Hattie Turns Six!

Mimi and Granddaddy's 10 Grandchildren from Oldest to Youngest!  I count it all joy that my two brothers and sisters-in-law have enriched our childrens' lives with an abundance of first cousins!  It's absolutely amazing to me.  Children are an inheritance from the Lord, as He says in His word, and to enjoy these children is indescribable.  I taught Eva Rose how to do a handstand in the water, Shepherd loves Lincoln-man and plays with him non-stop, and Hattie is only 2 short months older than Wendy, and Linc has boys to play with, and I could go on and on.  God is so good.  Our cup runneth over!

As Hattie Ruth was born on the 4th of July, Baby, we had to, HAD to ;), top her present with red, white and blue!  She had lost her purse and wallet, so the kids and I had fun shopping for a new purse and wallet for her--and we love Model Magic, too, so we through that in as well.

Newest Love in Our Lives---Henry.

Hattie chose Build-A-Bear and Rainforest Cafe for her actual birthday.  Of course Wendy was all about that!!!  Mimi kept the boyzzzz....

 Bonding with Henry.  

 Bath-time in Granddaddy's tub is the bomb!!!

 The next day, I got together with Julie and her precious daughters, and we squeezed in tons of recreation and chatting!  Well, as much as we could with these lil' ones!  Below, check out Stella's amazing smile!

 Izzie-Gal...

 Above, hot summer day fun--functional fun!  Free fun!
Cool story now.  Ready?  Okay.  Below is the original art piece I did in high school, which I took to state competition, and more importantly, reflected my spiritual growth as the Lord wooed me to Himself.  James, whose kind spirit never ceases to suprise me, had it framed for me for my birthday a few years ago.  Unfortunately, our moving company (moving us from Washington state back to Texas), butchered our move and lost it.  I was so sad!  I felt violated only because it's personal, it's my art, you know, and it was the one thing he asked them to crate and to care for, as "it's special to my wife."  More of the story---scroll down...

 Doing all we could to try to track it down, and finally giving up, James and my mom suggested I recreate it in order to feel restored.  I knew it wasn't the original, but eh, why not?  So, from a photo of it, I did just that.  The process was therapeutic, and I began to feel a sort of amusement, not knowing who had "Cross Man," (not the real title), and hoping it would be a blessing to someone else, as it was to me.  I realized that this amateur art work had become an idol to me, because it capped a very critical period in my walk with Christ.  Well, below is the impostor, which I think might be better, actually...MORE of the story below!  Scroll down...

 The weekend that James left for a wedding, which we'd all hoped to attend, the kids and I were so miserable with the flu and fevers in the 104's.  Well, my folks came to help me with my kids after I fainted from dehydration (oh, joy, right?!), and as I lay there, helpless and pathetic in bed, my phone rings.  It's "Vicki from Los Angeles, and I have something you may want!"  Well, I was clueless.  Is this a prank, a solicitor?  Anyway, I had created a blib on a website, "Missing Art Alert!" with my name and contact info, and this woman discovered my "Cross Man" in her storage after years, looked up the signature, and FOUND ME!  Anyway, I wound up giving it to her because I already re-did the thang, and felt that God wanted the original to take a journey.  She was stunned, I hoped I didn't burst her bubble of making my day, but she did make my day.  She reminded me that there are good people out there who want to brighten the lives of others with good news.  And rather than put her through the trouble of shipping it or whatever, why not let it go, right?  Just a neat "Message in a Bottle" type of event that actually happened to me!  Full-circle!  Cool!

 James loving on his daughter.

 The other night, Wendy styled Linc's hair!  He was okay with it, so this went on for quite a while~ ;)

 Wendy wanted to hike with an originally-styled back pack of sorts, which would carry Pooh Bear, so I obliged with shoe strings and a "snap-snap" of my camera!

 This week Wendy is testing (hopefully successfully) out of public kinder and directly into first grade.  We decided we need to cut expenses in order to get out from a house we own in Washington, so private school has to go for now.  I'm sad about it, but I realize it is the wise, necessary, decision.  I had called the elementary school to see if she could be tested or evaluated, and they had told me no!  That because she is five days too young for first grade (state law), she'd have to begin as a kindergartner (again) and then maybe be moved up at some point when the teacher decides it's in her best interest.  A good friend told me about this test THE DAY BEFORE the ONE WEEK, THIS WEEK, of testing out!!!  It's through Texas Tech, and man, it was a work of God that this is happening now for her.  She missed yesterday's testing since it was the first opportunity I had to call and see about it, and I was told that only if a child drops out, would she get a test, and that then, she'd have to make up Monday's testing Friday, along with Friday's scheduled testing.  I prayed so hard, and a child in her grade DID drop out!  And then I worried she might have learned differently at her private school, so eee, but she says it was "easy-peasy!" and the proctor told me she finished early enough to catch up some for yesterday already!  WHOOP!  Now, she has to score in the 90% or higher to automatically become a first-grader, public.  Please pray.  We are putting no pressure on Wendy, of course, but rather, are making this fun for her and have told her God's will is perfect so either way will be great.  I just don't want her to languish in kinder again.