Swine Break '09

I think we'll have t-shirts made. "Swine Break '09" I praying for a peace from God, because right now I feel like I'm living in a media-paranoid environment. Over 36,000 people get the good ol regular flu every year, but two people in our town get the pig flu and they shut down the schools. Yes, you heard me correctly. School has been cancelled, along with every other extracurricular activity, until May 11th. Cameron will not get to go back to his Kids Kare class - their last day was slated to be May 12th. Caleb will not get to finish his t-ball season. This craziness is going to affect so many. I worry for my friends that work who have no where to take their children for the next two weeks. I feel badly for the kids whose prom was cancelled for this weekend.

**I just got a call from my friend while I am writing who said everything is closed - grocery stores, movies, libraries, no church services. UGH**

Be on the lookout for us - we could very well be on your front step tomorrow.

Month in Recap

I know you've all been waiting anxiously on the edge of your seat to find out what we've been up to lately, so, I am ending the suspense.

When I last left you, Greg was going to be starting to work out of town, and my cousin Ellen was coming to visit. For time sake, I'm going to make this simple:

3/17 - 3/19: Ellen was here - which was an amazing God-send! I truly enjoyed the company and we accomplished quite a bit. I honestly need her to come back to motivate me to get some other stuff done. (the picture still has not been taken for the room, ellen)

3/20: Greg came home from week 1 away

3/21: Caleb had his first t-ball game. Mamo, Papa, and Mimi were all in attendance. (i forgot the camera)

3/23: The start of our Spring Break. We went to Waco to visit Jared and Kendall. We were only there for a little over 24 hours, but we certainly made the most out of it!!

The boys and Uncle Jared at the Zoo

Checking out the Leopard

That was Monday, then Tuesday we went to a Jump Castle place and the Children's Museum. I'm not sure who had more fun - the kids or the adults.

3/24: We left Waco that evening and headed to Richmond to await the birth of our new nephew, Katin on the 25th, and to play with Daniel (the big brother)My brother, Jason, holding his newest addition

An awfully proud aunt holding her super cute nephew

The day after Katin was born, Greg and I took Caleb, Cameron, and Daniel to Johnson Space Center. Those pictures are on another camera, but I will share soon. The boys had a great time, and we all slept well that night!!

On Friday, Greg and I took Caleb and Cameron to Galveston and to Moody Gardens. We all loved our lunch at Gaido's and we all had a lot of fun at the Gardens and Aquarium.

Saturday morning we went to Daniel's soccer game. I can use one word to describe 3 year olds playing soccer - AMUSING! :-)

Saturday afternoon, the four of us attended our favorite neighbor's (and very good friends) daughter's wedding. The wedding was conveniently close to my brother's house. It was a FUN small town wedding. We all danced 'till we crashed. Literally. The boys fell asleep on us in the chairs at the reception. Too cute.

Sunday morning marked the end of our spring break and time to come home. Time for Greg to head back out of town, Caleb to go back to school, and Cameron and I to do laundry and go grocery shopping!

The end of March and beginning of April has found us playing/practicing a lot of t-ball, playing outside, and gardening. Caleb thoroughly enjoyed April Fool's Day and teased me endlessly that there were spiders or bugs in my hair. It never got old to him. And, as for gardening, we have planted a nice size garden with our before-mentioned neighbors. A couple of Saturdays ago we planted, fertilized and built a fence to keep our friendly deer from eating our produce. We are calling it the Hurtin' Garden (combine Hurta and Griffin). Cute, huh?

Last Thursday morning Cameron accomplished something HUGE! He learned how to spell his name correctly. Emphasis on the 'correctly..' You see, he's been 'spelling' his name for some time now, but we have been practicing over and over to get it right. Well, he's done it and he is so proud. Give us a call sometime, and he will gladly tell you over the phone!

Then, this last weekend was Easter. I have very mixed emotions on this day. What a glorious reminder that the Tomb is empty and that my Perfect Father has given me an indescribable Gift through His Son. I sing His praise for this! For the past three years, this day is accompanied by reflection, remembering and sadness as well. (more on this in a later post) But, this year, I received another gift. My sweet Caleb told me that Jesus "really" lives in his heart. He told us that "God sent his Son to die on a cross to save him from his sins so that he could live forever in heaven." Then he told us he asked Jesus to live in his heart forever and asked us about being baptized. Greg and I have talked at length about it with him, and he is going to talk with one of the pastors at church. But, talk about WOW and huge goosebumps and more pride than this Mama can possibly describe.

As for our Easter travels, the boys and I went on Friday to my mom's house in Fredericksburg and Greg drove in from out of town and met us there Friday night. On Saturday, we went to my sister-in-law's grandfather's ranch in Medina. It is BEAUTIFUL! A ton of Kendall's family comes every year. They have a service, potluck lunch, and egg hunt for the kids. So fun! One of Kendall's uncles is a retired pastor. He gave a wonderful sermon overlooking the Medina River as we all sat in lawn chairs and were blessed. The boys really enjoyed the egg hunt as well. You'll notice that I'm not just talking of little boys by the pictures below. We had a great day.

We came home on Sunday and had a very relaxing day grilling, playing outside, and being with family.

And, now don't you feel better and all caught up...

Fun with Color

I actually have quite a bit to blog about, and I will catch up later. But, this morning I was playing around with my scrapbooking software, and got very excited about these:

me running the half marathon

Caleb with some clover

Ruby Ru as a LadyBug

Pretty Blue Eyes

Best Phone Call

Yea for happy phone calls! And, good-bye pity party (at least for this week *insert smile*). My cousin, Ellen , called this evening and is COMING TO SEE ME! Whoo-Hoo!

So, not much to report except that I need to run and clean up, make the guest bed, fold clothes, etc. before her super-organized little self gets here tomorrow.

Blessed. That's what I am.

Goodnight.

Pity Party

Let me start off saying, for the record, I AM grateful! I thank God everyday (or try to) that Greg has a job. I am thankful that I get to stay home and be here for the boys. I am thankful for wonderful friends and an amazing family. I am blessed more than I deserve to be by an amazing Savior.

With my disclaimer stated above, I am sad. I am sad because we found out yesterday that Greg will be helping on a job that will take him out of town during the week, every week, then he will be home on the weekends.

He is sad, too. His first thoughts included the fact that he will miss Caleb's entire baseball season. I guess I'll blow the dust off the ol' video camera.

Please pray. Pray for safety in travel as Greg goes back and forth. Pray for the boys who will have a hard time without their Daddy home. Pray for Greg who will have a hard time not being home.

Thanks in advance!

Title-Less Post (and some really cute kids)

I mean, seriously, does it get any cuter than that?

Oh, yeah, then there's this one! :-)

Mean People and Lessons Learned

So I found out today that someone who I thought was a friend was saying some ugly things about me the other day to some other people I know. I know, I know, your first reaction is "what is there bad to say about Aleesa?!" But, once you move past that...

Well, the word got back to me. Of course, my first reaction was get even. It was fleeting; it's just not my nature to get even. Then, my second quick thought was confrontation, but again, just not feeling right about that.

So, once I calmed down, and thought about things (and Greg said some very wise words), I decided to pray. To pray for my reaction, and for this "friend." And, it also made me seriously think about some of the words that have come out of my mouth. And, how hurtful some of them could be.

Note to self: when you speak about someone in public, make sure it's something you want them to know you said. That's a lesson learned. And, sometimes these lessons, they hurt.

That's enough of that.