In a word...

I look at this picture and if I had to caption it... it would say 

"JOY!"  

This is a two year old's version of unadulterated JOY!  

Right before there was hiding

and more giggling

and a bit of posing for the camera.  

 Life involves changes and God brings into our lives just what we need.  

Thank you to Crossfit Equality for bringing these remarkable ladies (and gentlemen) into my life.  Thank you for showing me what I am capable of and not to accept the word "CAN'T".  

 

"JOY"

A bunch of adorable little girls... ahem... Mario's birthday party

So we decided to throw an impromptu birthday party for Mario's 33rd birthday.  He had no idea and doesn't like a big fuss over him so he never would have agreed.  

I drove in from Fort Worth that Friday afternoon.... picked up the cake and headed home to prepare.  

Everyone started coming over around 6.  Christina and Raul were the first to arrive but only after they walked into a neighbors house by accident.  :-)  Luckily it's a friend who happens to live in the same exact house as me.  They walked in like they owned the joint only to realize it wasn't my house.  HA ha ha ha ha ha ah!  :)  

Jocelyn and Layla took off like a house on fire again.  Layla into the high heels and Jocelyn holding her hand and skipping off.  And another friend brought her 2 year old too, Zoe.  She jumped right in with the girls.  

Joe was much more fascinated with Kaitlyn who is 14 and "his girlfriend".   She was a great sport and let him read to her and sit on her lap.  

 Tell me this picture isn't "JOY" personified!  Love these girls!

The whole crowd at the end of the night... and we had a halloween workout to do the next morning.  HA!  We made it through... and mostly smiling.  HA!  What a fun night! 

Dose of Cuteness and other miscellaneous

A couple of weeks ago some friends from Crossfit Equality came over for dinner with their two adorable daughters.  Their eldest is Jocelyn's age and the two had such fun.  Layla walked around in Lj's high heel princess shoes all night long.  :)

 Liliana is just 1 year old and cute as a button. 

 Isn't she gorgeous?  Look at those eyes! 

 The next day, my parents and I took the kids to the Cyfair Fire Festival and Joe got a chance to sit in the firetruck. 

 "Do NOT push any buttons!" 

 Now THAT is a tall ladder.  :-)

 

 the kids got the chance to hold and spray the hose. 

 Any good firegirl needs an apron, a pink fire hat, white sparkly shoes and a pink dress! 

 Jocelyn wanted NO part of this picture.

 But she would crawl up on the old timey fire truck.  :) 

 We went into the smokey RV to prove we could get out if we needed to. 

 And Joe needed to do the old timey truck too.  :-)

It was a really  nice event and the kids had a great time. 

"Little" Girls Trip 2013

This would have been our sixth year going on Girls trip.  I was so sad not to get to go this year.  It just wasn't feasible with my finances and a bunch of other stuff going on.  So, Shannon and I decided that we could do one night at City Centre in Houston with our little girls.  The girls are the same age and aside from the chorus of "mine!" we heard every  now and then, they really got along very well!  

We checked in around 3:00 and took the girls to the pool.  They swam and splashed and ran in the pool area that was completely empty.  Then we went on up to our room which had a sleeping room and a sitting room.  

The girls colored and played. 

and made fingernails with the marker caps.  

then we got ready and headed out to dinner at GRUB, a burger bar.

  It was delightful and perfect for the girls.  They ate and jumped and sang.  Then we gave them some wipes and they cleaned the floor.  :-/

Then we headed out to the green to listen to the music and let the girls do somersaults and dance and run. 

Shannon was so smart!  She brought a bottle of wine in her big ole bag and opened it before we headed out.  We then poured it into our cappuccino cups which she had remembered to bring... and we had our built in cocktails.  :)  We didn't know if they would let us bring wine with us...  turns out that there were other people with cocktails but ...  this worked perfectly.  :)

This was not the girls trip we are used to having and we sure missed being a part of our annual trip but on a quick whim... this was so much fun and I'd like to do it again.  We woke up on Sunday and took the girls to Flora & Muse for brunch and it was a delightful way to end a nice staycation.  Thank you Shannon for suggesting it.  :)

Music touches my soul.  I listen to new songs and am instantly transported to a different place.  I listen to the words and every now and again a song touches my soul.  My sister always was the same way.  There were countless times when she would call me and say... HEY listen to THIS song.  :) Or she would email me the words to a song.

In fact, I remember sitting in front of the radio with my pink boom box (I know, I know) waiting for a song to come on so that I could record it.  Then I/we would sit with a pen and paper and the pause button and sit and write those words.  I am sure it was to send to a boyfriend at the time.  :-)

Well, yesterday I was at work and I always have my pandora going.  An acapella rendition of the below song came on and I fell in love.  I shazam'd it so that I could buy it off of Itunes.  

Then I listened to the words.  And I listened again.  And I sent it to my best friend.  And I let the words seep into my soul where they're going to hibernate. 

You can be amazing

You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug

You can be the outcast

Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love

Or you can start speaking up

Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do

When they settle ‘neath your skin

Kept on the inside and no sunlight

Sometimes a shadow wins

But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there,

Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy

Fallen for the fear

And done some disappearing,

Bow down to the mighty

Don’t run, stop holding your tongue

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live

Maybe one of these days you can let the light in

Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since your history of silence

Won’t do you any good,

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty

Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I wanna see you be brave

Maybe one day I can be brave.  Really and truly BRAVE.