Take me out to the Ballgame!

Rangers vs. Blue Jays. It was the perfect day for a game. The sun was hot and warm and the breeze with crisp and cool. We were gathering to celebrate Peggy's birthday.

So sorry Texans, Jays won, ;)

Our One and Only, Peggy

What a day!

I just can't get over the amazing work, power and grace of our God. Our Awesome God. He reveals Himself time and time again through people I dont even know personally, and today was one of those days, I saw a puzzle piece fit into the entire puzzle. Piece # 18762 Im not quite sure how many pieces make up this puzzle, but what God is showing me (thanks Olga!) is that we might not see the entire puzzle, but we rejoice when we see that we are apart of a piece fitting in, just perfectly so, into the divine vision, the purpose of it all. Its not about places, or things, or even time. Its about the purpose of why we were created. Why were you created? ********************************** We are made in the likeness of God. OF GOD the creator of the universe! Now, wrap your heads around that one! He(God) just WOWed me today with sharing how He has revealed Himself to other believers with the same vision that we (our house church) have received. We are apart of a bigger picture and when you understand that, fully, in your innermost being, all the other "stuff" is just small stuff. thank you jesus

Easter Hunt!

At the Zoo

Rae and 2 of her cousins, Hannah and Rachael went to the zoo about 3 weeks ago on an unseasonally warm day. She did come home with a pink nose! I forgot to pack the sunscreen! You need that stuff in MARCH when in Texas!

Sisters

Liv is getting so big -- she is 6 1/2 months in this photo! Compare that to the one when she was 2 months! Amazing isnt it? Rae loves her bunches and tells everyone she sees that, "here is my baby sista, her name is lee-e-aa." Olivia is probably the most smiley baby I have seen. I am not just saying that! She is our tulip in the middle of the storm...

What is this white stuff ?

Snow in Texas.

I think this occurred the last week in Feb/first week in March. I cannot recall. But Ramona had a blast! At first she didnt like the feel of the cold after holding the snow, so as soon as I could find the mitts and get them on her, she was more open to picking up the snow again. And of course had to give it a taste!

Time with God

IT DOESN’T MATTER

It was bitter sweet rummaging through all the materials that use to tell me who,

The person was behind it all,

It was just stuff, but could I tell?

That He was pursuing me still?

Its been almost 5 years since I said yes and it still doesn’t all make sense.

“It doesn’t my beloved,” He whispers to me.

“It wont make sense, til you’re here with me.”

“So take time to reflect and remember whats true, that I was the one who brought you through,

You are a NEW creation, you will always be, nothing can take that away, you see?”

But what about this and what about that?

Does this not matter, won’t it affect?

“My love is bigger than the highest mountain, and my forgiveness and grace is more than the water inhabits the earth. I made you for Me, for Me, I made you.”

More BIG SISTER!

Olivia is 4 weeks old in this pic and loves to be held by her big sister!

Ramona is getting really good and holding her very gently..

Can you see the smile there???

Cute lil' toes!

Where's Olivia?

Forget to post the pics of Liv!!! Above is Auntie Ann, Peggy (Nonnie) and Susan ( MaMo)

Cousin Lauren, with the guest of Honor! OLIVIA ANN!

Ramona and the Martin girls all got Nightgowns from Nonnie!

And the one and only, OLIVIA!!! ALL swaddled up!

Baby Shower!

It was a GREAT time! We had a blast and was completely showered in gifts! So lovely!

Thank you to everyone!!!

More of week 2 and 3

All cuddled on the bed, who would want to do anything else but play all day!!!! MMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Little Liv !

Before Take Off

Dad and Dianne stopped in to take some last minute photos before they were off on their Fort Worth adventure!

Visitors from the homeland!!!

Papa Pete and Grandma Dianne come to visit Olivia 10 days after she joined us!

Thanks for coming ya'll --- it was a great time!

Footprints

Olivia is getting her footprints beside big sister, Ramona, at the Birth and Women's center, downtown Dallas

Here she is getting weighed in on her 10 day visit, She was 7lbs 6oz at 10 day! That is very good!

Liv @ 2 weeks

This is the outfit my sister Carmen made for Ramona, so we put it on Liv to see how it fit...PERFECT

She is also wearing a cloth diaper and handmade booties by my friend Laurette! Thanks Laurette!

I'm a BIG sister!

Rae holding Olivia for the first time!!!

SPLISH SPLASH

Daddy giving his new daughter her first bath!

Ramona is checking it all out!

And then she starts to help out! WAY TO GO RAE !

Nonnie!!!

Olivia getting acquainted with her Nonnie!

Taking a BREAK

Mom and Daughter taking a rest after a hard day's work!!!

CHEERS!!

Thank you to the Midwives who were terrific! They were a GREAT team! They are toasting with MILANO cookies! YUM!

Baby Liv gets measured! Her head was 2.5 cm BIGGER than Rae's!!! I wont tell you how I felt the difference!

Welcome Olivia!

baby Olivia, JUST BORN! She was born at 3:10pm on August 20th ~ 7lbs 14 oz!!! and 19 3/4 inches long. She was a little screamer!

Hard Labor

But worth it!

Anticipation

10am - ish on August 20th ~ just hours before Olivia Ann was born.

Wearing and Sleeping....

Ramona is using a sling to hold her baby in place. She loves to wear her baby like her Mommy use to... R Rae loves to take naps with Daddy.

Headshots!

Ramona is cute!!! Eating Applesauce ~ JULY 2007

JULY 4th!

Daddy and Rae go for a ride on the mower. Rae's first time! She thought it was a blast and didnt want to stop... This is how we celebrate July 4th -- CUT THE GRASS!! *lol*

MORE birthday fun!

We celebrated on Daddy's actual birthday (July 10th) at Red Robin Burgers! It was YUM YUM!! We had a blast, especially Ramona and her boyfriend, Gabrielle!

Birthday Fun!

It was Daddy's birthday in July and we had 2 parties!!! Talk about Special Daddy !!!!

Pregnant in Texas

To my best memory, i think I am about 34 weeks pregnant here....

JUNE 2007 Ramona and the Cheerios ~ her favourite food/snack/meal! One day I was working in the office and didn't hear anything until every single cheerio from a costco size box of cheerios was on the floor. I walked in and she was snacking away.... The FUNNIEST thing about this is my mother showed my a similar picture when I was that age! So, MOM, I know you can hear me...I know how it feels now!

May 2007

Kelly and Rae's trip to Canada! We got to meet up with our ol' crew and hang out at the Rainforest Cafe! It was a blast! right to left (kelly, rae on lap, becky, sarah, miah on lap, and reni)

Mother's Day!

Rae and Daddy make Mommy a card! It was SSSOOO sweet! My TWO loves !

April 2007

As usual, a little bit behind on posting, but here are Rae's (now lost) Dora glasses. She loves sunglasses!

Flashing the Highway !

She just loves to show her belly! We were asking her where the baby is ---- she knows its in my belly but thinks its in hers too!

Blue blue *purple actually* Bonnets

blue bonnet season again! pictures taken right off the highway on the outskirts of dallas.

Green Icing Cupcake!

Was SO yummy that Mommy got to bring some home to Rae and Daddy --- Rae didn't know extactly what it was at first -- by once she tasted the butter icing she was SOLD OUT! and so was Daddy!

Here she comes!

Somebody knows what the camera does! Lil'Miss CHEESE!!! ~Picture taken March 2007 in Martins backyard~

Water is WAY too much fun!

There was a little stream of water that the kids could play in, and Rae wanted to do more than just play!!!!

Monkey Nose!

Rae was so fascinated with the Monkey's nose she had to put her fingers in there, they fit perfectly mama!!!

In the Jungle

We went to the ZOO last weekend! It was a blast! A little windy, but not big deal! There were some elephants outside the entrance that Rae just had to climb on! It was great!

SPRING is in the air!

Daddy and Ramona share a popsicle last weekend, celebrating SPRING has SPRUNG! Look at those smileS! My precious LOVES!

Getting ready on Sunday morning. Ramona is wearing a sweater that Aunt Sharon made her and gave her LAST summer! Its just now fitting right --- Look at the colour of that hair! Totally amazes me!

Pigtails...

Can't get enough ! Rae is so good when I am doing her hair -- I think the key is that I started early, so she just thinks its routine, like changing her diaper, she doesnt fight...(most of the time!) Now she will go get a tie or bow and try to do it herself, VERY CUTE!

Can't get out of the woods!

Before heading back to the city, we decided to have lunch by the water in the camp grounds. We had sandwiches and fruit. YUM YUM ! Rae is a blast

November was BUSY!

We did a lot in November and one of my memorable moments was CAMPING with your Church family. Yes, "church" people can be cool! It was VERY cold, and this is the Canadian talking here...and I am serious! As you can see our poor baby needed to have like 6 layers on! We had a GREAT time though, walking, fishing, camping firing....And we are about to get ready for our spring trip --- stay posted for pics!

I LOVE APPLESAUCE, she says! Which she totally does! This is back in NOV 2006 --- I cant believe its been that long ago!! Rae also loves wearing her hair in pigtails, (mommy actually likes to put them in !)

My Favourite Tree

So, here I begin our updates! I apologize for the LONG delay! Life has been hectic, but that is no excuse it stay out of touch. These pics were taken outside our home in Desoto, TX the day after Thanksgiving, (which is in NOV here) . Great Nannie Case got her this outfit for her FIRST birthday!! THANKS NANNIE! !

UPDATE ! Finally...!

Sorry friends that I have not been updating! I soon will with pics and videos! We have been so busy lately -- hasnt everyone though? We are expecting our second child if you have not heard yet, in August -- a little ways away, but we know how fast time goes, so we are trying to get ready now. I am really pushing my home-business which is going really well and working part-time at the fitness club,downtown dallas, Sedona. Rae is well and growing at incredible lengths. She has her own language and dance moves -- they're awesome! She blows kisses and says DA DA to Daddy and DA DA to Mommy --- She has learnt how to put her toys away and how to tell me when she's had a poo-poo! She reads with the books right side up --- *and she can tell they are right side up, I dont know how!!! And can sing along with the ABC's. She does the actions to itzy bitzy spider and twinkle, twinkle little star and patty cake!! OH, and she loves The Wheels on the Bus and really tries to get those ones! She eats with a spoon and fork and knife! *kiddin'* But she is quite coordinated! I better get back to work -- more later! w/Love

Rae Mae Swingin' PART ONE

STATE FAIR

Martins go to the TEXAS STATE FAIR

1000 guitars of praise part TWO

here are we waiting to reherse. we sat there for over 3 hours!!! LEFT : is my friend Charla who we happen to bump into there ! 

1000 guitars of praise!

About 3 weeks ago Matt and I joined approx. 998 other guitar players to play inthe largest acoustic guitar concert ever! It was great! We took the train downtown (for a change) and spent the whole day down there. We had a great time. We played PRAISE and WORSHIP and the LORD was glorified !!! Alleluia !I hope to have another chance at it again--!  

1000 guitars of Praise!

This was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced! About 3 weeks ago, my wonderful husband and I joined approx. 1000 other guitars players at reunion arena for the largest ever , acoustic guitar jam !! We played PRAISE And WORSHIP and listened to some expectionally talented musicians! It was fun! And the LORD was glorified! Alleluia !!  

Me and my cousie Lauren!

I had a blast with cousie at my BDAY party ! So she was the one that was making me wear that hat ! HA ! For those that haven't been here, this is our back porch. Gotta love that fake grass ! ! Just Kidding! I do love our yard ! Its huge! And alot of grass to cut! 

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE !

 

Ma older sista! and her kiddos with Rae !!!

 

Homemade Freezie's! YUM !

I could tell Rae loved these!! She started to take them from Ben and Charlie!  

CUTE PAIR

As promised I am still putting pictures from our trip to Canada that took place almost two months ago! It was great! We are getting very excited as Rae's first birthday approaches. We are having a bash here and I think her cake will be carrot! yUM!  

Swinging!

Yes, we are swinging in the backyard in the middle of July and Rae has a sweater on -- crazy, I know, but I needed to borrow long pants and sweater from Dad when I was heading up north cause I didnt bring any with me! Rae loved the swing -- she probably could of stayed there all night!  

Kisses

Aunt Sharon (my mothers twin) and Ramona got to spend some extra time together!  

Splashing Around...

3's company -- they all fit just right. Splashing and having fun in Carmen and Chris' backyard in Northern Ontario.  

Fiona and Mommy

Fiona in the sling that I made Carmen. Snug as a bug !!!  

Fiona Jane

Aunt Kerry and Fiona relaxing in the backyard --- Perplexed look! 

Another kodak moment

Charlotte Shakespeare -- What a beautiful girl !?!? 

Sweet Fiona Jane

Sleeping away @ 8 weeks  

FUN IN THE SUN

Cousin Jon with Ben and Charlie and Carmen putting raising the roof!!!  

Beautiful Friends

Reni holding Rae and Mike holding Miah --- what a kodak moment! ! Totally loved seeing ya'll !! 

Turtles and BIG SMILES

Our beauties in their swim vehicles that were well received. 

Ramona and Miah share...

..or try to at least!! Ramona had some company when we were in Canada. My great friend, Reni, her daugher, Miah and more ol'friends gathered and had a great time with the kiddos! Its was SO fun to watch Rae and Mi together. I can't wait to get together again! 

THE CUTEST SWIMSUIT EVER!!

Isn't this just @#I$(^#$*U^JJGKTJRU^(#@$^*GWS -- sorry, don't have real words for it. She is just too much in this suit. This was a gift from Dad's girlfriend, Dianne! Thanks Dianne! My favourite is the cap --- ohhhhhh soo adorable! 

Dear Michelle

My dear friend Michelle and Ramona in Aurora! What a cute couple!  

Oh how I love my Ben and Charlie!

Here are more pictures from the trip to Canada, I know I am taking awhile getting them all online, thanks for being patient. There are SOO many more to come, please keep checking back for more. This is my niece and nephew, Charlotte and Ben in Papa Pete's hot tub -- yah --! Hot tub in the summer in Canada, I wish! *lol*  

Ramona dances and shares!!!

WOW !! Ramona has developed so much so fast, I can barely remember her as an infant and I think it will just keep going this fast til she is a teenager. I don't know. These 9 months with her have been something that I longed for many many years. I am so incredibly happy there are here and I am sharing this all with my dear husband, Matt. (awww, everyone calls my cheesy) Okay, so the newest things with Rae are: -She knows how to dance! I am NOT kiddin you. For example two days ago she was in the living room playing with an instrument (little rattle thingie) and was kinda sitting on her heels. Well, we were watching Oprah (confession) (we DO not watch a lot of TV at all, that is the ONLY show when we happen to be around a TV -- I am obviously feeling guilty) BUT besides the point, this commercial comes on with this real beaty music that is just pumping, I was in the kitchen for a brief moment and something just made me to and take a peak at her -- well as soon as the drums kicked into the music, I saw her start rocking back and forth -- it was SSOO adorable, she wants to move and groove to the music -- that's my little girl!!! wwoo hoo Rae! She gets great lessons from her cousins ( Hannah and Rachel ) who love to dance! ADORABLE, cant wait to get footage of that! NEXT: - Sharing. Yes at 9 1/2 months she is beginning to learn all about sharing. How do I know this? Well I have first hand experience to prove it. Yesterday she was sitting on my lap and she has a carrot in her mouth, nibbling on it (snack time) as well as her paci that is attached to her. I just thought it would be funny to put the paci in my mouth and have fun with Rae. Well she immediately reached for it out of the mouth, and pop, it came out. So I smacked my lips and she put it BACK IN MY MOUTH !! Adorable - YES ! We played that for awhile. !! And THEN, I wouldn't take the paci anymore and asked for CARROT and opened my mouth wide and she put her carrot in my mouth and I took a bite -- that came as a shock to her, like she was upset that I bite her carrot, but once she saw me smile and chew the carrot she was OK with it! She shared her carrot!! I just couldn't help but be so amazed !!! And I guess this is when it all starts, so perhaps some people don't find it as exciting! But I AM! She is THE neatest little person I know! I am just so anxious each day to see what she will do next! What an amazing time its been..I cant believe in a few months she will be 1 year old! WHAT -- how can that be?? I just had a baby! Just to be as cheesy as possible -- SHE WILL ALWAYS BE MY BABY! Thanks for reading! Be well. the mama

See the Smoothie! Want the smoothie!! YUM

Rae likes to eat and drink what I am having, so I better make'em healthy, so yesterday we blended up some fruit and I decided she can now have some of whatever Mommy is having ( I was hestiant for awhile) So she actually gluped like she does when nursing and drink so much then when she smiled it came out the sides of her mouth! TOO FUNNY ! I got some videos clips of it too. Click here to get to the video page. There are many pages, but sure to scroll through to find the one you are looking for. OH ! and the onesie! Thank you Aunt Sally and Jeff -- She looks great as a Toronto Maple Leaf Fan !  

I want to eat the Ducky Book !

This is Ramona's favourite book and she needs to be supervised cause she likes to eat it, and well, as you can see, that material isnt really nutritious. We eventually just cut off the tag where is closes the book together, cause we didnt want to take any chances! What a hoot she is! fathers day 2006  

Strike a Pose!!

Speechless I was when I saw the pic my friend took of Rae in her new handmade dress. She is a complete HAM and obviously LOVES the camera. Too cute for words! Am I allowed to say that??? 

BIG SISTER NOW !

Charlotte holds Fiona for the first time!!! TOO CUTE ! 

MY NEW NIECE!!!

May I introduce to you, Fiona Jane Shakespeare. She was born on Friday, June 16th @ 12:15 am. She weighed in at 6lbs 13 oz ! And I think around 20 inches or so in length. We don't know where her hair came from as Mommy and Daddy both have fair hair, skin and eyes! What a surprise!!! Holding her is my nephew Benjamin, and the middle sibling (not shown) is Charlotte. They are thrilled to meet their new baby sister and I cant wait to hold her when I go to Canada in 4 weeks !! YAY ! WELCOME FIONA JANE ! 

KITCHEN

YAY !! We have a kitchen, with a stove AND a dishwasher !!! YIPPIE!! So far all we have made is pizza, but it was yummy -- on our cooking stone that we got from our wedding and never had the chance to use !! It does pizza so well ! The kitchen is great, with loads of space and a 1950's oven, ( not shown ) and it works like a charm ! We are sssooo blessed !!! We arent going to re-do the kitchen as we will only be here for one year, but its definately gives you the country feel ! 

NEW ROOM!

Daddy and Rae in the wicker basket in her new room!! YES -- her very own room! We are going to paint it yellow, we are very excited. More pics to come when the project is finished!!  

Ramona and Gabe, up to no good!

Anything that is not a toy seems to be the most interesting these days!!! Yes, those are maganizes! OH NO, NOT paper!!!  

Our First Swim Class !!

YAY! This is our ol' friend Gabe, who Ramona hang out a lot with when she was wee-little and my friend Laurette. We have signed up for a baby's swim class and its a lot of fun! We were teaching them how to blow bubbles in the water and how to fall into Mommy's arms from the step at the edge of the pool. Rae didnt quite get it, but I am sure she will come around. It was her first time, and she did great! She does love the water, just like her Mama! We are recovering from being sicky. Rae is much better than I. I am on anti-botics, YUCK! But it was too late -- with the lack of sleep and moving, it just took hold of my body and I got an infection. OH well. Build anti-bodies! We look forward to our next swim class on Saturday! Thanks Laurette for finding the place!!! 

Mother's Day Smiles

I am a little slow getting these pics on the blog, but this one is from that special Sunday. Its one of my fav's. 

goo goo ga ga

Its more than just sounds, she is really trying to talk to us. Lately at the dinner table, Ramona loves to talk to us in her, ma ma ma ma and da da da da sounds, we like to think she knows what she is saying, however I don't think she is quite at Mama and Dada yet, maybe..Not sure. But its just amazing to listen to her sounds and watch her expressions, especially during meal time. She is really starting to understand us when we communicate to her. We can see that she knows when we are home, cause she gets all excited to be in her chair and be familiar with her surroundings. She sometimes becomes shy when people are trying to coo at her, she snuggles into Mommy like a bashful little koala bear. makes me melt Its incredible the little person she has become. She has preferences and likes and dislikes, especially with food and people and the best is when she mimics an action we show her! She is a HAM!!! She loves to crawl into bed with us in the early morning and laugh and snuggle with Daddy. She doesn't actually crawl into the bed, but you catch my drift. Its important to spend time together as a family as often as possible and so we manage to get our time in , in the morning. Its a nice start to the day. She is adventurous and finding all the different parts on her body that do different things, one of the latest is her hair! Its so funny when she feels her hair on top of her head, as if she was an old man stratching the top of their head. She loves to feel things by stratching them. It becomes painful when me or Daddy is the ginuea pig. What a time this is --- She crawls everywhere we delight and determination. She wants anything that is not a toy, especially shoes. She likes to stand where able, but shortly falling not knowing how to balance herself yet...That can become painful to Mommy's ears. I do try to protect her falling, but there are those times that I miss and she falls and its quite the scene! Soon enough she will be able to balance on those cute feet and fall on purpose for attention. Thats another one of her favorite things to do is cough (not a real one) as many times until I am giving her my full attention. How did they get that smart?! Amazing. More next time. Ta-ta for now!

Mother's Day

My 1st official Mothers Day was great! It feels good to be called a Mother having experienced Motherhood so far, I have realized the true high calling of motherhood. Its not just a job and someones gotta do it, no, its WAY more than that. Its investing yourself into your little person, with faith that they will grow in the values and morals you have trained them in. So what a great picture from God of putting your faith in something. What is faith? Believing in something you cannot see, but having enough faith to believe its there. Just like giving our lives to growing and training our children, that we might not see results right away, but we must have FAITH that the seeds we plant will grow as we as Mothers (and Fathers) nuture (water). Wow. What a plan! I am excited really excited -- about LIFE! of course it was a hard day, but not hard enough to rejoice with how God has redeem my life. -- ALL the credit goes to God. He transformed my life, and he can change yours too. Here are so fun things I found about Mothers' Day... ... is for the million things she gave me,

... means only that she's growing old,

... is for the tears she shed to save me,

... is for her heart of purest gold;

... is for her eyes, with love-light shining,

... means right, and right she'll always be.

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER," A word that means the world to me. --Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

Some Motherly Advice...

• Always change your underwear; you never know when you'll have an accident.

• Don't make that face or it'll freeze in that position.

• Be careful or you'll put your eye out.

• What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?

• You have enough dirt behind those ears to grow potatoes!

• Close that door! Were you born in a barn?

• If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

• Don't put that in your mouth; you don't know where it's been!

She sees it...she wants it....

and she GOES for it! I CANT BELIEVE SHE IS NOW MOBILE!!!! What have we created??? 

7 months !!! I AM CRAWLING

This is new news folks! Yesterday, Cousin Lauren and I were over at Peggy's house where she took her first complete move in crawling and as soon as she figured out that placing her hands like so, she wanted to keep on moving! She did great! YAY RAE! So -- no more leaving her on the carpet with some toys while I go to the bathroom or run out to the car, when I did that, she was all the way over on the other side, eating Nonnie's wicker basket! YIKES, those things can really hurt! She is just a blast! Growing so big so fast! I can't believe it HOW fast it goes the first little while. I love to just stare at her and relish in AWE of our God who created us in his image, HIS IMAGE! My little girl is in the image of GOD! -- so are you and I too -- I can never really grasp that reality. Can anyone? I see that babies are a gift and a blessing and a miracle. How we all are, caused we were all created the same way and entered the same way (for the most part) Well, I dont want this to turn into a sermon, but at 7 months I wouldn't change a think about motherhood, cause in everything I have grown and seen the joy that new LIFE brings. To God be all the PRAISE ! 

Swimming, swimming in my swimming pool, when days are hot, when days are cold, in my swimming pool....

Do ya'll remember that song? I do -- even the actions! So on the last day of April, Ramona and I felt it was nice enough togo in for a dip in the 'cool' water (the texans say...) It was actually probably 75 in the water, which is nice for us Canadians. I think it was close to 90 out. Nice nice sun! I made a sling to put her in so she can't move anywhere without megoing too. It was fun, she played with the water and the toys and she seemed to like that. The hard part was getting her bathing suit on. A bikini! What a hoot! Daddy did it, now that was what we needed pics of. He tried his best and got it on (for the most part).We are so blessed to have a pool right in our front yard! YES - our front yard! Thank you Pulis' -- we are so thankful for ya'll, we could never express it in words.Rae was really pleasant and probably could've played longer if itwasn't for nap time and I didnt want her to spend too much time in the sun anyway, with that fair fair skin -- I put loads of sunscreen on --but I wanted to get her in before we start out our swimming lessons next month! I will be sure to update on that !!Hope all is well with you and yours.Be Blessed!TheMaRtINs 

Rubber Duckie, you're the One!...

I get you stuck in my mouth! And she wants to make all sorts of noises with it in her mouth. The first time this happened, I thought it was stuck and I freaked out...but little did I know she likes the whole head of the duck in her mouth or she gets even more frustrated! What a hoot she is! Seriously, you try to take it out and it wont come out, unless you tug real hard! APRIL 2006 

I can JUMP ! !

Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy... Ramona LOVED the jumper ! It took sometime to figure out why Mommy put her in this thing, but once she realized she could up and down, not just side side, she had a blast !! Thanks for Roman for sharing ! For the video of her jumping around, click HERE  

weekend drive

So Rae, Matt and I hit the road on Saturday morning, the day before Easter, and headed for East Texas. It was time to get out of town. We didn’t go all the way to Louisiana, but it was still nice to get a way and see some of the country side. It was fun. On our travels we came to an animal farm called Texotica. Yes, your right, an exotic animal farm. We looked at what we thought were longhorns, but the huge, pointy horns were not ones found on native longhorns, Matt thought they might be from India or someplace. We wanted to get a picture. We turned around on the highway and stopped along the access road. As we stepped out of the car and you could smell the exotic animals, oohhh how you could. Eeeewwwwww. Once the big horned mammals noticed what we were doing, they weren’t for it, so they slowly started to turn away and move in the opposite direction to where we had the tripod all set up for a photo. Now, not only were their huge, horned beasts at the farm, there were also camels. Yup – the ones that spit. But we didn’t think riding them would be wise and by my husband reaction to them approaching us, it wasn’t a good thing to get close to them. So, they liked us and came to the fence, putting there heads through the fence to smell, eat whatever the ground had to offer. We jumped in the car and looked safely through the window at these exotic bumpy animals. This is a quick photo – “hurry before the camel eats us!” Now, Matt really wanted a photo of these crazy horned beasts, so we drove around to the side of the fence to where they were headed to get a photo. What do you think he is thinking? “Man, these horns are heavy! Could I just put them down, just for a little awhile??” So we got the photos and Matt was heavy. The rest of our afternoon was great ! And on our way back to the Dallas area we stopped to get a glimpse at the beautiful wildflowers. Texas is neat in this spring season. There are loads (should be if the winter is generous in rain) of wildflowers along side the interstates. There wasn’t a lot of rain this past winter so they aren’t as nice as they were last year, so we were on a mission on this road trip to find a patch of good blue bonnets (Texas state flower) to get some photos of. So on the way out we took notes in the car of the patches that were picture worthy and then on the way back we would stop at the best voted patch. So decided on the best blue bonnets and headed towards them and as we were getting off the highway to turn around we found this plentiful patch underneath the overpass! They were beautifully blue and untouched ! (when people take pics then tend to squish the blue bonnets and don’t look so good for pictures after that) So we pulled over and got out the gear to take these great photos.

They was a very steep concrete hill we head to trek up, and once we were there it felt like we were in the middle of the highway ! It was SOO loud!! But lil’ Rae did great ! We put on her little bonnet and took a seat on the wildflowers. Matt took a couple test ones…

Rae loved the flowers and couldn’t help but touch them and even try to put them in her mouth…

Just the three of us…. It was special day for the three of us! Thanks Matt for taking fabulous photos! YOU ROCK

Annual Easter Bash at the Butlers !

So once a year friends and family get together in a place in North Texas called Flower Mound; a beautiful suburb of Dallas. It kind of reminds me of my home town, Aurora, ON.

This Easter Sunday it felt like we were in Jamaica! It was soooo hot I couldn’t move without sweating but regardless of the temperature it was a great time!

We started out with a buffet style meal with all the fixins, ham, turkey, stuffing (canadian case-family recipe) lots of yummy casseroles, veggies, salads and of course dessert. It's probably best that I don't mention them; I don’t need your drooling over your keyboard.  

After our overly satisfying meal, we headed outside for the group picture (see above) and when everyone had bags and baskets, someone said, "on your marks; get set; GO!" and off everyone went across the street to the park outside the front of the Butlers house. I , unfortunately didn't start in the hunt right away, I was looking for my little girls bonnet that I did not find, but anyway, I did make it over to the park eventually and got a couple eggs cracked over my head (they are hallow filled with confetti) It was a blast! I did find some hallow eggs, along with plastic eggs with goodies inside -- yum yum! I did get to crack my husband with an egg, but it was really sad considering he was taking pictures and couldn't really move, or even try to get away, but I had to get him anyway.



I just love participating in good ol' fashion fun! By the time all eggs were found, it was time for the White Elephant game. For those of you who do not know what that is, it’s a game where you place a bunch of prizes in a pile and everyone playing gets a number. When your number is called, you get to pick a prize, the thing is, if the next person wants what you pick, they can take it, but only up til 3 steals, then the prize is frozen to the 3 'stealer.' If you get your prize taken, then you go and pick another prize -- nobody looses! Good deal eh?

Its all just fun, but I did loose a bubble machine, oh well, I can go get one.
Anyway good thing we got to head back into air conditioning cause it was close to, if not 100f, YES I did type correctly, 100! ! ! ! !! ! ! !! !
There is a cool front coming in, THANK GOODNESS, I almost cried! "It can't be that hot yet, no way, no how, pllleeasssssssseeeeeeeeeeee"

It was a great Easter; I hope yours was filled with family and laughter.

To Him be the glory,

Kelly      

Our Church Family

    This here is our beautiful church family. The body of Christ. And they are amazing men, women and children of faith. God has blessed us so much with this church family. It is a priveldge to worship and pray with them so freely in a land that has the opportunity to openly believe the bible and worship God. I frequently will forget the amazing standard to which we are called to in North America. We have been given the word (5.2 bibles in every american home) over and over again and we will be judged accordingly. So thank you, Covenant 08, you are a body of believers that I am SO blessed to know. I thank God for you daily, Be blessed! 

a little something i read...

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover. 

~Mark Twain

My First Rangers Game!

        This was on Sunday -- it was beautiful out -- little did we think it would get up to 85, as it was 50 in the morning! Very wild weather in the spring here, well actually I think its wild any season really. We were in the PERFECT seats. right on the 3rd base line, the first row that was covered by the overhang that was above us -- so thankfully we didn't have the texas sun beaming down on our fair heads. Most thankful for Rae. We did smoother her in sunscreeen and she wore at hat as well, but because of the shade and the cool breeze we could survive til the 8th inning and then we decided to be on our way and get ahead of the rush out. It was fun! I love that ball park, its really pretty. The real green grass and its in an open field, nice treat, compared to the buildings that I have always been use to being in. I wish the very best for those Rangers this year, but deep down, I am all for the Jays!!! GO JAYS GO! til the next ball game, 

First Food = Yellow Squash!

  I can't believe my mommy picked yellow squash for my first food --- i didnt really like it first, but then mommy mixed it with rice cereal and it tasted better after that. i cant wait to see what's next!!! (sweet potato!) 

I love your smile !!!

  6mon 

I HAVE TEETH !!!!

        These were taken 1 week ago -- end of March 2006 !!! Soon enough I will be able to eat real food !! Just like Mommy and Daddy !!!