Why The Old Songs?

I have absolutely NO CLUE where this came from, but I've had these songs in my head all day. I mean they're good songs - but like from 50 years ago maybe...

"Jesus, use me. Please, Lord, don't refuse me. Surely there's a work that I must do. Even though it's humble, Lord, help my will to stumble. Though the cost be great, I'll work for You!"

And what follows??? "I'll say yes, Lord, yes to Your will and to Your way. I'll say yes, Lord, yes. I will trust You and obey. When Your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I'll agree. And my answer will be yes, Lord, yes."

Ya think God's trying to tell me sumthin'?

The Office

I woke up this morning feeling so rested. I had a great night sleep, thanks to Gracie sleeping all through the night. I didn't have to go straight into the office today. I had to stop by the store for some office supplies so I took my time getting ready. Angel and Alliah ususally go to the Boys & Girls Club while I work but I decided to surprise them and take them to work with me today instead! They love coming to my office with me because they get to color and read and play on the computer. Of course playing on the computer is what they like to do best. And I can't forget to mention they like going to the little store across the street and the bakery next to it. Having them here is just another reminder of what great kids I have. They let me get my work done and played together so nicely. I didn't have to get after them not once. Yeah, I got GREAT KIDS!!!

My Birthday!

Photo #1 Me and my neice Isabella (Fermin & Crystal's daughter)
Photo #2 Isabella is sharing her thoughts with Grace & Tia Crystal
Photo #3 Me, my nephew Isaiah (Nicole & Corwin's son) & my Dad

Sunday Afternoon

I was thrilled to walk into the living room on Sunday afternoon to find my kids relaxing on the floor reading books and coloring. Even Grace joined in! I just had to pull out the camera to capture that moment. What a wonderful, relaxing afternoon that was. If you look in the upper righthand corner, you can even see Daddy (Larry) taking an afternoon nap on the couch. :D

And yes, Alliah is a few shades darker here, people. She spent a week in Fresno with Grama Silvia and came back DARK!! lol

Time To Eat

SWEET POTATOES
CARROTS

DID ANYONE NOTICE THE HAIRCUT? THE GIRL HAS SO MUCH HAIR IT WAS GROWING INTO HER EYEBALLS. DADDY WASN'T TOO PLEASED, BUT MOMMA'S THE ONE THAT HAS TO WASH IT AND BRUSH IT. LOL

Random Thoughts Tuesday

It's another Tuesday and it's time to dump out all of the random things that have taken up residency in my head.

1. My walking regiment. Yesterday was the first time in I don't know how long that I didn't take my walk. I had absolutely no motivation! I was going to ask Larry to walk with me to Starbucks but, eh...no. I did, however, go outside, open the back of the truck and sat on the bed with Grace to watch Angel and Alliah ride their bikes. It was such a beautiful evening that I at least had to go outside and breathe in the evening air. Yes, I missed yesterday, but I WILL walk today.

2. In-Laws. My in-laws are still staying with us. They've been with us since mid-April. Silvia and David came to help take care of Grace while I returned to work. There are days I still work from home every now and then, but I don't need to worry one bit about Gracie because Grama has her covered! Grace lights up whenever she sees Grandpa David. She loves him probably about 5-7 degrees less than me! He plays with her, sings to her, makes up songs on the piano for her... Grama Silvia can get Grace in a rolling laugh with her "boo!" and "I see you!". It's so cute to watch. Sometimes I'll walk in the house and hear them making all kinds of weird noises and jumping and clapping, trying to make Grace laugh. It's hilarious! I thank God for this time we have to spend with Silvia and David. Because they live in Clovis, Angel and Alliah have not spent a lot of time with them either. Now they're used to Grama and Grandpa being around. Grama takes good care of them. She always is offering them something to eat and Angel loves that. Alliah and Grandpa David play games, read books, sing songs, play piano and more. It's been a HUGE blessing to have them and we'll miss them when they have to go back home.

3. Church. This August I'll be returning to Music Ministry. I've been on a hiatus since last November. It's been a much needed break. It's been 21 years that I've been in ministry - without any breaks long enough to mention. Fifteen years in full-time ministry (wow that's long time). I think I'm ready to jump back in. I've had an itchin' for a while now so break out the backscratcher, Lord!

4. Friends. Life has been so busy that I haven't had time to meet with any of my friends. I have some of the best friends in the entire world. My best buddies are Lillian, Crystal, Erin, Bridgette, and Naomi. None of which I've had a chance to visit with in a quite a while. I wish I could just cancel everyone's schedules and all meet for breakfast at a quaint little restaurant or something. All of us live such busy lives. When we get together it's like oxygen is being put back into our lungs. All of them love the Lord completely and I always feel so refreshed and encouraged after talking to them. I love messaging them on Facebook or chatting via email, but I miss their hugs and I miss hearing their laughter. God, I thank you for all my friends and ask you to bless them, protect them, and meet all their needs according to your riches and glory by Christ Jesus.

Wal Mart

Larry rented some movies last week and hadn't returned them to Blockbusters so Alliah and I decided that we would walk them back. I try to walk at least a half hour each day, but I knew this walk would take us a little longer. We got our comfy walking shoes on and I strapped Gracie in the carrier and off we went. We talked, sang songs, stopped by the duck pond and I answered uh...about a million questions on the way there (Alliah is always full of questions). On the way back Alliah became thirsty. I told her I didn't bring any money with me and that she'd have to wait until we got home. As we were walking past Wal Mart I decided to pop in just to see if anything new had come in. Alliah LOVES going to Wal Mart. Alliah looked up at me and said, "But I thought you didn't have any money..." I replied that I didn't, but if there was something I wanted to buy that I would buy it with my good looks. :D She said, "You can DO that?!" I said sure I could and she gave me the biggest grin ever. We walked in, smiled at the door greeter and began to wander around the clothing department. I saw some pajamas that I LOVED (you know me and my pajamas!) and I picked a pair off the rack. She said, "You're really gonna buy those with your good looks, Mama?" I just smiled. She walked over to her section and said, "Okay, then, can you buy these?" We grabbed two pair of pants for her and my pajamas were in hand, so we went up to pay. Alliah was very excited to see how this was going to go down. She told the man, "My mama is going to pay with her good looks." The man raised his eyebrows at me as to say, "What? Are you for reals?" I smiled at him and pulled my ATM card out of my back pocket. Alliah let out a loud, "MAWWWM!!!" Now all three of us were laughing and I told Alliah that I had already bought something at Wal Mart with my good looks and people are only allowed to do that one time a year. The Wal Mart employee was laughing and said, "Yep, just one time!" As we walked out of the store Alliah looked up at me and asked, "Can you really buy things with your good looks?" I told her, "Baby, these good looks have gotten me A LOT of things. Your good looks will too one day, just wait and see."

For Reals

Okay, this is real life....today sucks!

Today's Post

Okay, so I skipped a few days....but what a WONDERFUL few days they were! We had a fantastic 4th of July. All of the family was together (both Larry's and mine!) and we ate, played games, watched the all the kids play, ate some more, and did fireworks. Ah, it was so much much. The kids had a blast jumping over the smaller fireworks and backing off when the big ones came out. My brother Fermin and nephew Pete presented the best fireworks show using stacked boards, buckets, ladders, holding the fireworks up with their hands like the Statue of Liberty. We even sang our national anthem as we watched the dozens of illegal fireworks light up the sky. We all were wondering how Gracie was going to do with the fireworks. She's never seen them before. We sat back quite a ways because we thought she'd be scared, but no! She was jumping up and down in my lap and laughing hysterically. So much so that I handed her off to Larry who can control that chunky monkey a little better than I can when she's that excited. Angel and Alliah are pros when it comes to fireworks. They're not afraid of nuttin! As for my birthday, my honey got me a five layer round chocolate cake from Rosine's with one burning candle on top. If you've never eaten cake from Rosine's, then you ain't never ate cake :D Rosine's is a restaurant on Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey known for it's enormous desserts. Don't eat a meal if you want cake. Seriously. It's HUGE! I'll post some pics of everything when I'm able. Right now I'm still at the office and have work to finish so I can go home. I hope you had a great 4th and have a great rest of the day.

This Weekend

I am looking forward to a wonderful weekend! Today is Thursday, which is my Friday, and I am ready for a four day weekend of fun, family, food and lots of rest. Tonight we're kicking off the weekend by eating out at Papa Chanos (a yummy mexican restaurant if you can't tell by the name), sleeping in tomorrow morning, then my sister Liz and her familia are coming to visit for the weekend. There's a family barbecue planned for Saturday at my dad's house and it's my birthday! Time to go get the kids ready to go out to eat so I'll write again tomorrow.