certainly wasn't in our 'master plan'. We live in a really nice apt with great amenities..but we would love to be in a house again. With all of the baby stuff around we sometimes feel like we have to tiptoe around to get from one room to another. But when you look at things with perspective you realize that a house really isn't everything..what is important to us is that we are living our dream together. Kenny has a passion for studying and teaching...and he is going to DTS to be trained in what he is passionate about. Sitting in his Sunday School class week after week I am more and more surprised at just how knowledgeable he is. I am constantly blown away by him. So I guess living in an apt on a budget is just the price you pay for living your dream. Being comfortable in a great house going to the same job that you aren't passionate about is just not living. I am looking forward to getting back to work soon and getting that house in June '10. (which will be here before you know it)

Here are some snapshots from our family over the last few weeks.












These are pics from Avery's Birthday party, Her AWANA graduation, and Saturday's picnic and getting exercise on the walking trails at Keller-Smithfield park.

It's May, and I have a lot to say!

Dear Loyal Blog Readers,

SO sorry that I haven't been updating this as i should. I will start with the most recent things and work my way backwards.

The Biggest Winners:
Kenny and I have changed our eating and exercising lifestyle recently. I have battled my weight my whole life, but Kenny has an amazing metabolism and has never really had to diet. I love my 2 kids but they have totally messed up my body. About 6 months after Avery was born my thyroid stopped working, so I will be on Synthroid for the rest of my life. Sometimes the dosage is off and I gain weight very, very easily because it slows down my entire metabolism. This happened again in late January and I put on 10 lbs in no time. I was also feeling very tired and sad at times. I knew my levels were off so I went in for a blood test and they showed just what I was feeling. So, my levels are finally right, whew! :) I haven't had fast food/ fried food in two weeks now. I eat 5 times a day...but healthy food..like fresh fruit and vegetables. I feel so much better. Just today, we went to the Fort Worth zoo and Avery and I were skipping around...and it felt so great to feel good. Kenny and I have also been working out 5-6 times a week and going to bed at 10pm. All good things that make a huge difference. Many of you have been encouraging me lately and I really appreciate it. We are approaching this as a lifestyle change and not a diet.

Quote from Avery today as we were entering the zoo: "The best thing about the zoo today is that mommy didn't bring her camera." I had to agree...it is a lot more fun just living in the moment and not feeling pressure to capture it.

Birthday:
Avery is having her birthday party in Baton Rouge on May 16th at her Great Grandmothers house. Her theme this year is rainbows. She is already planning out the theme for next years party..gotta love a planner. Her invitations turned out really cute. I mailed them out this morning. I am also going to have a small party for her church and dance friends from here. Cupcakes in the Park...should be fun.

Beach:
We went to Seagrove Beach, Florida a couple of weeks ago for an entire week. We flew to BR and then drove to Florida. We stayed in the same house that we have gone to since 2005. The Hebert's were kind enough to lend us their expedition for the trip. Kenny had to stay home and work. It was great for me to be spoiled for a week with having so much help with the kids. The scariest part was when we lost Avery at the beach on Easter Sunday. She was playing in the sand about 10 ft from us. I turned my back to her to put sunscreen on Andrew...took 1 pic of him...and then looked around to find her and she was gone. Turns out she had gone back into the house to go to the bathroom. She said she couldnt find us. We were all right there...but it was so loud that day at the beach...very windy. The whole thing shook me up... But after all of that we really had a nice time. Special thanks to Mom and Steve for providing such an awesome trip for us.

Graduation Picture Visit:
The Hebert's came to the Big D for a short weekend trip. I took senior pictures for Jake..it was a lot of fun. We had a great time with some really great food..Mexican, BBQ and Hibachi!

"Pastor" Kenny:
Hehe..sounds funny huh? Kenny has enrolled for Summer and Fall seminary classes at DTS. I really enjoyed the break as he took this last semester off. He has gotten a lot of teaching experience this semester at church. Sitting in one of his classes I was amazed at how talented he really is. I am very proud of him!

Mister Andrew:
He is doing well. Growing, growing, growing! He is very good and has been a great addition to our family. Sometimes I look at him and I can't believe I have a girl AND a boy.

Teaching JOB:
No leads on a teaching job for me just yet....We sent out 20 resumes...so just waiting to hear something. I have my first certification test on Monday. Wish me luck!

Sooo, here are some snapshots from the last month or so.

video time!!!

MOMMY SHOWS HER MAGIC!!


KRAMER & ANDREW BFF

got Avery?

I took this picture of Avery after we planted some new flowers on our patio. This is one of my favorite images of her to date...and that is saying something! :) Just thought I would share this with you because I know a lot of you really miss seeing her.

Sneak Preview

Here are our favorite pictures of my session with Jake. Gram, Jordan and Jake came to visit for the weekend. We had great weather, great food and lots of fun. I will post more about the weekend later...Here are the pics!!












Be sure to click on the images to make them bigger! :)

It's Spring...really it is...trust me...winter is just visiting..it's SPRING!!

Hello loyal blog readers! I am announcing that Spring is indeed here...I have new patio furniture that I adore..and we sat outside every day last week..and this week winter is visiting. Back in the day, ( I learned this while visiting a plantation home) they would greet you with a pineapple when you arrived and then place a pineapple at the foot of your bed when your welcome was over and it was time for you to hit the road.. WINTER, here is your pineapple..now leave please.

On to updates:

Let's start with my favorite subject..ME!!
I am just fingerprints away from getting my Temporary Teaching certificate for Texas. I have to take two test within the next year to get certified in Early Childhood-4th grade. I am very excited to get back in the classroom. I will be over the moon excited if it works out to be with Avery at school as well. NOT teaching her just being near her. We have to go to storage to search for my birth certificate and SS card this weekend. In Texas, a valid LA license isn't an acceptable form of identification...who knew? I thought LA was part of the USA...guess not. My first test is May 3. I am going to have to study for this one..its been a long time since college...

I went to a Mom's Night Out event this past Wednesday...we had hibachi food..it was so nice to get out without any kids..or husband (though I love them dearly) Girl time is nice... I was even scandalous and treated myself to a latte before coming home. :)

Onto Avery and Andrew:
Avery started swim school @ Emler swim school..VERY awesome place! Her teacher, Mrs. Lisa is great with her. There are 2 other girls during her class time..so just 3 kids total. Avery is now putting her face underwater for a 10 count. The entire pool is surrounded by plexi-glass windows so we (Andrew and I) get to watch Avery throughout the entire lesson. This was my biggest issue with swim lessons back home..I couldn't hand my Avery over to a stranger and just walk away...gave me panic attacks just thinking about it.

Avery has memorized over 20 scripture verses in Awana this year. She picks them up in 10 minutes flat.

Avery is constantly writing, cutting and taping things. Her creations can easily take over her room in one day's time.

So it may be a little early to think about this...but for you grandparents who are wondering what to get AG for her birthday...more swim lessons and all kinds of craft supplies would be a giant hit!

Andrew..who is 5 months old now..it doing just fine. He is blowing raspberries..all day! He tasted sweet tea today...and pulled my hair to get closer to the glass. LOVED IT! The boy loves Kramer and Avery...he laughs every time he sees them. We certainly are blessed with another laid back child.. On Wednesday, we had grumpy baby Andrew and realized just how good he is normally. He is very, very ticklish. I love this little boy so much...he is such snuggle-bunny! We registered Andrew at The Primrose School for the fall. It is crazy expensive but really nice. I think he will love it there!

Kenny is doing awesome too. He is teaching Sunday School @ church for 6 weeks on Colossians. He finally got his 6 month review and got a great review from his boss. He enjoys his job and usually very busy so his days go by quickly. Now if he could just get me to do ALL the laundry his life would be perfect... :)

The Hebert's are visiting next weekend while I take senior pictures of Jake..then the kids and I are going to the beach for Easter.
Take care guys!
Alesha