No, I will not make out with you!...:)

Oh Reesie! Not even one yet and all over the boys already! She has single handedly tackled and pinned down Elmo and then ever so ladylike, started kissing him! :) As you can see also, she is thoroughly enthralled by her fiance Owen, and thinks he is quite funny, however...he is doing well at this point resisting her advances! I mean, she does have like 4 boyfriend choices already in real life...man, we are gonna have our hands full!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to school Skip goes...

Oh, the first day of junior high jitters! Such a huge step in life. Oh wait, Im 27, Reese is only 1, so no, neither of us are off to junior high...hummmm, that leaves the skipper!! Thats right, today was Skip's first day of school! As a teacher that is :) What an adventure! The fun began saturday when we were off to go to Mardel to laminate Skip's posters for his room and buy decor. You know what Im talking about...the super cool bulletin board border, charts, all that stuff. I knew this wasnt looking like a promising start to the new school year when Skips Return of the Jedi poster got eaten by the laminating machine. After which we cannot find any of the die-cut letters he needs to spell out stuff on his bulletin baords. Then, we proceed to Kinkos(the biggest rip off place on the face of the planet) to have them laminate the rest of his posters, when alas, we are told it will be like $75, we turn around and walk right back out with reesie in tow and Skip scolwing under his breath that the stupid kinkos guy is a flippin idiot. We decide to start again the next day. SO, Sunday:
I proceed to Target while Skip goes to Academy to get his coaching stuff. With Reese and $100 of groceries inside, my car wont start when I get out. Call skip. He comes and we go back in to Target to buy jumper cables that neither one of us know how to use. The guy parked next to us helps us because apparantly we look like idiots. Im on my way...Skips car dies. I have to go back and jump him. He goes to get a new battery. We both get home finally. He gets out the one thing he was able to get at Academy...a wistle. Doesnt work.
Sunday evening:
Go back to Target to try to go school supply shopping amidst the other 1 million people in the universe. He finds a few things, but the main thing he needs, wide-ruled notebook paper is sold out!!!!!! What?????? Dont the Target people anticipate the day before school rush??? (Dont worry though...Target could never do anything to lose my love and devotion). We also get a padlock and lunchbox and travel size toiletries.
Sunday night:
Skip packs his bags. All his schoolbooks, assignments, change of clothes, shower bag, coaching stuff, and a partridge in a pear tree. Sleeps on the couch because he is afraid he will oversleep. Fast forward to this morning:
Get up at 5am, gets ready, loads his car, packs his lunch(sorry, Im not packing his lunch at 5am!!) But I was sortof half awake when he left. I blindly took his first day of school pic on the front porch then gave him a good luck grunt from the couch.


So here's to junior high, fresh school supplies, sending your husband off to his first day of school, and Target!!

...God is good!

God seems to keep reminding me, through various things, that He is the one in control and that my life is in His hands.
Providence.
My dad, my hero in every possible way, also has helped me tremendously in truly understanding and embracing this doctrine lately. I am, in fact, "prone to wander", prone to make the same mistakes over again, prone to trust in myself instead of the Almighty creator, prone to worry about worldly things, yet He continues to work in me, thank goodness! The things that are most important, and that I strive to be more like Him in...wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, worker, witness, etc....I fail at miserably every day, yet I have faith and assurance that He will continue to give me grace and work in me until the end of my days. He gives things and takes things away in His providence, ordering my way with knowledge I do not possess...Doing the BEST for me, even if I do not see it initially...Not to mention, I forget to take joy in the hard things(however small they are, or however big I make them)...and its pretty cool that the hard things truly show me the width and length and depth and height of His love for me...reminding me that His plans for me are perfect and that He does for me far above all I could ever imagine for myself!! He is Good and I thank Him for all He is doing in me and for me!!

"Wonderful are your works, O Lord, my soul knows it very well!"

Ephesians 3:13-21

"I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes all knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now, to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or imagine, to Him be the glory forever and ever..."!!!!!!!!!!

"Luke, I am your father"...

Introducing, Luke Tyler Stewart!! Our dear friends(and Reesie's namesake) had their baby Friday night...Matt is a dad, yikes! :) We got to meet the little guy Saturday! It was so fun. He is so precious and we are already in love with him. This is one of my favorite things...meeting our nieces and nephews... I remember like yesterday meeting Elijah, Owen, Miller(and we cant forget the "A" kids :)...How blessed we are to have such friends that we love their children like our own...

...Weekly update in pictures

Reese on her first ride in her new pimpin' carseat!


My best high school friend, Bethany and I with her new baby girl, Bella!




Reese meeting Libby for the first time!
(my brother's new puppy) and notice the
rockin' first attempt at pigtails :)

This Week in Reese Pics...

I said I wanted grilled cheese. Did I stutter?

Daddy is an awesome batting instructor. Next stop Wrigley Field!

Is there any place on earth that's as great as Target?!

I love swimming with Mommy!

Young at heart....

This morning I awoke, got Reese ready to go and was in the car at 8am, only to discover that my car would not start. No sound whatsoever. In the midst of my ranting about the stupid battery, the fact I needed an oil change, and that I really didnt need this crap right now....A light flickers on. No, not in my head. On the dash. A light that looks strangly like a gas tank. Hummm, I think...thats right, I did see that light yesterday and ignored it. Now for all of you about to give a lecture on being responsible and filling up when I get to a quarter tank-I dont want to hear it...Ive never actually run out of gas before. Anyway, so, whats the first thing this girl does...calls Daddy!!

So, in conclusion, this week I've discovered that apparantly Im still a kid at heart! Which Im fine with, because with a baby, my increasing love of naps, and growing interest in the Food Network...not to mention that in 2 1/2 short years I will become a thirty-something and have to give up my twenty-something status...I was starting to feel old!!!

Here are a few of the signs of still being a kid at heart: top ten, in random order:

1) when you run out of gas your first response is to call daddy to bring you a gas can :)
2) you have a celeb crush on teeny-bopper Zac Efron (in case you didnt know, he is on High School Musical-Disney Channel ridiculousness), and love the show Hannah Montana.
3) when you go to the grocery store there is just a little bitty voice inside you that still cries out for strawberry gushers and fruit-by-the-foot.
3b) ok, and what about the after-school snack, while watching the after-school tv lineup?? Mine was Batman, Little House on the Prairie and Saved by the Bell! Awesome! :)
4) you think the song 'Mmm Bop' by the Hansons is a classic. I mean, and does anyone remember Raffi???
5) you still have to call mom to ask how long to boil eggs and what kind of medicine you should take for a runny nose.
6) You love the store Forever 21 and completely intend to keep shopping there even if you have to eventually call it, 'Forever 41"!
7) You love Harry Potter!(although this one is debateable because of the number of adults that enjoy the Potter)
8) you get all sentimental when you pass by the Glowworms and Rainbow Brite in the toy isle.
9) you have a sudden urge to build a massive tent in the living room and run through the sprinkler in the backyard.
10) You have a strange desire to have a slumber party :)

Here's to staying young at heart!!

Random updating...

Hello everyone. I was told that you will all stop reading my blog if I don't update soon soooo...just wanted to update. Reesie is walking!!! That's right...last Monday, she took her first steps and is now really good at it :) Also found out this weekend that she loves dogs...like is not afraid of a huge dog at all. Our canine friend Mo(who belongs to the Alexanders) is now her new best friend! All she will eat is grilled cheese, thanks Jenn, but it doesn't look like she's wasting away to nothing yet...In other news, Tracy and I attended a Midnight Harry Potter party a few weeks ago for the release of the final book in the series and it was all I hoped it would be and more...finished the book in 2 days and now Im sortof sad I have no more! Oh well, I guess I still have 2 movies to look forward to. My college roomate just had her baby and I'm just waiting for a call any minute now that our good friend Andrea is in labor, and my friend Bethany too...Our house is still for sale, my parents are moving to Dallas, Skip starts his new teaching job next week and is excited. He found out he will be teaching Texas History instead of the 'behaviorally challenged' class so that was good news :) Ummmm....ok more witty banter and fun pics to come tomorrow when my brain is working better. I'm on medication and really tired right now so that's all you get :)

"I Hate Goodbyes!"

That title might be lost on some of you if you've never seen the movie "Dumb and Dumber".

Anyway our good friends Jay and Gina moved to Oklahoma last week. Definitely not a favorite moment in our friendship. So instead here are some that are favorites...

1. Realizing that Skip and Gina are birthday twins (both born on September 20, 1979)
2. Going to Wrigley Field togther in 2005
3. Knowing that Jay would always order the best appetizers when we'd go out ot eat
4. Gina bursting Kate's bubble and telling her that there's no such thing as a "hosepipe".
5. Kate and Gina having an all day conversation by texting (we had to get an unlimited texting package due to their addiction)
6. Skip and Jay playing softball for crappy teams (Sorry Doves, we really weren't that good)
7. Seeing movies at the Movie Tavern
8. Day O' Fun at the O'Steens (not elaborating on this one :) )
9. Jay & Gina hanging out all day at the hospital waiting on Reese's arrival
10. Finding such great friends when we weren't even looking

Always on the move...

Remember when we use to say "I don't know if she'll ever crawl."? Yeah... we're not saying that anymore. She's mobile, she's agile, she's NON-STOP! It's almost as if this one step in our house calls out to her and says climb me please!

...Pondering anew

I read the blog of a dear friend yesterday and she was talking about not 'fretting'(click here). It was very convicting and challenging to me. I have found myself fretting quite a bit lately about different things: selling our house, new jobs, money, church, family, daily annoyances, living a significant, impactful and meaningful life, blah, blah, blah :) Well, I was listening to a hymn cd in the car this morning(which I love!) and heard the words from 'Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.' (Go here and read all the words if you havent before...they are awesome!) Now, if you don't know, I love hymns: a love that was instilled in me by my parents when I was little. They are wonderful and powerful if you take the time to truly meditate on the words.

"Ponder anew, what the Almighty can do..." Wow, I thought. How often do I truly stop and ponder what our amazing God can do? And how often do I truly meditate on the fact that our God will do abundantly more than than we could ever ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20)?? How often do I just stop and praise Him. Not often enough. My mind gets bogged down with worries, busyness, worldly pursuits. I mean, there has never been a time when my God has not been faithful or has not sustained me. He sustains me daily. I am challenged to think with a renewed and fresh mind on the majesty, power, faithfullness, love and goodness of my Lord and Savior and to take time to "praise the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!"

take that, hurricane emily!...

We visited our dear friends, the Perez family (click here), this weekend in San Antonio and had a wonderful time visiting, eating mexican food, and going to sea world...such a nice little vacation...considering that the last vacation we were on with them included us being boarded into "the ark" to wait out hurricane emily, only to emerge 18 hours later:

(-knowing the entire harry potter trilogy by heart, en espanol,
-starving because the only food we were given was past expiration,
-exhausted because our 2x6 plot of floor was not super comfy,
-not being able to go to the beach due to the fact all the sand was gone,
-not allowed to swim in the pool due to all the dead fish that now were inhabiting it,
-and my favorite, having to eat pringles on the rest of our 'paid-in -advance, all-inclusive vacation', because none of the restaurant employees could get into work),

...this one was a DREAM!!!

Here's to 8 years of friendship, the Mayan Riviera and Sea World!!

(Skip and I, Rosey and Jimmy at Sea World)

...the simple things

...my precious little girl who reminds me every day that
it's the simple things in life that make it so sweet!

Marketer's Dream...

On this, the day of the long-awaited release of the I-Phone, I realize that I am, as Skip has said for a while now, a marketer's dream. I have bought into the hype lock, stock and barrel. Watching the commercial is torture even! I mean, a screen you can scroll just using your finger?? Anyway, My brilliant plan of using my AT&T employee brother to score one without waiting in line and at a discounted price, was foiled when Apple announced no pre-reserving and no employee discounts. (Sorry Aaron.) As I don't have $600 sitting under my mattress right now, I am forced to wait. Now, my college self would have just said, "Screw all that. I'm charging it! (Rosey)" But my 'semi grown-up' self says '"No, not a wise move." I mean, I don't want the first generation one anyway...I'm sure there will be all kinds of bugs to work out. So, I guess I will just go into the Apple store and play with it in-store to satisfy my itch for one. Oh wait...Sweet!...I just found out they are gonna bundle a second generation I-Phone with an I-book to come out at Christmas and it will be cheaper! ....Looks like I have something to save up my money for after all :)

Hold your breath...

Ok guys, this is Kate and Im taking over the blog! Just kidding...however, I have decided to actually blog some instead of letting Skip do everything. So...hold your breath....Im sure Ill have some pretty profound things to say! Ummmm, ok, let me get back to you on that profound part, but just FYI: I love looking at and reading all you guys blogs so, keep it comin!

Father's Day #1

This is what it's all about... And yes she's holding Daddy's sock, but don't worry its clean. :)

Reese the Fish

Pics from Reese's first swim. She loved the water. She can't walk just yet, but she looked like a natural in the pool.

Uncle Ben

Reese hangin' with her Uncle Ben. She's trying to see if her hair can grow as long as his. So far she's behind. :)

But Jay...

Seriously, Oklahoma? How many Chipotles do they have there? And I bet there aren't even two Starbucks in Fairview. Do they have electricity and phones? You guys should really reconsider moving. I know you have a masters degree in counseling now Jay, but I think you need to listen to me for a change.

(Reese having a heart to heart with Jay and Gina trying to get them to stay in beautiful Dallas-Ft.Worth)

Jedi Mind Trick

These aren't the mixed vegetables that you're looking for...