FC DALLAS......MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER!

For Christmas we got tickets to some FC Dallas soccer games - SO FUN!!!  

The kids LOVED it and so did Chris and I of course!  We went on a perfect evening of weather.....

and had GREAT seats at midfield!  All the handicapped seats in the stadium are great......great view of the game and on the same level as bathrooms and food.  So there's easy access to everything you could want.....and you don't have to wait for elevators or anything! So nice. 

The kids and Chris got corndogs - real ones - fresh, greasy, and hot!  I'm not a corndog kind of gal, so I skipped that experience!

Spunky Monkey decided to wear her monkey jammies and monkey ears.  She was sooo excited!

Caleb wore his Redsox shirt because FC Dallas has the same colors.

Ahh, my Chris.  So fun to enjoy an evening like this with him.  Enjoying our children and the excitement of a game.  

They even won!  With 40 seconds remaining in extra minutes the had an awesome shot and scored!!!  The stadium went wild and they had fireworks too!  What an adrenaline rush!  The kids went crazy - jumping and yelling and clapping!  It was sooo fun!

I JUST LOVE THEM.....

I'm sure, for those of you reading these posts, you may get tired of just "normal" pictures like this - not artistic, not fancy,  not amazing.  But for me, these "out takes" make me smile.  I look at them and feel so incredibly blessed.  

I have a husband who truly loves me and tells me everyday.  He lives "in the present" more than anyone else I've ever known.....and I LOVE it!  I need it.  I'm a planner and a do-er/task master.  So I need some "seizing the moment" in my life.  He has brought such adventure and excitement and laughter into my life and into my heart and I adore him.  I really do!

ALETHIA - She really is spunky!  She is like her Daddy in her happy disposition and joy.  She is relaxed and flexible and tremendously joyful.  She's creative and musical and can play with anything.....she LOVES to build and solve any puzzle.....she's so spatial and observes A LOT.....she picks up on things around her that I completely miss!  She is a delight to watch grow and I am so incredibly thankful that I get to be her Mommy and watch her grow and develop every day of her life!  

CALEB - Oh Caleb!  He is such a mix of Chris and I.  He is competitive and bold and determined and athletic and VERY verbal (he shares every thought and feeling he has!)......he's detail-oriented, he LOVES to learn about everything in creation and then explain every fact that he learned.......he's  compassionate and loving and protective and loyal, very loyal.

I love them all and I know that I have been given a precious gift from the Lord with each one of them.

LET THE FUN BEGIN......

And so the sugar sets in......

Be careful not to confuse Caleb with a storm trooper.  He is Captain Rex who apparently is a good guy - very important in the Skinner household to just dress up as the good guys!

So many wonderful friends came to share our day!

and eat the food.....

and eat some more......

and play on the playground (or watch while the kids played on the playground!)

and give hugs....wonderful hugs!

Thanks everyone for making our day special!

DADDY'S PARTY INTRO.....

Chris is a wonderful Daddy, truly.  He got the party started by rounding up all the kids and adults.  He welcomed everyone and said some things specifically to Caleb and Alethia about different traits that he loves about them.  Then he opened it up and asked others to share anything that they love about Caleb and Alethia to encourage them.

Ms. Ann is the twins' Saturday babysitter and she was the first to speak up.  She was so kind and said things about each one of them individually.......Caleb's competitiveness and confidence.....Alethia's creativity in play and in art.  She elaborated much more than I am here and I was so thankful to have another adult praise and encourage them like she did.  Thanks Ann!

All the other kids were so quiet and respectful while others spoke about Caleb and Alethia.

One of the kids' best friends was brave and stood up to encourage Caleb and Alethia.  He said he loved Caleb for being so smart and sharing well....and that he liked Alethia because she's so cute and plays with dollhouses!  He was so sweet (although I'm not so sure Daddy liked that fact that he said Alethia was cute!!  He's not ready for boys to say that about his little girl yet!)

Ms. Ellie told the kids that she loves to see how much they love their Mommy and Daddy and how they run and squeal with excitement when they see us (this especially blessed me and brought a tear to my eye of course! I'm an emotional Mommy on birthdays!)

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of everyone who spoke, but needless to say we were so thankful for all of the friends and adults who spoke encouraging words to our precious Caleb and Alethia.  And I was sooo thankful to Chris for doing that.  At the end of it all he asked if I had anything that I wanted to say to them and all I could do was cry and say I love you!  So it sure is good that they've got a calm Daddy!

Let the feasting begin!  Baby Jesus cake.....

And Star Wars cake - Caleb blew out his candles before the song was over so I missed the Kodak moment of flickering flames!  oops!

WE GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS - OR A LOT OF HELP!

We have wonderful friends.....let me start with that!  See, I have this thing about me of underestimating how much time things take......

Fortunately I have friends that volunteer to help me all the time (I suppose over the years they've come to notice this "underestimating" trait in me!).  

On our birthday Beth and Mindi jumped in to help and they came early to help us set up and unload the van.  It was a tremendous help and things certainly would not have been ready on time without them - AND their wonderful kiddos!

Caleb was a gentleman and loved to help unload things from the van and carry them to the picnic table.....he's being trained well by his Daddy in what gentlemen do.

And our ever-faithful friend Livi helped both Caleb and Alethia get sprayed down with bug spray - a necessity in Texas even in April!  In fact, Livi sprayed everyone I think!  What a good friend!

Addi helped babysit baby Lincoln so that his Mommy could help set up.  (Addi is one of the most mature and wonderful and responsible girls I know!  She's an amazing person and has been that way since we met her 2 years ago.....another VERY faithful friend of the Skinners!).

Here are Livi and Caleb once he's been properly covered in bug spray and ready to commence with his Star Wars party!

And Jeremy, oh Jeremy, what a wonderful friend to both Caleb and Alethia.  He's been so sweet and giving to both of our kids!  He's so quick to share and to play things the way our kids want to play them....just a very sweet and respectful young man who we love very much!

What a blessing to have such wonderful friends showing us love before our party even started!

THE TWINS ARE FIVE!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALETHIA!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!!!

To the park we go......our favorite place to have birthday parties!  We had their 4th party here too! (It's great for Chris and I because all we do is set up the food and sugar.....feed the kids....and let them run it all out of their system!)

Alethia got SPUNKY MONKEY ears and had a SPUNKY MONKEY theme with her decorations. Although she wanted a Jesus cake with baby Jesus and a star so that the people in the park that see us can see that Jesus loves them - her idea, not mine or Chris'.  We were so excited to do that for her but it was definitely a group effort:  

1. We got the giant cupcake idea and pan from our friend Flo

2. We borrowed baby Jesus from our friend Mary

3. We borrowed the icing piping-thing from our neighbor Sue

4. Our friends, Mindi and Beth, came to the park early to help us set up the table

and

5. Our friend Ann figured out how to cut the cake and serve it!

WHEW!!  Good thing we're surrounded by such great friends!

Caleb's cake?  That was easy!  He wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles with STAR WARS LEGOS!  No problem!

He decorated the cake with the sprinkles and the legos and it was done - plain and simple and he loved it!

He looks like a proud 5 year old, doesn't he??!!??

And here's our sweet princess, Spunky Monkey with her Jesus-Star cupcake

YUMMY!

A GLIMPSE

Every now and then the activities slow down, the "to do" list fades away, the noisy background becomes quiet, and a stillness enters my heart and soul long enough to give me
a glimpse.......
        a glimpse.....
                a glimpse.....

A glimpse into something......a view........a perspective......something very real.......it's hard to put my finger on it.......I'm not sure that I have the words......

But I suddenly have a deep knowing in my soul that all I can do is give my heart and my hopes to the Lord, to Jesus.  I can't control much in this life or in this world........

But I can surrender my heart and my hope to Jesus that eternity with Him is real.  I can't make people understand my perspective, I can't make everyone like and agree with us, I can't make someone give me a job or give us money, I can't make Chris completely healthy, I can't protect my children from every pain and evil thing surrounding them.......I can't do much.......I don't have the control......I didn't design life that way, but every now and then I remember......the sobering reality of life comes to me........and instead of creating fear......

 every now and then, it creates SURRENDER

a surrender deep in my soul that admits that I don't have control over more in my life than I care to think.....and so I put my hope.......a flicker of hope......sometimes very faint......sometimes very strong.......
                  I put a flicker of hope, all that I have, and all that I am, into spending eternity with God, with Jesus.  I surrender my desires, my plans, my ideas, my emotions, my fears, my dreams, my self.  I surrender it to Him.

And when I do,
                  I get a glimpse
                                     of PEACE.

THAT is what it is.  I can see it now.  DEEP PEACE in my being.  DEEP PEACE that gives me rest.  Rest from worry, rest from planning, rest from "doing".

A peace-filled stillness.

There's nothing like it.