ch-ch-changes

Changed my blog's look again.  If you know about my recently acquired color obsession...you shouldn't be surprised. 

faded from the winter

after 5 days of celebrating, we are all tired and worn out.  we are staying home today to play with new toys, clean, and undecorate the house.  we may have to go out to find some food later.  and of course, we have to call someone to get our garage door fixed...yea.  i hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Scout's was awesome.  he met his uncle j and was introduced to fudge, pretzels, and curious george.  we got him a curious george doll and he loves it.  it had to go everywhere with us once he opened it Christmas eve night and he sleeps with it. my aunt had no idea about the doll and she got him a curious george dvd!  when bean and i were shopping on monday, i found a curious george ornament on sale.  so, i guess this was the Christmas of curious george! 

Home for the Season

Scout and Bean!

he loves his musical santa at gram's

opening his birthday gift from aunt bean and uncle j

yeah, we've been a little busy around here.  the week we get out for Christmas is always crazy.  since we get out k-dogg and i went to his office Christmas party and my mom and i went to the ballet to see peter pan.  it was awesome!  peter pan is my favorite disney movie and i love the movie, finding neverland.  one of my old students, her little sister, and their dad were all in the ballet.  leslie was gorgeous as a mermaid and indian maiden, i wish i could flip and tumble like becca, and their dad was hilarious as a pirate!  since then, we've been getting ready for my sister to come home for Christmas!  they got in late thursday night.  Scout waited as long as he could, but he finally fell asleep on my mom.  he woke up and saw bean when we were getting ready to take him home, but he was not really awake and very confused.  he got to spend all afternoon with her yesterday and finally met uncle j.  first impression did not go well!  Scout burst into tears when j tried to pick him up, but he was also tired and had a dirty diaper!  he warmed up later when they played with his ball drop toy and uncle j taught him (kinda) to pull his finger...must be an uncle thing!  k-dogg and i opened presents from each other this morning because we may not get another chance!  Scout loved the box his daddy's present came in.  when he wakes up from his nap, we're headed back to gram and poppa's for really good snacks, presents, and hanging out with aunt bean and uncle j.  then we're all going to Christmas Eve service at church.  i had to make a list last night of everything we'd need for today and tonight so Scout will have all the right clothes, diapers, toys, and gifts without having to come back to the house a hundred times this afternoon!  

i'm sure there will be MANY more pictures after this weekend!  Merry Christmas!

Do you know the muffin man?

Well, in this case, muffin woman. I made 30 muffins last night for work...29 of them made it there, k-dogg had to test them for me. They were all gone by 10:30! And everything I was supposed to take to my mom's for Scout made it there. My kids did a really good job with the food drive. We beat our goal! We should find out tomorrow which class got the most. Scout had his one year checkup this afternoon. The doctor saw him before I got there. Everything looked good. He had to get 5 shots...all in his legs! Ouch! I don't even know what all he got, other than his flu shot. His MDO class has a little Happy Birthday, Jesus! party tomorrow! So cute! He has gifts for all the little girls in his class, he's the only boy, and his teachers. I hope he feels ok. Right now, I'll just be thrilled if he sleeps all night. He had us awake at 4:15 this morning, by the time he went back to sleep without crying...it was time to get up! Teething is not fun for anyone!

Too tired to think of a song that fits...and no, the tree's not up!

Sundays should not be this tiring and stressful. Church and youth committee meeting til almost 2. They were fine. Then had to go to brookshires, which I always dread, to buy canned food for the food drive and muffin mix to make muffins for work tomorrow. The cans...no problem. My kids are really into this food drive thing and working really hard, that's great! The muffins are because my coworkers came up with the idea to have to 12 Days of Breakfast for the 12 school days before we get out. Sounds good, but every day people gripe and whine about how nothing is on their diet, it's not easy for me to get food to work, and I came home sick Thursday morning from something I ate at breakfast! Falalalalalalalala! Brookshires was crazy, I got in what looked like a short line, only two people ahead of me, and the man right ahead of me didn't have much. The girl in front of him was someone I went to school with. She actually paid with a check. Im not sure the girl checking had ever even seen a paper check before. She had to have someone look at it to make sure she copied all the info right! Then, they switched checkers on us and stopped to change out the cash drawer. Shouldn't they have closed the lane, made her finish the customers already in line, and THEN switched??? And since when do you put 10 cans in one plastic bag and make the customer carry it out? I would've done it anyway, but what are all those boys standing around for if they're not doing anything? So, I finally got home, and 5 hours later, I'm taking a break. Ironing, laundry, muffins, cleaning, changing sheets and hunting for pacis. And more than one dirty diaper! All with Scout having a fit if he can't see me every second he's awake because he's teething and doesn't feel good...and K-dogg asking me to bring him a gummy worm every time I get up or freaking out over Scout gettin in to something! Yes, nice, relaxing Sunday...for someone else, hopefully! For now, I'm going to go see if I can take a hot shower and go to bed early. Scout has his one-year checkup tomorrow, and I hate him getting shots even more than he does. Thank you for letting me vent!

manic monday

birthday celebrating overload!  did not want to go to work today.  didn't sleep well at all because of all the stuff in our bedroom from Christmas decorations and when we "cleaned" the house for Scout's party!  plus, it was so cold and wet today...my students were insane!  so happy to get home with my birthday crew.  yesterday, Scout slept ALL afternoon after church, was up about 3 hours, and then went to bed.  in between, we tried to get a family picture on his actual first birthday.  i think the only pictures of all three of us together are in the hospital when he was a day old, in edom for Gram's birthday in april, and at his dedication in may!  after seeing these two pics, i know why!  still happy to have a picture with my birthday guys!

 i think i could sleep til Christmas and be just fine...or at least til Wednesday!

birthday

hanging out with Gram after everyone else left

Figuring out the present thing

he was tired before the party started...he went to the IMPACT missions fair at church

101 Dalmatians

1 year old!

i LOVE this kid!

Scout and Poppa

he liked the bows

once he opened the alphabet train from K-dogg's aunt, he was done!

Scout and Scout

first time to eat cake!

he started sharing food this week

Scout loves his Gram when no one else is around!

Scout's birthday is actually today, but we partied yesterday.  That kid cleaned up, and in 3 weeks he'll do it again.  He had fun at his party.  He loved his cupcake and being the center of attention.  We're not done celebrating...K-dogg will be 31 tomorrow!  Yes, December is a little crazy around here...Scout's birthday, K-dogg's birthday, our anniversary, and Christmas.  Hope I survive this year after year!  I can't wait til he's old enough to understand all of this craziness!

happy birthday

We had Scout's first birthday party this afternoon.  I'll post more later...but I had to get my favorite picture on here.  This is Scout and Poppa facetiming with his Aunt Bean!  She got to see him eating his cupcake and he actually said "bye!" to her while she was sitting the a Starbucks parking lot out in California! 

fur elise

one of my favorite scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Schroeder: This is the music I've selected for the Christmas play.
[Schroeder plays Fur Elise]
Lucy Van Pelt: What kind of Christmas music is *that*?
Schroeder: Beethoven Christmas music.
Lucy Van Pelt: What has Beethoven got to do with Christmas? Everyone talks about how "great" Beethoven was. Beethoven wasn't so great.
[Schroeder stops playing]
Schroeder: What do you mean Beethoven wasn't so great?
Lucy Van Pelt: He never got his picture on bubblegum cards, did he? Have you ever seen his picture on a bubblegum card? Hmmm? How can you say someone is great who's never had his picture on bubblegum cards?
Schroeder: Good grief.

from imdb.com

my favorite Christmas show.  i didn't ever think of myself as a big Peanuts fan, but i think i always have been.  i had Snoopy toys when i was a kid, Scout's bathroom is decorated with a Peanuts shower curtain and huge poster, and more than one person has even said that Scout looks like Linus and Rerun!

photograph

Scout had a photo shoot on Saturday for his first birthday.  I wasn't sure we were going to get ANY good pictures because he was not cooperating for a long time.  But, Shelby got some great shots.  These are my top five!  If you need pictures, Shelby Taylor Photography from Liberty City is awesome!

This was one of the last pictures she took, I like it because you can see all 3 of us, but it's obvious who's the center of our world!

love this face!

HEY!

So happy!

Helping redecorate!

my sweet potato

hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving...this was my best one ever, thanks to Scout!  if he made Thanksgiving that much better, i can't wait for Christmas!  he was here last Christmas, but he was 3 weeks old on Christmas Day.  we had spent a lot of time in those three weeks going back to the hospital and back and forth to the doctor's office because they were worried about his weight.  i was still recovering from his delivery, we were all seriously sleep deprived, and my sister wasn't home.  i don't even remember much of Christmas, but there are a ton of pictures of Scout!  i'm thankful for the week off, next week is going to be crazy getting ready for his birthday party!  can't wait!

pin cushion

we've been a little busy around here!  but, i've been keeping up with my thankful posts on facebook.  and, i've been on pinterest a lot...when i have time to sit down. i already posted pictures of the wreath i was inspired to make by pinterest.  last week i made a weekly calendar to hang by the back door.

all i had to buy was the frame.  i think it was around $3 at walmart.  i bought some dry erase markers, too, because all the ones i had at work are either fat or i used the school's money to buy them.  i used scrapbook paper and taped it to the sheet that came in the frame.  i already had the stickers in my craft stuff.  i like it.  gingham is not usually my style, but it fits in well in the laundry room.  i need to figure out a way to keep the marker by the calendar.  i had it set on top of the frame, but when i shut the back door, it fell off the frame and is now stuck between the wall and our dryer.  i saw someone on pinterest used a binder clip, maybe i'll come up with something this week.  this is one of my favorite weeks of the year.  we are going to thanksgiving at my aunt's house.  i get to take the sweet potatoes and the green bean casserole.  hopefully, we'll get to watch part of the parade, too.  i want Scout to grow up watching that, just like we did.  i'm seriously conflicted about black friday this year.  what's the fun in shopping at midnight!?!?!  then again, i missed the last two years due to being in tokyo and being 39 1/2 weeks pregnant!  i want to shop!  Scout's birthday is in two weeks!  can't wait to celebrate!  he cut 2 new teeth this week.  he's getting so big, way too fast!     
 

we are family

i have been posting one thing i'm thankful for each day on facebook.  but, i needed to expand on here.  i am thankful for the amazing support system Scout has.  he stays with my mom while i'm at work.  my dad meets us at the car, before sunrise, to get Scout out of the backseat.  there's really no need for me to even walk in the house with them.  they have their own morning routine until gram gets up.  i usually don't even have to take anything with him.  he has his own room, his own toys, food, extra clothes, and all those supplies that go with a baby.  i get pictures on my phone throughout the day, so i never miss anything while i'm at work trying to teach and raise 43 other kids.  for a long time, Scout didn't even realize that gram and poppa had their own house.  he just thought he lived at both places with all 4 of us! 

we had  problem tuesday afternoon.  Scout's gram had an injection to help her pain.  the nurse had told her there was no down time.  after she got the injection, they told her she couldn't drive or lift anything for 24 hours...Scout weighs around 23 pounds and can't walk yet.  my dad and i had both already been off work tuesday, so we couldn't take off again.  Suzanne to the rescue!  She is the mom of our little friends, 911, doolittle, piggies, and violet.  i called her at 7:30 and asked if she could keep Scout on wednesday.  no problem.  he has never stayed anywhere other than my mom's or MDO (which is only once a week for about 5 hours).  i took him to their house wednesday morning, he went straight to her.  then when she put him down so she could write her number down, he crawled off into the living room with piggies and violet.  didn't even care when i left.  he played all day, went to lunch at another house with more kids.  never fussed or anything!  he loves those girls and their momma! 

this weekend is the holiday tea at church.  i have decorated a table for the past 6 or 7 years.  i didn't do it last year, i was about 9 months pregnant...but i was back this year.  k-dogg took care of Scout most of thursday evening and ALL of last night while i was getting stuff together and decorating at the church.  today, they are going to hang out at home while gram and i are at the tea.  a lot of daddies can't (or won't) do that!  k-dogg took care of Scout A LOT during the first few weeks of his life.  i was worn out after such a hard delivery...and k-dogg and my mom just stepped in and took over.  every other night for the past 11 months, k-dogg has been in charge of getting Scout ready for bed, feeding him the last bottle, and getting up with him in the middle of the night.  it's not a big deal now, but for the first few months...that was huge!  and, it was his idea!  he wakes up with him at least once every weekend.  he may not do everything just like momma, but he gets it done and Scout loves it! 

happy halloween

happy halloween from the first avenger!

i see red

really, red ribbon week, jumpathon, benchmarks, birthday lunch, school pictures, and a field trip all in one week...the week before halloween?  have they lost their minds???

glamorous!

nothing too exciting happened this week.  spent monday at a training class for the esl endorsement test.  spent ALL day tuesday at school because of open house.  sooooo not a fan of open house.  stayed home friday so we could take Scout to the doctor...only to find out he's ok and we're doing everything the doctor suggested!  yea!  found some good stuff at goodwill yesterday and then had to get a flat tire fixed.  most of the rest of my waking-but-not-working hours were spent wiping and sucking Scout's nose, watching the Rangers, grading papers, and trying to keep up with the laundry.  this coming week is red ribbon week, school pictures, a birthday lunch, a dentist appointment, more Rangers games, going to the KC opera with school, maybe helping at a 5th quarter, and getting stuff ready for the Holiday Tea.  plus...Scout's really close to walking and i swear you can see his third tooth about to bust through.  yes...it's the glamorous life!    

round and round

this is the wreath i made in the past few weeks.  styrofoam wreath form and yarn...didn't even use glue to hold it down, just tied a knot and started wrapping. 

this is the finished wreath, hanging in my living room!  it's way too small for my front door and i'm not sure how weather-resistant it is anyway.  that's about half a thing (i don't know the technical term...skein?) of yarn.  the variegated yarn makes it look like it was a lot more involved than it actually was!  i used hot glue on the feathers.  if i made another one, i would probably use a wreath form that didn't have flat edges, just to make it go even faster.  what do you think?

behind blue eyes

if i hadn't taken this picture myself...in my living room....i would swear it's a picture of me when i was his age!  and did you notice how stylish his jammies are?  the baby in the capital one commercial with jimmy fallon has on the same ones.  they're from old navy and of course, they were on sale!  i have a couple more pictures of scout to show off...bear with me!

These are not the greatest pictures, it's hard to catch a moving target!  but, i wanted to show off his new pumpkin hat.  it is so awesome and he loves it.  he usually pulls hats off, but he left this one on for a long time.  that's also not the cutest outfit ever...but we're in that weird time of year where it's cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon.  he started the day wearing a long sleeve striped shirt with a car on it.  that may be the only time he'll get to wear it.  it's stayed warmer a lot longer than we expected it to, and he's already outgrowing some of the fall stuff we got in size 12 months! 

the meeting at school went way better than i was thinking.  i did not sleep or eat much last weekend.  thank you everyone that prayed for me...it worked!  i'm pretty run down this weekend and not feeling great.  i think Scout has shared the mess he's had the past week.  i also haven't been resting or eating right.  i'm actually drinking water right now, trying to flush this stuff out and get hydrated.  if you know me...you know i don't drink water much at all.  i drank tons of it everyday when i was pregnant and almost completely gave up cokes.  less than a month after Scout was here, i quit water and went right back to cokes.  some people say if you quit drinking them long enough, cokes will taste strange to you and you won't want them.  those people are crazy.  i had to add a crystal light antioxidant  pack to my water, just so i can drink it! 

please pray for me between now and monday morning.  i have a meeting at work, that's all i can say right now.

hakuna matata

can't say what i want to say, since i don't know for sure who reads this...just know i am really angry about something at work...and a bit bumfuzzled, too.  prayers between now and thursday (or everyday the rest of the year) would be much appreciated!  in other news...Scout turned 10 months old today!  he has now been on the outside longer than he was on the inside!  he is one of the cutest and funniest people i know.  not just  babies...PEOPLE.  he's about the only thing that keeps me running for the hills.  he definitely has enough clothes for the fall and winter...bout to get him some more converses.  got most of his gifts bought, and ordered his new Christmas ornament last night.  just gotta get his birthday party planned and done.  his daddy wants a big extravaganza with all our friends and family.  i want a very small affair with no friends, and if i'm being honest...i could do without a lot of the family!  right now, i gotta go make sure i have pants to wear to work tomorrow and get a shower.  i got a haircut this afternoon and all that loose hair is driving me crazy!

oh yeah, lion king on blu-ray was waiting by my front door when we got home! 

slide

stayed home from work today.  yesterday i sat in an all-day planning session with someone that had a stomach virus.  she's probably not real happy with me, i wore a medical mask all day!  oh well, if you're not going to stay home from work and keep your germs away from me, i'm going to try my best to keep them from getting to me!  by the time we left, i had an awful headache, so i took a sick day today.  Scout was not feeling too good either.  he's really close to getting a new tooth, you can almost see it under his gums.  plus, his daddy, gram, and poppa have all had a cold in the past week.  we were going to just stay home and rest, but we went to gram's so we could go for a walk.  if you tried to walk by our house, you'd end up as roadkill!  it wasn't blazing hot, and there was no one at the park, so we let Scout play on the little slide.  he loved it!  i did manage to rest, even though there was no nap involved.  Scout plays by himself much better at gram and poppa's.  he's all over the floor, mostly rolling a ball around, or unstacking his stacking toy.  he does NOT like things to be stacked up!  at home, he spends more time trying to get into things he's not supposed to play with than he does with his toys.  i started working on the yarn wreath i'm making.  i actually remembered to take a "before" picture!  i'll post it with the "after" pictures when it's finished.  not much else going on, the plan was to go to canton tomorrow.  that will depend on how we all feel and if the weather cools down enough.  if not...i think it will be target and hobby lobby!  i'm actually almost finished shopping for Scout's birthday and Christmas gifts, thanks to amazon!  but, i gotta get inspired for the ladies holiday tea in november.    

for all the people wanting to see him on here because i'm off facebook!

 

gone

i deactivated my facebook account.  out of ALL the people on my facebook that i had no other way to contact...i wrote down 3 email addresses before i deactivated it...yep.

scream

no real time to post today either, but i'm trying to stay in the habit.  k-dogg was home sick today and yesterday...fun stuff.  nothing serious, just a cold...which means he thought he was dying yesterday, but felt well enough to empty the dishwasher for me today while he was home!  but, by the time scout and i got home, it was around 5:30, which is when most people always start feeling worse when they're sick.  school was crazy today, all the math teachers were at a workshop.  that means subs in every team!  we're repaying the favor by taking a planning day tomorrow and letting them have all the kids on day two of half the teachers being out!  the lady that subbed for my math teacher is way too old and too nuts to be working with 4th graders.  i really feel bad about what happened with one of my students, but it was out of my control before i was aware of it.  not much i could do, but i did talk to the mom.  grades are due friday.  if it's not blazing hot we may try to go to canton on saturday.  gotta go watch survivor with my boys and then find something that will pass for dinner...or at least food!

sunday

too late to blog now, i've been posting on pinterest and deleting albums on facebook.  i may delete my whole facebook.  or, i may just take a hiatus.  i'm just tired of it.  there are a lot of people i like keeping up with, but i'm tired of facebook being all up in my business!  this afternoon, k-dogg, scout, and i went shopping together.  that is the first time we have done that without my parents with us.  we dropped k-dogg off at supercuts and went to old navy.  scout got more clothes!  like he needs them.  then we went to target to stock up on baby food for the month.  i try to get enough for a month all at one time so i don't have to worry about running out.  i got a hilarious picture of scout while his daddy was looking at fryers.  he was obviously so not into looking at fryers!  it's on my phone, so i'll post it later.  everything was fine until i had to change scout's diaper in the front seat of the car.  he likes to flip over now, and he was really trying to get the coke can out of the cup holder above him.  not fun when it's a smelly diaper, it's 99 degrees outside, and two guys are in their truck two spaces over watching the whole thing!  but, we survived.  i'm off now.  gotta go get some sleep before i face my students. 

arts and crafts

went to the arts and crafts show yesterday.  actually bought something this year!  the show was MUCH smaller, but at least most of the stuff seemed to actually be handmade to some extent.  the "food court" was pitiful this year, but i heard that was because no one was allowed to grill outside because of the burn ban.  that makes sense!  i got two bracelets for $2 each and a wooden sign that looks like a Texas flag and says "God bless Texas and its Rangers."  a lady from work made the sign.  i also have one that's just like it only it's white and burnt orange and says Longhorns!  we are skipping church this morning.  we went out to dinner with family members friday and saturday night...Scout needs to stay home and rest!  i'm also skipping a baby shower this afternoon.  we had a crazy week between the family dinners, pizza night at my school, and my mom and dad's house getting painted.  i didn't get the baby's gift finished and i'm staying home to watch football, grade papers, and catch up on laundry.  plus, if i have time...work on the baby gift and a wreath i want to make. won't be surprised if it's the grading papers i don't get around to doing!   i'm going to try one of those yarn wreaths i keep seeing all over the internet...especially on pinterest.  i bought the yarn, the styrofoam wreath, and some feathers to go on it.  if i remember, i'll post pictures.  i used to be much better about that!  i also found out, if i make more, i'll buy the wreaths at walmart.  $7.99 at hobby lobby...$4.99 at walmart!  i've already started buying Scout's birthday and Christmas gifts.  in the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas we also have Scout's birthday, K-dogg's birthday, and our anniversary!  it's going to require some planning and shopping ahead of time.  but right now...i'm off to another site to look for shoes for Scout.  bare feet are fine with shorts and onesies...look a little sad with jeans and pants!

correction

K was not skunk poo...she was piggies!  went back through some old posts and found it.  her sisters are 911 and doolittle.  M never had a name...i'm thinking mrs. scout!  jk...i'll have to think!  maybe violet since that's scout's friend's name.

these are the scout and violet i'm talking about

september...by earth, wind, and fire (how appropriate)

my 4-day work week turned into 3 days.  i'm staying home with Scout today because my mom had a massage treatment done tuesday and after it was over the therapist told her she couldn't lift anything more than 5 pounds for the next 3 days.  Scout weighs way more than 5 pounds...so, we're home.  so far he has almost swallowed his paci clip, threw up all over his blanket because of almost swallowing the paci clip, and keeps trying to stand up without holding on to anything.  now he's down for a nap!  the past few days here in etx have been crazy with all the wildfires.  family friends and church friends almost lost their homes.  the twin sister of a kid i taught and her daughter were killed in the fire.  we can't go out to recess because of a dense smoke advisory.  not related to the fires, one of my students has been out all week and the rumor is that he fell off a horse.  i know he had to get staples for something, his mom came to the school to get work for him yesterday.  Scout started mother's day out on tuesday.  first time anyone other than me, k-dogg, or my parents have taken care of him...or even changed his diaper.  i know bean and my uncle have each given him one or two bottles, but other than that...he's always been with one of the four of us.  he loved mdo.  he's the only boy in his class with 5 girls.  his friends, K and M, are there.  but, they are older so he doesn't see them.  it's been so long since i wrote about K and M, i don't remember their blog names.  i think at one time K's name was skunk poo!  long story, but i'm sure you can figure it out!  i'm not even sure M has a blog name.  she needs one though, because she's Scout's future wife!  we took Scout to the zoo on monday.  he loved being outside.  the wind does crazy things to his little head of dandelion hair.  he waved at the anteater, so i bought him a stuffed one.  he also waved at the rhino and wrinkled his nose at it.  he was probably surprised to find something that smelled worse than him!  he loved the fish.  i think we could've sat there watching them for a long time, but they're in the penguin house and it stinks, too!  one of my kids i taught won his first college football game last saturday.  he plays for the pittsburgh panthers.  his twin plays for ulm.  they did not win...or even score.  but, they were playing florida state, who were ranked number 6.  texas won!  i'm thinking about going to my high school's homecoming tomorrow night.  i love going to the football games, and i missed all last season because i was too pregnant!  looks like most of the smoke should be gone and it's not supposed to be hot anymore.  good time to go! 

Scout and K-dogg watching the fish at the zoo

good

Gee, it's been awhile since i've done the letter thing!

Grease...how many times can you watch the same movie?  bean and i watched this movie over and over when i was in high school and college.  we used to quote it all the time..."peachy keen, jelly bean!"  she even dated the guy that played danny zuko in their school production!  it's so goofy and cheesy, but it's nothing compared to Grease 2!

 Good...the song by better than ezra...love that song!

Gray...i told my students on tuesday that gray was my favorite color and they were not impressed.  one kid even said gray doesn't count as a color!  i have a feeling he's not going to think much of my fall and winter wardrobe!


Grover...more specifically, super grover...the man, the myth, the legend!  my real favorite superhero.  and scout looks so cute in his super grover tshirt!


Gladewater...yeah, i know.  there are many many places that would be much better to live.  what can i say, you go with what you know.  many of it's residents are seriously lacking "culture and refinement,"  the water is awful, it's small, having to go to the drugstore or grocery store in town is usually the last thing i want to do...but it's home!

 

goodbye

These are all from 2006 and 2008!  But, they are my favorite pictures of each one of the Alexanders.  Chad in one of many embarrassing outfits he wore for VBS.  Ashley in Mexico looking just like her momma.  Kelly singing at IPB in San Buena.  Ashton...how many missionaries have you ever seen with a paci?  Austin asleep on my lap during Bible School in San Buena, right after we had had a conversation about how I knew him.  FBC Lake Jackson is getting 3 of my favorite kids in the world.