Saturday at the GO Show

I know it's Sunday but I am writing about Saturday anyway!

Yesterday we decided to go by the fairgrounds and watch some of the GO Spring Horse Show. We thought Lauragale would enjoy watching some older kids and adults participating in the Hunter and Jumper divisions at the show. It was such a nice day to be out and we cracked-ourselves-up at how ignorant we were of the show circuit!! We were actually sitting in the stands during the jumper competitions using Curt's cell phone to Google all the different terms we didn't understand and trying to answer all our questions about the competition that we were ignorant of.

I tell you, this is a learning process... and an intimidating one at that! Just going through the barn and admiring all the beautiful horses was intimidating... as we made our way from one end of the barn to the other, we were noticing all the tack and other paraphernalia that is needed to care for and show a horse. I am pretty sure I was walking around with my bottom jaw dragging the ground.
Curt and I were still trying to get past the price that will need to be paid just to keep a horse, then we were struck by all the other costs that go along. Needless to say, using a school horse as LONG as possible is our top priority!! I think we can make it a few more years without that investment. I don't know about Curt, but I need to know that Lg will love that equine more than anything else that breathes and is LOVING riding about as much as breathing!! haha Anybody want to be her Sponsor????

Update on the foster-care thing: Curt and I are excited! We start our 9 weeks of required Wednesday classes next week (May 7th). No in-home study yet, but that is ok. We have some safety-proofing to do and we need to start working on the bedroom for the new addition to the fam. I will keep updating as it is necessary.

PS Ok, while we were at the park for Lg's pictures, Noah fell in a mud puddle and soaked his clothes. Here is a picture of him on our drive home. Enjoy!!

Treasured Images

Like I mentioned a couple of posts prior, my friend Malisa is an amateur photographer and starting a small business called "Fresh from God Photography." For a little practice, she offered to photograph Mr. Noah a couple of weeks ago then Lauragale yesterday.

She had just purchased new backgrounds and flash and wanted to work with them a bit before having some new clients in. As you can see from the photos of Noah I have included, she did an awesome job of catching his personality and love for his "lovies" he holds so dear. Some neat things that she offered that I have not included are cool textures that she added to many of the pictures to give them a more "vintage" look.


Yesterday we met her in a park adjacent to her house to get some shots of Lauragale. Of course Lg had to pick her outfit all herself, and it turned out nice to have her all in white by the brightly-colored azalea's and green grass. I loved catching her in this stage while her front teeth are missing! It is so precious!


Thanks Malisa for blessing me with these treasured images of my treasures. I love knowing that I will be able to look back and recall Noah and his favorite lovey "Pablo" and how sweet Lauragale looked during this time of physical transition! Being able to capture pieces of me and pieces of Curtis in our children is priceless. Knowing that they are growing up to be their own person and not just pieces of us is even MORE exciting.

How Much?

OK, we come home from church on Sunday to find a swarm of termites IN our bathroom. We gross out, kill them, vacuum them up, throw the vacuum bag away, then call some exterminators (I think the PC term now is "Pest Controllers"). Well, now I have found out how much we are going to have to spend to get rid of these fiber-consuming tyrants and it made me start thinking of what else I would much rather spend the money on... especially after spending $300 on my doggies vet bill last week and $450 on our sprinkler system repairs the week before!!!

So, here is my SELFISH, partial list, in no particular order:

~ 40 pairs of Yellow Box Sandals.
~ 5 diamond bands that match my wedding ring.
~ 40 place settings of Feed on the Word dinnerware to add to the 2 I already have.
~ 60.6 horseback riding lessons for myself.
~ New furniture for my living room.
~ A plasma TV for my bedroom.
~ 2 sets of new patio furniture.
~ 20 azalea bushes for my backyard.
~ A block party for my birthday including Backyard Burger trailer, fun band and margarita machine.

Oh well, at least my house won't crumble around us now! Yeah!!

My friend

Hey out there! Not much going on today, that is why I love Mondays. It is my catch-up day. Laundry, phone calls, e-mail and most of all, Noah gets to lay around the house in his Spider-Man underwear as long as he wants! Really, for those of you who know him well, you know that is his favorite "activity"! I enjoy letting him do it too. I get a kick out of watching him roam around in his tighty-whitey's grazing in the refrigerator and playing all the Wii Sports games over and over until he is champion at them all!

The real reason I wanted to post today is to brag on my friend Malisa. I was just looking at her Picture of the Day blog called "Pictures and Pieces" and I am always blown away at her creativity and talent in photography. After loosing her husband suddenly back in August and now picking up the pieces and raising three adorable girls by herself, she is courageous enough to follow her dreams in photography and work on improving herself and her craft daily!

Please take a moment to enjoy her art... you can find the link to her blog under the "My Friends Blogs" menu down the page on the left... "Pictures and Pieces". Keep up the great work Malisa and remember how much we love you!

Horse Show

Just call me CRAZY LADY!!! I am posting TWICE in one day!! Don't get used to it, it will probably never happen again!

Just wanted to brag about my first-born, Lauragale. Since September she has been taking English-Saddle riding lessons. She LOVES it and this weekend was her first "competition". (Now bear with me, we have only been in the horse community for about 7 months now, so we are still learning the ropes.) Well, Saturday was a school show hosted by the stables where she takes lessons. It was the perfect show to be her first. She was familiar with the arena and the people and it was really casual and low key.

Now don't call me a bad mom, but I was not able to be at the show because I had already committed to helping at our church's women's retreat on the same day. Fortunately, Lauragale could really care less. My parents and my sis, along with her hubby and my TOTALLY ADORABLE niece were there to cheer her on with Curt and Noah so she was pretty much in heaven...

She competed in two divisions, Equitation (judging her) and Under Saddle (judging her horse). They are both "flat" classes so she never left the ground! Jumping can wait until the second show! She was supposed to be in the "Short Stirrup" division (younger kiddos) but for some unknown reason she ended up in "Long Stirrup"... sooooooo, her competiton was a 10 year old, two 16 year olds and a 40 year old!! Welllllll, the girl was amazing! (proud momma talk) She came in fifth in Under Saddle (the horse was too feisty, Curt said.. yeah, it's Tony's fault!) but made THIRD in Equitation!!!

I was sitting at the retreat recieving text, picture and video messages just BEAMING!!!!!!! But you know, no matter how she did, I knew she was having so much fun and I was sooooo proud of her hard work and effort! Love you Lg!

Bragging now over...

The Beginning

OK, well, I decided that it might be a hoot to do a little blogging... I am not really the blogging type, (whatever that means... no offense anyone!) and I am definitely not a great writer, but hey, why not! I really am wanting to do this to archive some of my life's funny happenings, my weird thoughts, my children's antics and our journey through the Oklahoma DHS system as we try to become a foster-family.

I will go ahead and start by explaining why we have decided to be a foster family... Just so you know, we have not had plans of doing this for years nor have we had the plans for months... I would say by now, it has been more like weeks. I have always had it in my heart to adopt one day. I know this was instilled in my spirit by God before I was even born. As long as I can remember, it has been a part of me. Now I can't say the same for my hubby, he was more like "talked into" the idea a few years ago and it seems to have grown on him. (I have no doubt that it has been God working on his heart!)

Well, having no issues in having our own children, and other than some ex-racing greyhounds, a few stray cats and the most-recent sweet terrier, we have not had the privilege of adopting or fostering anything human yet. I guess you can tell that we are willing to open our home to anything that needs one!

Recently though, I have been wondering if we are getting closer to trying to adopt. We weren't really seeking anything out when I felt God encouraging me to seek out foster-parenting. You know, when you are totally blind-sided with a calling on your life? You are so not heading down that path, at least you don't think you are, but He has other plans! It is that tug on your heart, that whisper to your spirit. You know it's Him.

After feeling God's leading, I approached Curtis with the idea and he was surprisingly open to it. (God-Thing #1) Then my pastors wife came to me after being told by a friend how concerned I was after reading an article about over-run emergency shelters in Oklahoma. She asked if I would be interested in helping by being a foster-parent. (God-Thing #2) Of course, after this, Curtis and I prayed a lot!! One night I woke up and sat straight up in bed... I looked at the clock and it read "5:26". For some reason, I knew that this time represented scripture. As I made my way to the bathroom I thought, "Well, there are a LOT of 5:26's in the bible!!" Then the Lord spoke "Jeremiah" to my spirit. I immediately looked the scripture up and this is what it reads:

"Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch men. Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it, they do not defend the rights of the poor."

After I read this, I was a little confused so I checked out the commentary at the bottom and this is what IT reads:

"People and nations who please God treat the fatherless (orphans) justly and care for the poor... Some defenseless people- orphans, the poor, the homeless and the lonely- are within your reach. WHAT ACTION CAN YOU TAKE TO HELP AT LEAST ONE OF THEM?"

Well, I just bawled!! I knew this was the Lords confirmation to me that this was His plan for us. (God-Thing #3) So, when Curt came home that evening, I shared the scripture and commentary with Him and he was just as blown-away as I. Needless to say, just a couple of days later, we were completing our background check papers and starting this long process to help at least one of the defenseless of this world.

So where are we now? Well, we have met with our liaison with a non-profit agency and she has come to the house and helped up fill out ALL the paperwork and got us signed up for our 9 weeks of training classes that we will be taking through May and June to become certified.

So starts our journey of and with, "GRACE AND FAITH".