Best Neighbor Ever.

Happy Birthday Weekend to the BEST neighbor ever! Lots of cake, food, dancing and laughs!!!

Cousins

Miss Jaycee Barr, Lukes 2nd cousin!

We don't have any 1st cousins (yet) but, Luke gets lots of love time in with his 2nd cousin in NM. He was scared of her when she was a newborn, but now that she is getting bigger he likes to shake rattles for her, kiss her head and hold her. He sings "twinkle little star" to her and "jesus loves the little children". Its so sweet!


Now, onto other BIG news for our family!

Awhile ago, I was completely invested and interested in adoption of a child. Altho, we still are considering that in our family plans, we are in the process of having a second child and then later down the road, re-hash our adoption plans. It is something we have spent hours in prayer over and we are so confident in that decision and allowing God to lead us. BUT, God has also opened other doors of adoption for our family. My sister in law, Tamara and her husband Keith, are in the process of adopting!!!! Our whole family is excited for her and praying for her. We are so blessed, as I have said many times before, that my family and Justins family love and support eachother. Even though my family all lives in the DFW metroplex, and J's family all lives in NM, there is constant support and love from both sides for each other. We are thrilled, excited, happy, all those fun words for her!!!! They have their 1st home study appointment tomorrow morning. Tamara and Keith have wanted to be parents for so long, and we are thrilled God showed His grace in the ways of adoption to them. They will be wonderful parents to any child God blesses them to be parents to. We pray for a smooth and peaceful process for their family!

Packing

Busy Busy Busy...Summer Time is oh so busy!

The White family is so busy, I feel the days are just speeding by. I am so ready for our week long vacation next week. Floating the river, taking Luke to Hurricane Harbor & Six Flags, swimming and cookouts with the family, and naps sound so good right now. But, for all that, it means I have to PACK! We will be traveling a lot during our vacation, so we have a lot of packing to do. With summer visitors, gym tots class, swimming lessons, working around the house, training for another marathon, and being a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, etc...I am exhausted by 9pm everyday lol. In truth, I love it though! I couldn't imagine life any differently!

Summer concerts!

While Luke was enjoying an air conditioned Vacation bible school class, Justin, Katy and I were melting in the heat at a summer concert. (Literally)

I love summertime concerts! I love being outdoors period. So, we had to jump all over the chance to attend the 1st annual JAB fest! Lots of Texas Country, lots of dancing and lots of sweat. We braved the 106 temps for an evening of fun! It might have been just a little bit too hot, but by the time Josh Abbott took the stage it was almost 11pm and finally started cooling off. It was a great concert series!!!!

Happiness

Romans 12:1-2
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I am truly happy. I am taking this moment to blog. I want to remind myself at how wonderful it is to be a Christian. There are many hardships and struggles in life. I know for myself, my family, friends, etc. Hard times are never out of our reach. Praise God, though, that we have a place to seek guidance, understanding and peace. Studying Gods word has changed my life for the better. I no longer dwell in the bad, but live for the good. I know the ONLY reason I am this way, is because my life has been submitted to God.

I have always had those "motherly" instincts to my friends and others. I like to take care of people. I get joy out of seeing others happy and helping them. Being this way, I just want to take non-followers so many times and shake them. I want to show them how much better a life is having faith in the works of God. I remember the times in my life when I was "lost". I remember that isolation, hurt, confusion, etc. And I now know a life with God. Going through the worst of things with God on my side is still 1 million times better than walking the journey alone.

At the end of the day all we can do is be an example by the way I live my life. I make mistakes everyday, but no one will EVER see me give up. My faith will not fail.

I am just happy! My family is wonderful, God continues to answer prayers. I love life!

Aunt T's visit~

One week, every other month, Aunt T comes to stay a week for a visit! My sister is my best friend, and I honestly do not know who gets more excited between Luke and I. It is a 6 hour drive, and with all that T has going on in her life, it means so much to us that she takes time to hang with Luke and make many memories.

This trip, we were busy with summer time fun!!! We spent the day at the local water park.

We laughed at Luke during gymnastics...

We dressed Luke and Tony up as Dirk and JJ after the BIG MAVS CHAMPIONSHIP WIN!

We shared pride for our Luke during his swim lessons...

And we played outside a lot!

We look forward to next visit with T! We love you!

Library Loot

Apparently, I have missed out on the whole "Library" and how fantastic it is to have a membership to one. Sure, I have been to the local city library a few times for a certain event or class, but I had no idea how AWESOME it is!

Tamara and I took Luke today! We had so much fun spending our afternoon picking out books. Get this..you can rent up to 50..yes 50 books at 1 time! Not that I ever would, but I am going to quit spending so much money buying Jodi Picoult books and just start renting them! I also have had the Ronald Reagan and George Bush books on my "buy" list for awhile. Hello, why? They are free to read at the local library. The same library that is 2 blocks from our house. That took us a whole 3 minutes to drive too. I have always been a reader. I love Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult. Justin and I both love biographies and history books. I am so excited!!!!! I wish I was not so naive and learned about the fun things at the library before. They have kids plays, lots of educational dvd's and regular movies too. Sorry Redbox, I will be checking out my FREE movies from now on at the library! =)

Besides these books, I also got 2 educational movies for Luke. He is currently watching 1 now, loving it! Off to read before swim lessons....

MFFL

Mavs Fan For Life.

That is what I am! I eat, breathe, live basketball. The old James Donaldson and Rolando Blackman's, they are the reason I played basketball. I dreamed my childhood dreams of being the 1st girl to ever play for the Mavs. Well, that dream never happened, but, it definitely motivated me to work hard enough to be an all state basketball player.

Last night, the mood and setting were all perfect for a fun filled game and celebration in our home! My sister has been in town so we were so excited to watch the game together. We have watched...probably in the thousands of sports games together. We have sat in the stands of too many to count Mavs games. Back in the Reunion Arena days and into the new AA center. With pizza, sugar cookies and lots of high 5's , Justin, Luke, Tamara and I watched our Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Championship.

I am still up in the clouds...12 hours later!

Swim Lessons!

Summer swim lessons have begun! (thanks Nanny!) I hope Luke does as good as he did last night, each time. He absolutely loves being in the water. And he had no problem with the teacher working with him in the deep end. He is taking his Gym class and swim lessons at TEGA gym center. We will be spending lots of time there this summer! Good job Luke!

The Circus came to town...

The circus came to town and we had a fabulous saturday family day! Luke was so excited about the elephants and the motorcycles. We loaded up on great circus food-- popcorn, cotton candy, candy apples and nachos. We had a blast on our family outing. Barnum and Bailey really puts on a great show!

From: Aunt T

Yippee! Lucas Lee turned 3!


By Aunt T
Dear Lucas:
You informed us the other day that it’s official – you’re now a “big little boy.” Those were your exact words. At the ripe age 3, you’re very smart; but you’re also hilarious. Your actions and words amaze us on a daily basis! I wish we could record them all, but it’s simply not possible. However, here are some of my favorite moments from the last few months.
When you were little, we had to keep our cell phones on during church because they always called us. The moment we left you at Sunday school, you’d cry and immediately want to see a familiar face. About six months ago, something changed. We dropped you off with the toddlers and nothing happened. As soon as the service ended, we raced to the classroom and snuck up on you; surely something was wrong! But there you were: playing (flirting) with little girls. Your mommy got a little teary-eyed because she realized that you were no longer afraid to be left alone. We thought this was just a fluke and surely you wouldn’t do it the next time! But, we were so wrong! You now LOVE Sunday School and can’t wait to go and see friends and “learn a lesson.” We like to pry you and get all the details out about how you spent the last two hours, but it’s impossible. You give us bits and pieces like: “The purple man burped and I started laughing!” We still don’t know who the ‘Purple Man’ is…but nonetheless, it was funny to you, so we enjoy hearing the story!

You’re very tough and definitely a boy (just like Daddy), but you also have a sensitive side and a phenomenal memory like your Mommy! After church one day, we were riding in the car and you seemed sad. We asked what was wrong and you said: “I don’t know those songs the kids were singing.” It broke our hearts because you have this desire for learning and want to know everything! So, like a good Mommy, yours went home and started teaching you Christian songs! Your favorites are: ‘My God is SO Big, So Strong and So Mighty…” and “Jesus Loves the Little Children…” It’s so cute when you sing them! We often pull up YouTube and teach you other songs. You have this tendency to act like you already know the song by singing the last line of each verse, about a second after it happens. Your Nanny does the same thing!

Luke, from the day you were born we knew you’d be an entertainer! At 3 months, you were playing the keyboard and actually danced to the beat! You have GREAT rhythm. Well, a few months ago (still age 2), we all went to an arts and entertainment fair in Lubbock. Of course, all you wanted to do was jump in the bouncy house, but we wondered through the crowd and found a group of people singing on the microphone. You asked to sing on the microphone and mind you, there were hundreds of people there! We thought there was no way you’d do it. But sure enough, the man handed you the microphone and you sang ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star…” in your sweet, little voice! The crowd erupted in applause! You were amazing!

Speaking of music. Nanny and I took you to Florida to visit some friends and you really enjoy flying. You were so good, which is a huge accomplishment, because the last time I took you flying, you ran up and down the aisles and crawled under seats. Anyway, it was quiet on the plane and you kept saying: ‘We’re about to BLAST off to outer space!’ Everyone on the plane got a kick out of it. It was hilarious…but that’s not the end. It was late at night and most people around us were asleep. You were in the seat between Nanny and me and started singing LOUD. That would be great and all – except your song of choice: “Pants on da ground, pants on da ground…looking like a fool, whicha pants on da ground!” Oops! Who would DARE teach you such a song? That would be your Mommy and me…but you like the song (and so did the people on the plane). J

The age 3 also brought on something else: your first lie. Now, your Mommy likes to keep everything positive on here, but the truth is, when you’re bad it’s kind of funny, too! You’re brutally honest and always tell the truth, even when it’s bad. That’s why the lie was so funny to me! This is how it happened. You were taking a bath at Nanny’s house and I was in there entertaining you. Since Aunt T never disciplines you, you tend to splash and do things you’re not supposed to. You were in an ornery mood that day and started doing just that – splashing me like crazy! You wouldn’t stop so I had to go and seek backup help from Nanny (haha). She came in and asked if you were splashing and you got a pouty look across your face and said: ‘No!’ Nanny pried and pried for you to tell the truth for about 10 minutes and you stuck to your story! Finally, you told her the truth. The whole situation was hilarious because you were not backing down! Of course, we didn’t discipline you, so I’m sure we’ll have more of these moments! LOL!

You have a heart for animals and children. I took you to this outdoor world place where you pretend hunt and shoot animals. You weren’t having it. You said “We don’t hurt animals!” Instead, we put the quarter in and you decided to shoot the trees and house. You also love to feed the fish at Nanny’s and Poppi’s. Each morning you get up and look forward to feeding the “blue and orange fish.” THEN, you ask ALLLLL day long if you can feed them more. Poppi tells you they only eat once a day and you get upset and always say the same thing: “Why? We eat more than one time a day! They’re hungry!”

You already understand the concept of Heaven and who Jesus is. Your parents do a great job of teaching you these things. They prayed over you since the day you were born and now you all say prayers together, always. One night while praying, you got upset and screamed out: “How come I can’t SEE Jesus?!!” Mommy and Daddy told you He’s in your heart, which you can’t see Him, but He always can see you. You understand that and at times will look out the window and say “Hi Jesus and Kandice!” Kandice is our family dog who died. You get that Kandice is in Heaven with God. Also, at Sunday school they teach you a lesson each week. You are like a sponge and LOVE learning lessons. Your first lesson was that “God created everything!” It’s been fun to see your Christian walk play out in front of our very eyes. You’ve always known who was in control.

Some other fun facts about you:
You love, love, love baseball and got a glove for your third birthday. We were all playing baseball and it was your turn to bat. At that moment, you made this mean, serious face and walked up to the plate. We were like ‘what are you doing Lucas?’ and you said: “That’s what the men do on TV! They walk up with a mean face to bat!” You’re very observant because yes, when the Rangers (your favorite team) walk up to the plate, they do look serious.
You got a basketball goal for your birthday and like to play and shoot. The Mavericks are in the NBA Finals and you ask Mommy and Daddy: “Are we going for the blue or white team?” Once they tell you the answer, you’re locked in and love the game.
Mommy’s favorite show is Survivor and she always lets you watch your shows – unless it’s time for Survivor. Then she says: “Luke, play with your toys why Mommy watches her show.” You ask her: “It’s for big people?” When she says yes, you’ll convince and convince Mommy that YOU love Survivor, too! So, you’ll watch it together and while we’re trying to figure out the strategies and who will get voted off…you’re more observant and say insightful things like: “Oh look! A frog!” or “There’s a waterfall!” We can’t help but laugh because you try sooooo hard!
You finally started sleeping in your own bed after Aunt Cindy bought you a life-sized Spiderman doll for your birthday. You cuddle it like it’s a person and like to wrestle with the doll.
Dinosaurs are your favorite animal and you still can’t grasp why you don’t see them walking around. The last time we went to the zoo, you cried to me and said: “Wait! We can’t leave Aunt T because we didn’t see the dinosaurs yet!”
We like to play ‘I Spy’ and you always pick the most obvious thing. You don’t just do colors. You’ll say: “I spy a TV…or I spy a dog.” Haha. Things like that.
Dude, Luke, you eat A LOT! You like fruit above any other food, including sweets. Fruit, fruit, fruit, you’re always eating it! You’re also obsessed with chocolate milk.
When you were little, you HATED having your picture taken. Oh, how things have changed! Now you’re obsessed with us filming you on the phone so that you can watch it back. We call you conceited all the time! Haha! It’s so cute.
You love the water and you’re getting better at swimming. You’ll put your swimmies on and hold on to the edge of the pool, kick your feet and scream: “Look, I’m swimming!” We know it’ll be just a matter of time until you’re a little fish in the water.
For some reason, and we’re not sure where you get this, but every time you let a balloon go in the sky, you say it’s going to “Balloon School.” It’s random but funny.
Body changes: You have a freckle on your lip and a few light ones around your nose. It’s adorable. Also, we noticed for the first time that tiny, blonde leg hairs are starting to grow! You were very stocky growing up, but now you’re leaning out and your little belly is disappearing. We love that belly of yours. It’s so perfect. You’re perfect, Luke.

TotsGym

For Luke's 3rd birthday, his Aunt T bought him a summer membership to TotsGym. Basically, it is a fun gymnastics class for toddlers. Last night was the 1st class, and Luke loved it. Actually, to say he loved it would be an understatement. He had a blast. He walked right in and didn't skip a beat. Justin and I watched our lil guy from a small room. (most of my pics didnt come out very good. They were all taken from behind a big glass window)

Last night, they stretched. Learned how to do front/back rolls. Swung from the bars, crawled up the bars and flipped over. Jumped on the trampoline. Played in the big foam block hole and ran around like crazy 3 year olds. It was fun for Luke and fun for us to watch as well!!!