Daddy at work

Monty's car has a bad tire rod so we have been sharing one car until we get the money for repairs. What that means is that Monty takes my car to work and I have his car for the few errands I may need to run around town during the day. The kind of errands that do not require going more than 20-30 mph or being more than a few blocks from the house just in case that ol' tire rod decides it's time is done. On days that I may have a need for more driving, I take Monty to work so I can keep my car.
Well that is what happened on Wednesday. After church the kids and I headed on over to pick him up from work to find out he had at least 2 more hours until he would be ready. Instead of making the 30 minute drive home to just turn around and drive back, we were able to wait it out in the break room at his job. I remember when I was a kid getting to visit dad at work was about the coolest thing ever and my kids feel the exact same way. Since Monty does not have the kind of job that is "bring your kid to work" friendly, staying at daddy's job was an extra special treat!

They got to see their dad driving his lift truck around the warehouse. The only thing better would have been to be able to ride along but that would be a serious safety violation.

The break room was full of fun activities and the kids wanted to be sure they did not miss a single one. A deck of cards left on one table was just asking to be used in a game of go fish!! My kids did not leave those poor cards lonely for long.

Although they were really too busy exploring every nook and cranny to sit through a tv program, they did stop long enough to find Qubo network for a quick cartoon fix.

Then on to the set of dominoes! The girls don't know how to play dominoes but the fact that this set had bright colorful dots meant that they would be perfect to make some pretty little stick figures! ☺

Anyone that has kids knows that anytime you visit some where new- whether it be a store, a restaurant, or a friends house-the trip is not complete without a stop in the restroom. I am not sure what it is about restrooms and kids but you would have thought that the one at daddy's work was the most beautiful and exotic place ever. They would have went about every 15 minutes if I would have let them.

The next best thing to visiting a new restroom, is choosing a snack from a vending machine. Since they don't normally get many vending machine opportunities everyone was excited to push the buttons and watch their treat fall.

After snack time may as well get in some exercise time. Kenyon has been working on doing push ups and he did not let the fact that we weren't home interfere with his practice.

Of course the best part of the break room is the little window in the door. Perfect for watching out for a glimpse of dad driving past.

All in all we spent about 2 hours in the break room but with all the excitement of a new place with tons of things to occupy 3 kid's minds and hands, it really did not seem long at all.

aaawwww...memory making!

Couples retreat

Last weekend Monty and I were able to go on a couples retreat with our church. This is the second year we have been able to go and it is so beneficial. This retreat was started by our preacher before he was our preacher and started with just a handful of couples. Last year there were almost 400 people (200 couples) and this year there were about 750 people (almost 400 couples!). The retreat is held in Branson Missouri and we stayed at the Chateau on the lake. (Because of the number of people this year, several churches had to stay at another hotel)


Our room was BEAUTIFUL! It came complete with a balcony with a view of the lake, bottled water (that cost $4 if you opened it) and...

quite comfortable DOUBLE beds. This is the second year that we have gone to the retreat and the second year that we have gotten a room with double beds. I guess that just encourages closeness but after being used to sleeping in a queen bed at home it is kinda hard to adjust to 2 people in a double bed.

The lobby of the hotel was just gorgeous with several water falls and live birds singing away.

The preaching sessions were awesome and so beneficial! The first session we heard was "the old fashioned flame." It was a little tense at first with a whole room full of fundamental Baptist sitting around listening to a preacher talk about s*x but we were all married and that is a big part of marriage. As a matter of fact, we learned that when you are married your s*xual relationship is you WHOLE relationship. That is not to say that s*x is all there is to your relationship but that part of it does reflect the rest of your relationship. That statement is something that really made me look at myself and my actions/reactions to my husband. The session was all very tasteful, very informative and very needed! (FYI-I don't have a problem with the word s*x but I do not want my blog to come up on a search because someone is searching THAT word so I am not spelling it out for that reason).
We also had a session on "old fashioned purity". Often times we think of staying pure as something that we should do (or should have done or want our children to do) UNTIL marriage. What we learned was the importance of staying pure DURING your marriage. It is just as important to stay pure after marriage by carefully choosing the movies you watch, books you read, music you listen to, websites you look at, etc. The one statement that really hit me during this session was "when you are betrothed to the Lord(which every person that is saved is) and you are flirting with the world you are committing spiritual adultery!" WOW! Really makes ya look a little harder at what parts of the world you may be flirting with. When I hear the commandment "thou shall not commit adultery" I never considered the fact that I could commit adultery against my Lord Jesus!

We also got to attend a session on "the old fashioned money". Most of the things that were discussed were things Monty and I have heard before and agree with but we still have some problems with. Luckily, we were given a handout for budget planning that I think just may work for us. I have seen other examples of budget plans but have never really been able to implement them into our life very easily. This one is really doable-not easy, because planning a budget and sticking to it is never going to be easy but it is one that we both understand and will (with the Lord's help) be able to do.

We also had a session called "the old fashioned home". This was a 2 part session (1/2 on Friday and 1/2 of Saturday) and was really about the man and the women each keeping their verse. The man's verse is Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" and the wife's verse is Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." If we would each just keep our own verse than our marriages would be so much better. We talked about how God's plan for marriage is not the problem it is the people's execution of that plan that causes the problems. I have often thought that I have to SUBMIT to Monty and that is a REALLY hard thing for me to do. All he has to do is LOVE me and we all know that I am totally lovable so he has the easy part. Upon further study of each scripture we learn that actually both verses leave the same expectation for each spouse...put the other person before yourself. When I submit to Monty, I will think of him and his needs before myself and when he loves me, he will put me and my needs before himself. Sounds pretty simple and pretty impossible and it is impossible without the Lord!

All of the messages that we got to hear about God's plan for our marriage are truly priceless but one other aspect of the retreat that is such a blessing is getting to spend 5 hours on a church bus with other members of our church family. It is so much fun to get to know each other better and to talk and laugh like a bunch of teenagers out on a school trip. Of course since it was revealed on last years retreat that I am uncontrollable-that became a dominant theme of the conversations on the bus, enhanced by the fact that Monty and I were once again sitting in the back of the bus. The fact that 2 days of "couple" talk, and "couple" time and talk of romance and purity has the same effect on a bunch of married people as it would on a bunch of hormonal teenager was proven by one Innocent little conversation overheard from the back of a dark church bus after we had stopped at Wendy's for a burger...

(innocent part)

Me:I forgot that they put mayo on the burgers. Did you get some napkins?
Monty: No, I didn't think about getting any napkins.

Me:WHAT? No napkins! You know I always need napkins. I want to wipe this mayo off.

(overheard part)

Monty:Just lick it.

Me:If I WANTED to lick it I would not need a napkin!

followed by hysterical laughter throughout the bus!! AAAWWWW....good times!

Time for a wedding

My girls love High School Musical. They also love playing barbies. They were both very happy to learn that the High School Musical characters have been made into Barbie dolls. Keslee got the Troy and the Gabriella doll for Christmas and Kalysa has Sharpe and Kelsey. They are not really the same as the characters you will see in the movies because our Troy is a preacher and these Barbies go to church almost every day in the play room. Just in case you wonder what ever became of GI Joe, he has also become a preacher ever since the girls discovered that their brother had 2 GI Joe dolls that he never really played with much and they are really short on boy Barbie dolls. Well today Troy and Gabriella are getting married. Bet you did not realize that Gabriella had always planned on being a preacher's wife, did ya? Only problem is....we do not have any Barbie size wedding dresses........

so a box of Kleenex and several safety pins will have to work!

The entire wedding party is decked out in their white paper gowns for the wedding of the year. And I know the perfect wedding singers to hire for the occasion....

Kalysa got a High School Musical karaoke microphone for her birthday, It plugs right into the TV and shows scenes from the movie behind the words to 10 different songs as it plays the music. You can sing along with the song and hear your voice through the television's speakers. It has been a constant concert here for the past few weeks.

Did I mention that daddy LOVES all three High School Musical movies at least(if not more) than the girls do??!! Oh, yea! You know he had to take his turn on the mic!! Some people may make fun of a grown man that enjoys High School Musical movies and knows and sings along with all the songs but I tell you what, I am so thankful to have a husband that can be rolling around on the floor wrestling with his son one minute and then sitting in the living room floor with two girls on his lap singing "You are the music in me" the next minute!

A first for me

Kalysa was running around the house the other day looking like a little orphan...pretty dress on, no shoes or socks and her unbrushed hair going WILD...when Monty stopped her and told her to hop up in the hot seat. He grabbed a hair brush and the spray bottle of water and brushed her hair for her. Monty has brushed the girls hair a few times but only when it was absolutely mandatory because they were in school and I was at work. Being a man that shaves his head anytime it starts to get enough hair for the teeth of a comb to go through, he just does not have much experience with brushing hair. Especially long hair that hangs almost down to your behind, but he tackled Kalysa's flowing locks and actually enjoyed it.

This is more proof positive that she is a TOTAL daddy's girl...see that little smile on her face? This is the same child that screams out in pain each day we sit down to do hair BEFORE I ever touch the brush to her head. When daddy was doing it....not a single whimper!


Monty had so much fun with Kalysa that he called Keslee to the hot seat next. Her super curly locks were a little more of a challenge for him but he got it brushed and even put a pony tail in for her.

After Keslee's salon experience with dad, I was in the hot seat. Monty has never brushed my hair before. As a matter of fact, besides one hair dresser that cut my hair a few times in high school, no man has ever brushed my hair. I have always been the one doing other people's hair. I always loved to do my sister's hair when we were young. I had a friend in high school that had me come to her house every morning before school so that I could fix her hair. I have always done my children's hair. I have always cut Kenyon's hair. I have always cut my own hair. When I was in jr. high I went to school early to have a friend french braid my hair because she was the only one I knew that could do it at the time but besides that my mom and me are the only ones I really ever remember doing much to my hair. As I sat in the hot seat letting my husband brush my hair I realized...I like it! It is so relaxing to have someone else brush your hair. I just leaned back and closed my eyes and enjoyed the whole experience hoping it would not end to soon. Now I just have to figure out a way to get daddy's salon to open more often because I think I need a weekly appointment!!

Don't really understand it but....

For some reason, boys LOVE this stuff!!


Boys THRIVE with it!!

They FLOURISH because of it!!!

No matter how old they are!!

Love at first Sight

Fifteen years ago. Can you believe it?!? I know, me neither. I remember a time when I could not imagine being able to say "Back 10 years ago when we did...." but now it has been 15 years since I met my husband. Yesterday was the 12 year anniversary of our marriage. So, you ask, what was happening 15 years ago?

I was a shift manager at Taco Bell at the ripe ol' age of 21. It was fall, maybe September(not sure exactly) and I worked the night shift. When I arrived at work around 5 pm, there was a new guy on the line making tacos. "Ok, you've got your hat on backwards?!?" Yep, that is the first thing I ever said to my husband. On my shift I expected people to wear their uniforms correctly, no untucked shirts and no backward hats. You have to understand, I went to Perryton High school. We did not have uniforms but we had about the strictest dress code in the Texas panhandle. Of course while I was in school I griped about that as much as the next guy but now that I was older (ya know-all of 21 years old now) I appreciated the fact that when our school took trips for drama or band or whatever, you could always tell what students were from Perryton because we were about the only ones that did not look like a bunch of thugs so I carried that same philosophy into my job. Anyway...back to Taco Bell...So Monty, being a new employee just working a second job in the day, turned that hat around and he tells me now that is when he fell in love with me. After that things get a little fuzzy. Not fuzzy because I don't remember but fuzzy because the events all seemed to have happened so fast like within a matter of days. The next thing I knew was we were laughing and joking together, he tickled me ALOT, and he started coming through the drive through late at night to get a Mt. Dew on his way to work his other job (he worked over night as a manager at Mcdonalds and I guess they didn't have pop over there or something:)). We started telling everyone at work that we were getting married. They all laughed because we had seriously only know each other a few weeks(or maybe even just days) and had never gone out or anything. I remember talking to my friend Kelly about it and she asked if I was serious. I told her that even though I did not understand why, if he was serious I would have totally married him right then. One little problem was that I was kinda in a relationship already. It was a BAD one. There was some abusive behaviour involved and I had been trying to get out of it. I had already made plans to move home with my mom (2 hours away) to make a clean break and start over at the end of the month. One night I walked down to the payphone at my apartment building and called Monty at Mcdonalds. We talked on the phone until about 6am while he was working. The late night phone calls became a nightly routine and he finally asked me out on a date. It was October 8, just 6 days after my birthday, and he took me bowling and to an arcade (where he won me a cute little stuffed monkey) then dinner at Bennigan's (where he had them sing happy birthday and bring me cake) and then to a movie. We had been together almost all day and still were not ready for it to end so we ended up sitting in Mcdonalds parking lot and just talking until the wee hours of the night/morning (NO! There was not even 1 little kiss in case you were wondering!!). On October 14, on one of our late night phone conversations, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I explained that I was moving soon and long distance relationships usually don't work but he was sure that it would. I wanted to be sure that I was not just looking for a rebound guy but everything in me said that this was for real so I said yes. My last day at work was October 18 and he brought me roses. I took a vacation to Amarillo for a week to hang out with my best friend for a while and could not stop talking about him or thinking about him the whole time. When I got back to the city, I had about 2 days before my mom came to pick me up with a trailer for all my stuff. I moved away and we started writing letters and cards. I got a card almost everyday and I remember one day that I got 5 (of course I still have every single one of them in a notebook:)). We made each other a tape recorded letter so we could hear the others voice whenever we wanted. He did not have a car when I left but in January he bought a pick-up and drove down for a visit. He came every couple of weeks after that even if he was only able to stay a few hours. We did that until August when I was back on my feet, having paid off my bills, and able to move back to Oklahoma City. Three years after the day he asked me to be his girlfriend, we went to the courthouse and got married(it was easier that way since there was still some opposition from our families about the whole inter-racial thing). Well, now here we are...12 years, 1 mortgage and 3 kids later and I have to say....I LOVE that man!

Thank You!!

I want to thank you all for stopping by and making Monty's virtual birthday party a huge success!! I wish you could all have seen the look on his face when he saw all the comments. :-) I think this surprise party was an even bigger surprise to him than it would have been if everyone would have been waiting at the house. The best part is that he can go back and reread the comments and feel the love over and over again. You all really put a smile on his face and made his day!

Come over to my PARTY!!!!

Monty in kindergarten

Happy Birthday to my honey bear.

Today my husband turns 38 years old! It just seems amazing that we met when he was just 23. Last week was his 2nd re-birthday! He was saved on 7-7-07. Today I am making his favorite cake-Angel Food. We usually have a cherry cheesecake so he will probably expect that-I love to mix it up a little and surprise him every chance I get. I wish the finances were available for me to throw him some big surprise party or take a special birthday trip somewhere. He works so hard for us, he really deserves it. He spent yesterday after church in the 105*+ garage with my grandad putting up our new garage door opener. It took them the whole afternoon and into the evening to get the thing mounted correctly and securely. I don't know how many times they had it up and ended up taking it back down to start over because something wasn't quite right. He deserves a party just for that!

Since the party is out of the question this year, I have decided to try a virtual party and you are invited! Take a piece of virtual cake and leave my hubby a virtual present in the comments! Help me to surprise him in a whole new way and make his birthday extra special!!!

Happy fathers day Monty!!!

We love you!!!

20 years later I started learning

This past weekend we went to my husband's 20 year class reunion. TWENTY YEARS, YALL!!! When I was in high school, 20 years was like the most farthest away not even comprehendable time period there could ever be. Now I can't believe I can talk to someone and say "You remember back 20 years ago when we....". At graduation I felt like I had MADE IT! It was the greatest accomplishment ever. I knew that later in life more would come- like a family and jobs and such-but I could not imagine anything feeling as big as graduating did. Now I see what a baby I was at that time. How could I have felt sooo grown up yet knew NOTHING? I am not even close to being the same person I was that day I walked across a stage to get my diploma. I am nothing like I thought I wanted to be. My hopes and dreams at that time have not had much to do with who I have become. I know Monty would say the same thing. Our life is not what either of us would have expected it to be 20 years ago.
Monty graduated with about 22 people in his class from a small Oklahoma town so of course he knew everyone in his class-even in the entire school. These were the people he grew up with. The people that shared in most of his childhood experiences. He was very excited to see what everyone was up to. He had a great time listening to everyone's stories and the kids had a blast running around the elementary school that daddy went to. Little did I know that God was planning on using a 20 year class reunion to teach me a few things. When we went to the reunion I was expecting to see a different person in my husband. I thought that getting him around the people he has known most all his life would suddenly bring out the extrovert that I have always dreamed was living inside this quiet unassuming man. Well guess what folks-he is who he is and I love him for that. We are two totally different people and so often I get frustrated because my husband does not see things the way I do. I try so often to make him more like me instead of appreciate the differences we have. That is something I, with the Lord's help, have REALLY been trying to work on for the past few years and I thought I had come pretty far. Going to this reunion showed me that I have not done so great. I still have some crazy expectation that deep down he really is like me and can't get it through my thick skull that different doesn't always mean better. I am still secretly waiting for something to trigger a realization in Monty and witness the emergence of a louder more dominant personality. The Lord has shown me the truth again and I pray that this time I will listen better. I must cherish these qualities in my husband-the fact that he never wants to be in the spotlight which in turn means we will never have to fight for it; that he is content with his life the way it is so I never have to worry about him making unexpected changes that disrupt the family; even though we don't have a whirlwind lifestyle he loves me enough to walk to the store is a snow storm to buy a bag of ice because I hate to drink Dr. Pepper with no ice; his humble spirit ensures our home is not ruled by arrogance and tyranny; knowing that when I have a bad day and the dishes aren't done and you can't walk though he living room and there is no supper cooking doesn't make him upset but instead sympathetic to my trials. If I were ever able to change this man, I would loose the best things about him. God knows what we need even when we don't and he certainly knew when he brought Monty and I together. Thank you Lord for showing me once again what it is you have given me. Thank you for My Husband!

What a Great Dad

Now that Monty gets home from work around 9pm instead of 2am, the kids are waiting for him at the door every night. Even though 4 months have gone by, the routine is still the same....Car pulls in drive-"It's Daddy! It's Daddy!" starts going through the house in case anyone is in another room and did not notice a car pull up-Children start uncontrollably bouncing around-Front door opens to screams of "DADDY! DADDY!'- and then hugs all around. They are so excited for daddy to be home and tonight I witnessed, what may be, the reason why...

Monty:Little Mama(keslee)! Come in here please.
Kes:Yes?
Monty:I heard something about you today.
Kes:What was it?
Monty:Are you gonna tell me about it?
Kes:(trying to think about her day and unable to remember any incriminating incident)I don't know what your talking about daddy.
Monty:Are you sure?
Kes:Yes.
Monty:Well I heard...
Kes:What is it?(Looking a little scared now)
Monty:Well I heard-that-you-ARE SO CUTE!!!(accompanied by tickles, kisses, giggles, and squeals)

Monty usually calls each child separately and I often don't get to hear what it is that he has to tell them. I overheard this tonight and I think I just learned his secret ; )