Fun Things to do in Texas

When I come back to Texas I will definitely include Parr Park. It is about 10 minutes away from Grandma and Grandpa's house. It has a ton of trails, two huge fields (one full size baseball and one full size soccor) and really cool playground equiptment.
Here are some pictures of the 'spider-web'. It was so cool that Abby spent about one hour on it alone. This park has bathrooms and drinking fountains. The trails that I went on were paved. It really seems like it would be a great family place for a wide variety of ages and activites. It is located off of Parr Park Lane in Grapevine Texas. Super cool place to visit.

Some, a small portion, of Abby's art work

KROGER

So lately I have found some really good deals around and I would love to share with everyone a few of Krogers deals. This week you can get 5 free items when you buy baby back ribs (guess what we're having for dinner?). There is a recipe for baby back ribs in the Kraft magazine that they just sent out that I have been dying to try. I even got the bbq sauce free at Walmart (I think you still can do that). Also they have started their Huggies promotion where you spend $15 in products then you get $3.00 off. They have their jumbo huggies on sale for 7.49, minus coupons (1.50)- $6.00 for a jumbo pack of diapers. I will be stocking up. I even have a few $3.oo off coupons. Yay! Happy couponing!

Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother

I have never so clearly seen the blessings of this great commandment. It is a great comfort to have such good righteous parents who care about me and lead me in the right direction. They are careful with me and truly want the very best for me. I am glad that they support our decision to move to Ohio. I hope that they both know that I cherish their advice and direction in my life. So often I don't think they know the far reaching effects of what they think about my life. I am so glad that they are active strong members and that they get on their knees every morning and pray for me and my siblings welfare, by name and situation. I am so glad that they are able to recieve revelation on my behalf. I am so glad that they are always willing to help me.

Josh and Abby

Josh turned six months old almost a month ago. In just 3 days he will be 7 months old. Just two days after he turned six months old he learned to sit up.


This is a video taken after he got a better handle on it. He has also started to suck on things more, although he is still not interested in solid foods. He and Abby fill my life with joy.
Abby has entered another really intense coloring phase. She spends an afternoon or morning or both coloring with all different media and then hanging it on the wall. I am constantly invited to come and color and hang it up on her wall. We have made some 'zoo's' and lots of families. It is nice to have her so passionate about something. I had a roommate that was the crazy artist type(Alyssa I'm sure you remember Missy). She would be gone for a weekend and come home with a beautiful peice of art. One Halloween she locked herself up in her room and later emerged with a fantastic costume. Abby has that same quality of locking herself up and coming out with amazing three year old artistry. I will post some picture of that later.

Really Really Bad Stomach Flu

After calling my doctors office yesterday and telling them about Abby they said that it sounds more like the really nasty stomach flu that is 'rampant' right now. But to watch her through today. She is not better, but she doesn't have a raging fever so it's NOT SWINE FLU! She is still vomiting, diahrea-ing, mild coughing (probably part of asthma), headachy, general achy, and still has a low grade fever and general malaise. The nurse said that the vomiting generally lasts 12-24 hours and the diahrea has been lasting about 3-5 days. Yay. Meanwhile everyone else is holding out. For now.

Dang It H1N1

Well both my kids are sick. Dang it. Both my kids have the symptoms of the flu. Dang it. My friend came over and was like "do you think that they have the flu?" and I said "no, they just have a fever and feel a little sick to their stomaches. The flu is a respiratory disease." Dang it. Then I checked the stupid symptoms of Piggy flu. Dang it. Guess we're not headed out for a week. Dang it. Hope my kids live through it and do get parkinsons when they are old. dang it.

Finding a Realtor

Several of you out there have bought a house. And some of you have bought more than one house. What are good questions to ask when interviewing/searching for a realtor?

Some good excerpts

Lately I have been reading "The Essential Family Guide To Borderline Personality Disorder" (look here for more info http://www.bpdcentral.com/index.php ). One of my mom's clients had an extra copy and gave it to mom and I just picked it up out of curiosity. It's been interesting enough that I am now almost finished. I was reading and two things really popped out to me.
The author, Randi Kreger, is quoting Carolyn DeRoo's "What's right with me" on page 137.

"Think back to some of the most important people to you, now and in the past. What have they said they appreciate about you? What compliments have you received during your life? Write down the answers. "You want to see the nice things they say about you in black and white," she says, "As you write, consider that these people, as far as you know, do not have a brain disorder that affects their perceptions and emotions. Doesn't that make their assessments more persuasive--or at least as persuasive as those of your family member?"

I never really considered this point of view before. I haven't really thought about wether the insults or the compliments given to me came from a sound mind that I trust. I have always felt that it is important that a person giving me advice should love me, know what they are talking about, and have my best interest in mind. I think that there is merit to it. The second quote from this book come from page 136-137. It is personally relevant. I found this to be true in my life and countless others. Again really well said and is a direct quote from Carolyn DeRoo in her book What's Right with Me.

"In this culture we are raised with the notion that if we do the right thing, things will work out for us. But some difficulties have nothing to do with us. We may be doing a whole lot right--even going above and beyond--but we're still struggling. When that happens, we feel bad about ourselves. We question if we did the right thing.
We need to disconnect from the belief that we're doing something wrong just because struggle still exists. We need to bear in mind that this is just a basic part of life, even thought it's not reflected out there in the media. And we shouldn't compare ourselves to others, because we don't know how things really are for them"

There is a lot to deal with in this paragraph. It is one of the most difficult lessons of my twenties. That good actions and intentions do not always mean we win or that it works out. Sometimes it just doesn't. However, I have also learned that it is better to try and keep working at it and do everything that you can. The reward is peace and if you are lucky success. I have learned to enjoy peace as a consequence and as a reward.

Stress

Adam and I both believed that we were done with the stress of getting into OPMC after this interview. I just talked to him and he has recieved a conditional acceptance. He has to retake the MCAT. The admissions dean told him that she was excited to have him on campus and not to worry just that he needed to retake the MCAT. That alone is pretty stressful. In the packet they told us that if we plan on attending OPCM that we need to make a $500 non refundable deposit with in 4 weeks. We looked up the next available MCAT date and it isn't until July 2. Adam is trying to get a hold of the admissions dean to see what can be done.