Happy 7 Years

TIME SLIPPED AWAY FROM ME!

 

Our fabulous & fun Taydem turned 7 last Friday!

We celebrated with mexican food (her choice of course) and her BFF spent the night.  After we ate, we headed over to my brother's house and celebrated the FIRST SWIM in their new swimming pool! It's beautiful! The kids were so excited.  We all were! Dustin and Molly didn't get to use it much this summer, but just think of all the fun times in the future. Mom and Dad just got back from their vacation from New Mexico so we all got to see them as well.  So Taydem had a great birthday celebration.  Sunday, Taydem received her 1st grade bible and got her ears pierced! I got my ears pierced when I was 7 as well.  I wanted it to be her decision when she wanted to get them done.  And she decided it was time.  She sat in the chair and said "ouch." She's doing so good taking care of them too.  I knew she would. 

 

 

Let's see what else........

Oh yea, SCHOOL STARTED ON MONDAY! Taydem loves her new teacher, Ms. Fyffe.  She won't be Ms. Fyffe for long.  She is getting married over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Taydem thinks she is so pretty :) I'm excited for her new year as a first grader. I love all the back to school pictures on facebook and instagram! Too cute!

 

 

Leven's team is doing really well right now.  They are improving each game and that's what he is wanting! Today they are playing in the Groesbeck tournament and will finish it up on Saturday.  So the girls and I are going to drive to Mexia tomorrow to stay with Grans and visit with her and then see Papa and Nonna as well. Taydem is so excited & Tenlee is too!

 

 

My DIET DIVAS are finally having our girls weekend NEXT WEEKEND! This has been a long time coming.  We all said at the beginning of our weight loss challenge that we would have a weekend for ourselves if we lost a certain amount.  Well I forgot what that amount was as a group and I think by now we all really don't care, we just want a girls weekend AWAY! Since starting the DIET DIVAS, I'm down 20 pounds! Whoo-hoo! And I'm 3 pounds shy of what I weighed when I got preggers with Tenlee.  So I'm almost there folks.  Of course (as a dang woman) I want to lose about 8-10 more pounds as my final goal weight.  I'm just ready for a little get-a-way!

 

Please continue to pray for sweet Isabella.  She was careflighted to Dallas early this morning because her temperture got to high.  She's stable right now in ICU.  They knew to expect something like this, but not necessarily this soon. 

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/teamisabella/journal 

Continue praying

Please take a few minutes out of your day to say a prayer for our sweet friend Isabella Godwin and her fight with cancer.  This nasty disease has returned and she is fighting for her precious life again and she just turned the tender age of 4.  She is next door neighbors with my brother and SIL and her and her older sister Gaby (who is going into 2nd grade) attend the same daycare as Taydem and Tenlee. Please take a few minutes to read her story on her Caring Bridge site.  Her family is so precious.  They are from Carthage which is right down the road from Tatum.  So these two small communities are coming together for this family right now. 

Our God IS Greater!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/teamisabella

Spending that time together.....

Trever leaves for Lubbock on Thursday.  So we get him a few more days and we're trying to soak up as much time with him as possible.  Saturday he took Taydem to Color Me Happy! They had a lot of fun together painting and listening to The Story Lady tell the story about Olaf in Frozen. Afterwards he took her to eat at Raising Cane's.  Longview just recently got this restaurant. Taydem and Trever have a very special relationship (even though they are 13 years apart) and she's going to miss him so much! He gives her so much attention.  Just like that night, he sat on the couch and watched Aladdin with her. 

 

Aladdin movie watchin' (we made Leven come and join us)

 Family bonding time!

After church on Sunday.  Trever's eye is swollen.  He woke up with a sty or something on it! But he wanted a picture with Tenlee.

 Taydem turns 7 on Friday! She's so excited about her birthday.

 My "MAN CRUSH MONDAY"

 

 

It's been one of those weeks..........

Yes, it's been one of those weeks.  It's Friday.  Thank goodness for that.  But the beginning of the week wasn't so pleasant.  Tuesday afternoon late, a friend of mine that I grew up going to church with was killed in a tragic pipeline accident. He was a year younger than me and was married to the love of his life with 4 YOUNG beautiful children all under the age of 7. They still attended Mobberly Baptist Church (same as us) and we still saw each other pretty much every Sunday we were there, mainly walking around the nursery area. I found out the news on my way home from Leven's vollyeball game late Tuesday night.  Once I got home, I sat in my car and just cried and cried.  Connor Wilson was special.  He was good looking.  He was humble.  He always had a smile on his face.  He loved the Lord.  He was an amazing man.  And even though we lost touch with each other over the years, I knew he was the same person as we were in high school, but even better.  And now his sweet beautiful wife is alone with 4 children to raise.  And these kids.  My gosh, I am getting upset right now typing.  I know it was an accident.  But why? It just scares me to death.  It could be any of us.  I know that I will see Connor again one day.....

http://projects.news-journal.com/obituaries/2014/aug/15/conner-wilson-longview/    

 

Tenlee had her 4 month check up on Wednesday.  She had 3 more shots and she took them like a champ! Not one tear was shed! She kind of moaned a little bit! She's tough just like Trever and Taydem.  Our kids our rock stars.  She weighed just a little over 14 pounds and was 25 inches long.  She is eating ceral (loves it) and they are feeding her rice and daycare.  I'm going to start her on veggies next week and fruits the following week.  Chubs here we come.....

 

Taydem's Aunt Terri is amazing! If you didn't see that word, let me spell it out a little better for you....A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! She is taking Taydem to Disney World over Thanksgiving break this year.  If you didn't see that place, let me spell it out a little better for you.......DISNEY WORLD!!

 She's also taking her mom, Taydem's GRAN's, with them! I am so excited for Taydem.  This is so special for her getting to go with these two woman and get to spend 5 days with them at this magical place! I hate that Leven and I aren't getting to go with her, but to be honest, we may not ever be able to afford to take her! I am so thankful that Terri is doing this.  It brings a smile to my face everytime I think about it.  I can see Taydem right now.  I'm gonna have to send a camera with her! So the pictures below is Aunt Terri with the girls! And we love her so much!  

TRB's

Here's a little update on our precious Tenlee Rose:

 

She rolled over on August 2.  Which means she had just turned 4 months on July 31.  She rolls from her tummy to her back.  Baby girl doesn't like being on her stomach so she rolls to her back as quickly as possible. She smiles. A LOT! Especially at her Momma and her sister.  Probably because we are both cra cra! Especially her sister! Taydem loves to try and make her laugh. 

So..she laughs. A LOT! Her little giggles are the best. Sometimes Taydem gets so in her face trying to make her laugh that it scares Tenlee then she starts crying.  Well then Taydem gets her feelings hurt and then she starts crying because she thinks she did something really terrible to Tenlee.  Geez! Girls....(this just happened yesterday).

Well then I think it's funny and I laugh!

Tenlee has moved up to drinking more formula at her feedings. [6 oz] I should have already started feeding her cereal, but she hasn't gone to her 4 month doctor visit yet (she finally goes on Wednesday).  So I just kept putting off the whole cereal thing. I bought her some today on my lunch break.  My sister has been wearing me out about it.  Baylee has been eating ceral for like 3 weeks now and eating some baby foods.  But I'm just taking my sweet little time with Tenlee.  I'm thinking tonight I will try it out with her. I also just bought size 2 diapers.  It's just hard to believe how fast time goes.  This child was just in my belly! She is into grabbing.  She's like a cat.  Anything that is in front of her she's going to try and reach out and grab.  And then it usually heads towards her mouth.

The question on everyone's mind:

who does she look like?

 The picture below was on Saturday at the volleyball scrimmage. We have another little gym rat on our hands.  Thank goodness the Lord blessed us with easy going kids.  She fell asleep with 2 whistles going and 4 teams of screaming girls in a loud gym.  What baby does this? A Barker baby! I tried to muffle her ears as much as possible. 

Those whistles had her going crazy at one time. 

And I'm trying to love up on her as much as possible at this age.  I love rocking her and YES I take plenty of pictures because it will help me remember our cuddle times.

 We finally got to see Trever Rance ! Gosh it's been forever.  Well it's been ALL summer for sure.   His summer class is finally over and I know he's super relieved about that.  Calculas II is forever behind him! He headed back yesterday to Palestine for one more week of work there and to say his goodbye's to his mom and sister and brother and then he will come stay a few more days with us next week. 

 Then he will make the long drive to Lubbock. 

Look how grown up and handsome he is!  

My sweet Taydem

My sweet OUTGOING, no filter, loving, friendly....Taydem!

She turns 7 here pretty soon.  Her personality is her daddy made over.  She has always, ALWAYS, been an outgoing kiddo.  But my gosh, it is shining through more and more as she gets older.  She is NOT shy one bit.  She will talk to anyone and has no filter.  She has more confindence (just like Trever) than any 7 year old that I know. And the girl LOVES to eat.  She has actually put on some pounds this summer for the first time in her life.  I think it's because we have been stuck in this apartment and she hasn't been able to run and play that much. (The picture below is so perfect) But with her outgoing personality comes this sweet loving soul.  She will take care of Leven and I when we are older.  She hugs and kisses and is so affectionate. She has the best manners.  When I see her sweetness and when I hear her say "thank you and yes mam and yes sir" I wanna pat myself on the back.  I get it now.  And I know that Leven and I are doing good.  I just pray every night that I can continue doing good and that Taydem will contintue to be afraid of me until she's out of high school!! She just doesn't want to disappoint us.  And this is exactly how Trever was.  She's pretty much Trever made over.  Oh, and Trever is pretty much Leven made over. 

So I'm back to where I started. 

Trever and Taydem are their daddy made over!   

 This is Taydem's BFF, Julia.  Julia's birthday is also in August.  So we took them to celebrate their birthday's together this past week.....AirU and Olive Garden!

 

Best friend necklaces

In September, Molly and I are taking Taydem and Austyn to Dallas to get them an American Girl Doll.  We will stay in Molly's parent's condo in Uptown Dallas and have a girls weekend.  My mom and Molly's mom will also make the trip with us! Taydem and Austyn are so excited. 

I am too!

Painting with a Twist

Monday night we headed to Painting with a Twist. Mom and Danin had never been so I was happy for them to get to go! And of course they loved it and can't wait to go back.  They both kept saying, "next time I go I will do this different!" We had a fall theme and all of our pumpkins had our little flavor to it.  We had a good time getting to visit with old friends.  It's so hard to get to do things like this when you have kiddos.  And with 2 a days starting that day, I had already arranged for my cousin Whitney to watch Tenlee and Taydem was staying the night with her friend Julia.  So Leven had the night off.  I knew the last thing he would want to be doing the 1st day of 2 a days was babysitting.  I knew he would've been worn out....and he was! Tuesday and Wednesday nights he went over to my brother's house and took a dip in their hot tub!

 

The  "Diet Divas" are still at it.  Well a few of us are still at it.  Danin and I are still at it for sure.  I weighed this morning and I'm down another 3 pounds! Whoo hoo.  Finally. I was stuck on the same weight for a month (no lie). I'm not complaining because I wasn't gaining, but I wasn't losing either.  Just alittle frustrating when you are busting your butt working out and trying to diet and not seeing that scale move any. So it was nice to see the dang thing move this morning.  Now I wasn't happy when Leven brought in a whole chocolate pie last night.  One of his player's mom's made it.  She works at a bakery.  I only had a bite.  Very proud of myself!

And yes, it was delish!

Weekend Fun

We had a great time this past weekend with family and friends! It was so great getting to see my cousin Chelsea and her beautiful daughters from Houston...on and her hubby! Her mom and dad also made the trip up.  We will be seeing them a whole lot more...they just purchased some beautiful land down here in East Texas.  It's pretty much right in our back yard.  It's about 5 miles outside of of Tatum.  Gorgeous! And we are thrilled for them all! Friday night we all went to the Balloon Races and walked around in the misty nasty rain.  It was nice and cool! Roger Creager was wonderful. The man still has it.  Very talented.

 Kissin Sandwhich!

Leven started 2 a days on Monday.  He and I created a Facebook page to follow his team. Go find it and follow his team--Carthage High School Volleyball!

I LOVE this time of year.