Papers, papers everywhere...

Well, I finally finished this organization project idea that I got from pinterest.  I hate having all of those papers loose on the counters.  I needed a place to put ALL those things that come out of school folders each day, as well as mail, things to put elsewhere, etc.  I got the black folders and bin at The Container Store.  Let's see if it works!

My categories are:  

Sarah school

Shane school

Church

Girl Scouts

Boy Scouts

Steve

To File

To Scrapbook

Scratch Paper

I have a few more files in case a new need arises.  

  

Hard to beat...

Here is my view from my friend's lakehouse on Eagle Mountain Lake.  24 hours away from home.  Eating.  Talking.  Laughing.  And a little digital scrapbooking, too.

It's about WHO you know...

OK, so I recently finished this book called The Gifted Sophmores by Terri Blackstock and one idea from the book really stuck with me.  The idea, I accepted 7 years ago when I became a Christian, but I just thought the analogy was so clear, that I wanted to blog about it. 

In the book, three students survive an earthquake and they work together to witness to others about Christ.  Here is the excerpt from the book:

"Sandy, you survived for a reason.  The Lord loves you and wants you for His own.  He sent us to tell you."

"I want that," she said. "I really do.  I've studied Zen Buddhism and Eastern religions.  I almost became a Hare Krishna. I even read the Koran and tried to see if that would fit my life...but none of it did."

"Christ is the only way." Mo's words brooked no debate.  "He's the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father except through HIm.  It's like, if you wanted to get into a really great concert, you'd have to have a ticket or something, right? But if you don't have a ticket, you have to know the right person to get in.  If you know somebody who's, say, in the band, you can go right in, get treated like royalty, enjoy the benefits of being a friend. But you don't get in because of who you are. You get in beacuse of who you know. It's that way with Jesus.  We can't get into heaven through Buddha or Hare Krishna or Islam...only through Jesus. If we know HIm, we get in..."  page 79-80


This was not her best novel.  I love her suspense thrillers much more than this quick read.  But again, this message from the book has been on my heart and I wanted to share it.

KGE Sledding 2011

Back in early February 2011, we returned home from our week long ski trip in Utah.  The kids were excited because they had an extra 4 days off from school because of snow.  Below is a video of what they did on one of their days off.

It's that time again...

time to start working on holiday cards!  I just saw a great deal for 50 free cards from shutterfly!  I use shutterfly blogs for my girl scout troop and community group.  I have ordered their holiday (Christmas and Halloween) cards in the past and they were great quality and affordable.

To check it out ..click here

SPROWLS Family Reunion

We flew to Pittsburgh, PA the last weekend of July to a Sprowls' Family Reunion.  It was in a tiny town of Claysville, which is about an hour SW of Pittsburgh.  We stopped and took a picture in front of this little hardware store that bears our name.  We had never met any of these people, (who pronounce their name (SprOWLS, like the bird) and went with the anticipation of tying our family to theirs.  They all come from a brother, Arthur Sprowls.  We think we may come from another brother James or John.  Steve can only trace his family back three generations to Benham, Kentucky.  He is hoping the family historians that we met can help him connect the lines.  The family was amazingly hospitible and we had fun seeing our name around town.  Sarah was excited that there were 2 other Sarah Sprowls in the family! 

God's Splendor

Beautiful sunset from the 34th floor of the Venetian Hotel in Vegas.  Breath-taking!!

Viva Las Vegas!

Our good friends Renee and Lee got married this past weekend in Vegas.  Renee's daughter, Kate, is Sarah's best friend.  It was a fabulous wedding; Elvis actually married them.  The wedding was creative and funny!  Here are some pics of Lee and Renee McDowell.

I took these!

Well, most of them anyway.  Sarah took the one of me by myself.  We went out to Nash Farms and Botanical Garden in Grapevine to get some new photos!  Both of these great, beautiful locations are on Ball St.  Exciting to be able to capture these and to use my camera!

Misc

We have had such a fun year this yearas Brownie Girl Scouts.  On Saturday, we went Ice Skating at Ice at the Parks in Arlington.  Then we drove to Camp Timberlake to check out the facilities.  Sarah and 3 friends are going there June 20-25 for Resident Camp.  6 days away from home!  She is both a little anxious and excited.  I know she will have a great time, but how we will miss her.  Especially Shane.  He asks many times a day how long until she gets home from school.  He loves to play outside with her once she gets home.  On days when she has a playdate with a friend, he will get so disappointed and say, "She has been gone all day and now she doesn't even want to play with me!"  I think he will really enjoy being in kindergarten next year.

Three more weeks of school.  Wish it were over sooner.  We are all ready for a break and the kids are DYING for the pool to open.  It has been a fun spring, being home and not subbing very often! I seem to stay busy with too many other things, but LIFE IS GOOD!

Vacation

Well, Steve is on vacation for the rest of the month!  He was also off this last week, but he went to Dallas for training.  We recently bought a partial Home Vestors franchise.  So now, he is looking to buy Ugly Houses.  He is looking to supplement his Southwest income so that he can be home more, and fly less.  We just need him to fly enough for benefits.  We'll see how this new business adventure goes! 

Our Wii got so hot earlier from being played all day by him and the kids, it kept freezing up.  Sarah loves World of Zoo and they all play Lego Star Wars.  I took two naps and read 100+ pages in a new novel.  It was a great pj day for us all.  Wish we could have these days more often!

Dream

So, my dream for spring break was to do a little scrapbooking.  Haven't gotten to yet, but I did download the pictures from my cameras.  (All 3...my good camera, kid's camera, and my phone)  I found this great picture taken at Cowboys vs. Chargers game last December.  Wished I had found this when putting together Christmas cards.  Oh well...it makes a cute screen saver on my computer.

We've got COOKIES!

Well, it is day three and we have so many more to go with selling Girl Scout cookies.  When the first boxes arrived on our street, Shane started chewing on the Thin Mint box.  Sometimes, he is more dog than boy.  Of course I had to let him open it and eat some.  We have since finished off some Peanut Butter Patties and are well into a box of Caramel Delights (my favorite...caramel and coconut).  So day three, and I have purchased three boxes....this is going to be a long and fatty six weeks.  But it's for a good cause, right?

Anyway, if you want some cookies, we got 'em!

http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/cookies.asp -- Here is a link that describes the cookies we have. Carmel Delights, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Peanut Butter Patties, Thin Mints, Shortbread, Thanks-A-Lots, and Daisy Go Rounds. $3.50 a box.

White Christmas

What an exciting Christmas gift! On Christmas Eve, it started snowing and it snowed all day long.  My parents took the kids to the movies and I went to the mall for some last minute sale shopping.  Without the kids in tow, it was so fun being amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday shoppers.  I spent the day at my parents, just visiting and watching the kids play.  I was afraid that with the snow storm, Steve wouldn't be able to land in Dallas afterall.  I figured I would rather stay safe and warm at my folks than drive home and be alone on Christmas morning. 

Steve did get to land and we both drove home safely to spend the night at our own house for Christmas morning.  Steve had a reserve line for December, so we were unsure is he would be home for Christmas or not.  We were willing to celebrate late in order to have Steve home.  He got called in for a two day trip on Wednesday the 23rd.  Luckily, he got home Christmas Eve and didn't get called in for the next two days.

We all enjoyed Christmas together and had fun playing in the SNOW Christmas morning.  The new pics on my blog are from Christmas morning.  Steve was able to set up our camera to take a picture with the timer so we could get a family shot.  I am thankful that he is not as stubborn as I am and he is willing to read directions. :)

I LUV San Antonio

On Saturday morning, we decided to fly to San Antonio to watch the 5A state football playoffs.  Steve went to Trinity and wanted to support his team.  It was a great game and they won in overtime.  We were on tv at the very end for a family hug.  We have it recorded on TIVO.  I am hoping to get it off there and upload it on here.  We'll see.

We enjoyed the rest of the day in San Antonio.  The kids wanted to go the the Alamo and so we toured it during the afternoon.  We went to the Riverwalk for dinner. It was all decorated with Christmas lights.  So beautiful, but very crowded.  We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Cafe Ole.  They had changed their salsa and food wasn't too great.  Guess we'll try someplace different next time.  We stayed the night and went to the Riverwalk again for lumch on Sunday.  We tried the Texas restaurant and enjoyed great burgers!  We also took a boat ride through the river; this was the kids favorite part of the weekend. 

We had an easy time getting there and back home.  Maybe we'll try using our free flights more often.

Check out this blog...adorable craft ideas

I was checking on a friend's blog and she had this post...
"So a friend of mine suggested I check out her friends blog, and I love it! This gal has great ideas and is very witty. She is actually doing a give-a-way right now. Go on over and check it out."

Here is the blog...  http://www.barnesfamilylove.blogspot.com/

All you mom's of little, not yet kindergarten girls, you must scroll down to see the instructions for making tu-tu skirts.  Adorable!  Wishing mine were still little so she could wear a skirt like this (for half a second...then I remember all the fun we have now that she is older). :)

I decided to become a follower.  My job is over, so why not.  All I do all day is sit around, drink hot cocoa, and play on the computer, right!

Sad hamster news

A few months ago, I wrote a post about hamsters making great pets. Well, Whiskers died yesterday,and so now, losing two hamsters this year, I have changed my mind. :(

We got our first hamster, Princess, on Sarah's birthday in January. She came home from school one day in April to find that it had died. So, we took her to Petsmart and she chose one that had the same grey coloring, only a little fatter, and she named her Whiskers.

Whiskers started out a bit grumpy. Not quite as willing to cuddle as Princess was, but she got used to us (and Shane's "love you to death" ways). We enjoyed the Hamster Derby a few weeks (or was that months?) back and things were going well.

Right before Halloween, Steve noticed that she had a big black bump on her tummy. We thought it was an abscess. So, we took her to a vet in Southlake that treats hamsters. They are considered "exotic pets" and therefore cost a lot to treat. But, when your kids look at you and ask what can we do for her, of course, you call and make an appointment and pay the $5o office visit. They found that she either had an infection or a tumor. They gave sold us some medication if it was an infection, and said that it might help. If it didn't, then it was a tumor and because it was located under left leg, near her abdomen, they could not operate to remove it.

The blackness went away, but not the huge bump. It was about as big as a grape...which is big if you are only 3-4 inches long and weigh less than a pound. Well, now, three weeks later. She did not make it. We returned yesterday from a short road trip to Glen Rose, to find her very lethargic and breathing very heavily. We explained to the kids that she was very sick and that she needed to be cuddled and told good-bye. Sarah held her for a good hour or so and then we decided it was time for bed. Just as we were about to tuck in the kids (who chose to sleep in the dining room floor next to the hamster cage),Whiskers stretched out long, gave a little squeak and passed away. Steve told Sarah that the little squeak was hamster's way of saying "I love you." Steve also found a bible story that told about Jesus' ascension into heaven that helped us explain where Whiskers went. Steve's grandmother, Grammye, died 5 years ago, and it comforted the kids to think of her in heaven with a new pet.

How humbling it is to watch your kids go through a loss like this and not really be able to help them. It is so hard to hold a heart-broken child and not be able to "fix-it." At least we have the knowledge to explain that although it is not what we would have chosen, and that we don't understand why it happened, at least we can trust that God has a big PLAN of each one of us. And, somehow, this loss and pain fits into that PLAN.

Texas Waffles

We love to stay at hotels that include a free breakfast, espeically the ones that have make your own Texas waffles. We found this neat waffle-iron at the Texas store at Grapevine Mills Mall. Since life is so busy during the school/work week, I usually cook breakfast (pancakes or waffles) on the weekend. Sarah and I have started adding blueberries to our mix! The kids love to help mix, stir, and of course, flip the pancakes!

COWBOYS

Well, Steve's dream of being a Cowboys ticket holder has finally come true! He is super excited to have tickets for the 10 home games for the 2009-2010 football season. The new stadium is amazing. We have been to several concerts (Reba McIntire and Jonas Bros.), the Open House, and then to a few games. Since we only bought 2 tickets, Steve takes a different person to each game. Our seats are in section 201, row 6, seats 16 and 17. This is caddy-corner to the end zone. They have a great view of the field, the big screen overhead, and the cheerleaders. One of the pictures shows us all 4 sitting in our seats at the Open House. The kids were amazed at the vastness of the stadium and had fun going all the way to the top of the nose-bleed section. Another picture shows Steve with the tickets before he had to tear off the first one. Being the husband-of-a-scrapbooker that he is...he knew it was important to take a picture of the tickets before the picture was disrupted.

I enjoyed going to the Inagural Game against the Giants. I am not a fan, but it was impressive and exciting to be at the game. The enthusiasm of the fams was very contagious and we had a good time. One of the pictures is of a huge U.S flag that military service members unrolled on the field during half-time. Steve's sister Debbye bought a party pass for the game and had her picture taken with the Tom Landry statue.

Do they make a bed bigger than a king?

With last night's storm, I gained two extra people in my king-sized bed. At midnight, I finished a 3+ hour phone call with my mom and went up to check on the kids. Shane has been sleeping with Sarah a lot these days. She uses it as a bartering system when she has friends over. "Shane, if you let me and Kate play alone, then you can sleep with me tonight..." Pretty smart girl. I think she is comforted by him as much as he is by her. If she won't let him sleep in her bed, he sleeps outside her door in a little Star Wars tent. Hopefully they'll still get along like this as teenagers. I said hopefully. {picture to follow}

Anyways...when I went up to check on them, Sarah was wide awake, scared of the thunder. Steve was out of town, so I invited them down. I don't think any of us slept well. Shane was in the middle, but his knees and feet were on me the whole time. Next time, I think he is going sleep in the floor. I keep a pillow and blanket on my side of the bed so that when he shows up he has a place. Note, he came down often when he was allowed in the bed, but since I put out this blanket, he doesn't come near as often.

I read Cari's post about the 4 of them in the same situation, and I think they have a queen! Maybe I should just utilize the lock in the bedroom door?