Sent chills down my spine!

So last night we had just left Chris' Nanny's home and were driving decently slow through a neighborhood street in Dallas about 10:30PM. The boys were asking me a couple of questions and I saw something in the distance that looked kinda fishy. As we got closer and my headlights made the road brighter, it became very clear what was crawling across the street...a HUGE (4-5in. leg span when crawling at least) Tarantula!!! That sent chills from head to toe (to a degree that I don't get very often), that's for sure! I grew up seeing these here and there, we even caught a couple of them, but you never really get used to seeing them if you ask me. They really do creap me out. So the rest of my drive home I kept getting a small itch here and there and I know it was just because I kept thinking about that spider! Good thing is I haven't seen one out and about like that in about 10 years or more so maybe it will be that long before the next one I see!!!

Aligators, Snakes and Vacation...Oh My! (PART 2)

Tuesday afternoon, after our morning of fun at Jump Zone, we all packed up again and drove to Houston for an Astros game! We had never been to the newer stadium so that was really fun....very nice! They didn't win but we still had a good time! The boys were beyond cute with their jumbled, mixed up sports questions/sayings they threw at us all night long. Here are just a few: Callen-"have they made a shot yet?", "did we make a touchdown?", Corbin-"how many points do we have?", "let's go see the court". Can you tell what sport they are into the most right now? (it's basketball in case anyone was wondering, we even have a basketball goal IN the dining room...what's a mom to do with 4 boys?) :-) It really was a great night and Chris even got to have a little fun with Kendal (the rest of us didn't know about it until after he got back)...Chris got up to go walk around with Cohen, because of course Cohen did not want to sit still, and while they were out and about the entire stadium, Chris would text Kendal and ask him if he could find them. I think he did pretty well, actually, finding them all but one time! A little game of 'where's Chris and Cohen' if you will! Next time I want in on the game! :-) Here are a few pics from the night.
Checkin' out how high up we are.
The train that 'goes' if they get a home run!
The field from our view above home plate.
In our seats.
Brothers excited about the game!Checkin' out the 'court'! :-)
In front of the Astros Boot.
Ridin' the escelator with Uncle Kendal
Havin' fun in the funny fold up seat!
Coming back from one of our 'million' bathroom trips! I kept thinking they were just wanting to go up and down the stairs but they really did 'go' every single time.
Riding on uncle Kendal!!

Check this out.
The next day we just hung out at the house and chilled...needed the rest from the past two packed days! That afternoon G-Daddy pulled out a bunch of water guns that he had bought for us all to have a water gun fight in the back yard. Of course the boys went crazy and had sooooo much fun. The pics tell a better story than I can!
Getting a lesson from Daddy on aiming and shooting!
Sneeky little guy!
Armed and Ready! :-)
No fear!!!
You want a piece of me?!!
You know I'm Bad!
Here I come!Bobbing for?...I'm just not sure.Cohen in the cooler, he thought that was so funny!
Cade chillin' in the cooler, I might too if I could fit!
Nanna-D joined in on the action!
The refil station.
On Thursday, we got up and went to the Gator Farm. That was a lot of fun! There are several ponds full of them and you can buy hot dogs and tear them up and feed them. The boys really enjoyed throwing hot dogs and seeing then come out of the water after them. We got to get up withing 6" or so of a couple of those gators. Then before we left, the head guy came and gave us our own little personal 'talk' and told us all about the place and we got to hold a 4 yr old 'baby' aligator and a 6 1/2 foot albino python. An experience I'm glad we got to share but pretty sure I never care to hold another snake that big!!! I'm sure though, with only boys our family other than me, there will be more snakes...and many other cool adventures I'll get to experience that I might not if I only had girls! :-)
G-Daddy and the snake.
SERIOUSLY!!! Somebody better get this snake off of me fast or I AM going to flip out on the outside instead of just the inside!!!
So cool and calm! Not me! :-)
And if you look really close, YES, the snake began to wrap himself up between Callen's legs! Didn't even phase him!
So brave!!! I was so proud of all of them!
And then there was Cade, holding onto the snake as if it is his friend! :-)
Not as bad as the snake...actually kinda cool!
I think it kinda flipped Nanna-D out though...that's ok! :-)
Can we take him home Daddy?!
I did it Mommy!!!
This is so cool (especially now that I've seen Cade hold it and everything was fine!) :-)
Poor sweet Cade, when the guy ask who wanted to hold the aligator first Callen piped up and said "Cade does" while Corbin just pointed over in their direction. Cade just stuck his hands out with a smile and was so brave!!!
Is that real? They all weren't sure that it wasn't alive! So cute!
AAAAHHHH! He's eating our arms!
Feeding the aligators.
One of the aligators waiting to be thrown a hot dog...or he may be hoping a kid falls in, who knows!

Great Home Guidelines!

So a friend of mine tagged me in a note on facebook and this is what it contained. These are Home Guidelines 'written' (I put that in quotes because some of these are just basically straight out of scripture!) by Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar. I knew they had a million (well, I guess only 18 or so) kids but we don't have cable so I really didn't realize that they are a strong Christian family. All of the things below are things we each 'know' we should do but whether we put them into practice or not is a different story. I just wanted to put them out there as a challenge to other moms who may read this. It was deffinately a reminder and challenge to me of a heart goal that I should be striving for each day as I love on, pour into, teach and take care of our 4 precious boys! Enjoy!

Always use soft words, even when you don’t feel well.
Always display kind actions and joyful attitudes, even if you have been mistreated. Have the right response by quickly forgiving others in your heart even before they ask.
Always be enthusiastic and look for opportunities to praise others' character.
Always deflect praise and be grateful to God and others for the ways they have benefited your life.
Always use manners and be respectful of others and their belongings.
Always do what is right, even when others may not, or when no one is looking.
Thank God for how He made you, for what He has given you and everything He allows you to go through. (Romans 8:28)
Don’t mock or put others down. Develop compassion and pray for others.
Never argue, complain, or blame. Quickly admit when you have done wrong and ask for forgiveness (even if you were only 10% at fault). Don't wait till you’re caught. Be sure your sins will find you out. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but he that confesses and forsakes it shall find mercy.
Have a tough accountability/prayer partner to daily share your heart with and to keep you in line (your parents, spouse). The power of sin is in secrecy.
Be attentive and look for ways to serve others with sincere motives and no thought of self-gain.
Think pure thoughts (Philippians 4:8, Romans 13:14).
Always give a good report of others. Don't gossip! Never tale-bear unless physical harm will come to someone. (Use Matthew 18.)
Never raise a hand to hit.
Never raise a foot to kick.
Never raise an object to throw.
Never raise a voice to yell.
Never raise an eye to scowl.
Use one toy/activity at a time. Share!
Do your best to keep your surroundings neat, clean and organized.
Never let the sun go down on your wrath. (Don’t go to bed angry or guilty)
Amendment J.O.Y. -
Put Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last.