FRIENDS FOR LIFE

My 8 (almost 9) year old son, Eli probably has one of the most gentlest and sweetest dispositions. For some reason, out of all my children, people are drawn to him the most. Believe me when I say that I'm not boasting about him, but it's so funny to hear how many people have said that they want to take him home with them, or they will whisper to me that he is their favorite. I totally don't get offended and think, "Well, what about the other ones?!" We have accepted that there really is something special about him. Not that our other kids aren't, but we feel that the Lord really has a special calling on his life. We don't know what it is yet, but I know that he has a way of turning anything negative into a positive, and really makes me think twice about something I've said, or just my "attitude" in general! He's not one of those kids who is nice to your face and sneaky behind your back. He's a good friend to everyone he meets, and he also knows how to interact with adults! And who said that homeschooled kids were not socialized? Okay..that's a totally different post altogether..hehe.

There IS a point to this post...I promise!!

One of Eli's best friends is named Keith. They have been friends before they could even talk. Well, recently, he was bitten by a big dog and was hurt pretty bad. When my husband told Eli what happened to Keith, the tears immediately started flowing. He assured him he was okay, but I can just picture him thinking of his little friend and how scared he must have been, and that it could have turned out a lot worst if his brothers weren't there.

This is Keith & Eli back when they both just turned 5 years old! My favorite picture of them together!

I told Eli that he should make him a card, so he made one for him the other night. It was so cute, that I wanted to share it with you!

This is the front of the card!


And this is what is on the inside. On the top left, he wrote, "This is you in the future Keith!!!" Then there you see the muscle guy he drew underneath, and next to that he wrote, "Your like President to me." And finally, you can read what he wrote on the right.

FUN NIGHT OUT WITH THE GIRLS!

It was my friend Mary's birthday the other night, so a bunch of us got together to celebrate her 39th birthday! Just to give you a little history, I met Mary at church almost eight years ago! Little did I know that our friendship would have taken off from there! This lady has a heart that is always on fire for the Lord! She started discipling me about a year after I met her, and for that, I will always be grateful. She is those kinds of friends that no matter what she's doing, you can call her for prayer and she will pray for you right on the spot! She just has that heart for women to have that close, intimate relationship with the Lord!

On the other hand, out of all my friends, she is the one that I can be super crazy with!! Oh my gosh, when we get together, I know that I'm going to leave with a headache from laughing with her the entire time! The only thing that sucks is that two years ago, her husband (who is a pastor) planted a church near their home, so I only see her once every few weeks, and on special occasions like this! But, she's never too far...thank God for Facebook too..LOL! Oh..and before I sound too dramatic, we only live about 20 minutes away from each other..hehe!

So, Sara, one of the ladies at her church planned a night out for all of us! We all met up for dinner at Red Robin, then went over to the theater to watch Earth, and finally ended the night at Sara's house for cake and coffee!! I'm getting old, I started yawning at 10 o'clock!

Mary & me!

Some of the girls! The gal on the far right is a blogger too! Hi Natalie!

Some of you may recognize Carolyn (on the right) from Scrapping Servant!!

My mushroom burger! YUMMY!

Love this picture of Carolyn & Mary. The waiters totally scared us when they came up to sing "Happy Birthday" to her!

This is Sara..the hostess with the mostest! Thank you for letting us come over afterward! Oh..and she's in her first trimester!

Courtesy pose. She already blew out her candles!

Marlene & me! Her little girl and Veronica are good friends!

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FU-UN!!

And that's what we did! My friend Jyl (who I went to the Celine Dion concert with) planned a night for a few of us girls to get together at her house to eat, dance, and just have fun! There were eight of us, to be exact! I just love her house! It's so cozy and it totally felt like I was in a bed & breakfast! All our hubbys were home with the kids while we enjoyed a night of laughs, good eats, and more laughs!

Doesn't this look cozy??

Her guest bedroom! The red accents were perfect!

There was way more food that showed up! This was just the beginning!

Loved this salad bowl!

Nikki plugging in the IPod!

Nikki & Bethany warming up!

Lorena & Lorna!

Lorena & me!

Lorena & Erica. They are sister in laws! Their husbands are brothers. Erica really got into the 80's theme since that was the music we were going to be dancing to!! She's too cute!

So, after we're done dancing (which was around 11'ish), we decide to unwind with pie and watch a couple of shows on her TV. We were all sitting there, enjoying the show, when all of a sudden there is this LOUD KNOCK on the front door!! Of course we all gasp and look at each other! Well, Jyl opens the door, walks out, and this is what she sees! Her house totally got TP'd!

Front of the house! This isn't even all of it. She lives on a corner, so she had more trees and bushes around the house!!

The funny thing is, is that they did this to her just last month! And no worries...we knew who it was! We saw their van drive off down the street. It was some of the kids from the youth group at church! LOL!! In fact, they TP'd Lorena's house last month too, but they fessed up to it because Lorena's husband said they had surveillance around the house..haha! So, you know what we did???? We all jumped into Erica's SUV, drove to Walgreens, and Jyl bought three packs of toilet paper. We went to the house of the "known suspect", and yup..that's right, we TP'd their house good!! Oh my gosh..I wish I took a picture of it because we were cracking up when we drove off! And just so you don't think we're totally messed up, it was one of the boys moms that was driving them in the van! So, she can't get mad since she is an accomplice! They had some of their friends sleeping over (one of which was Lorna's son) so there were at least four of them. But, it's all good because we're all friends, so it is a good laugh for everyone! I can imagine their faces though when they saw their house when they got home!! So, that wraps up my Saturday night with the girls! FYI, by the time I got home, it was 2am!!! Oh...and get this..the kids went BACK to Jyl's house again, after we left and TP'd her house even more!! LOLOLOL! But, the good thing is is that they all went to her house after church and cleaned up all the mess! Oh...and the funniest part of the story is that they have NO IDEA that it was us that TP'd their house!! They have a feeling it's us, but we were just blowing them off at church like, "Huh?? Us????"

BUST A MOVE!

If you've been following my blog for a bit, then you will know that we go roller skating alot! The kids love it, it has a great family atmosphere, it's cheaper than the movies, it's good exercise, and it has been around since I was in middle school! Well, you know the motto, "The more the merrier?" It's so true! 33 of us...yes, 33, included adults and children met up at Cal Skate last night (thanks to my hubby calling everyone) and we all had a wonderful time! Majority of the time I do not skate because I like to take pictures, but last night I did, and boy, my legs were burning!! I don't know if that's good or bad..LOL!

They said this picture represents little sisters with their older sisters!

My only other somewhat decent shot of the night. This is outside the rink when it was over. 9:30..too early for us!!!

And since it was only 9:30, and we all still wanted to hang out, we invited everyone back to our place. Most of them had to go home because they had to work the next day. But, that was okay, because we still had so much fun!! I made coffee, there was dessert, and we turned up our ITunes play list!! Now..mind you, we are all in our late 30's (some closer to 40..lol), so the old school music we like, is really OLD SCHOOL!! So..here's a short clip of our little "dance partay"!!!!! It's a little dark, but you can kind of make it out. And who said Christians couldn't have fun?? The night ended at 1am, and yes, us old folks can still hold our own! Here we are jammin' to Earth Wind & Fire! Oh..and that is my loud mouth you hear!!

LUNCH FUN!

My friend, Mariela, had a potluck lunch at her house yesterday, and it was nice and relaxing! Well, not relaxing when the boys were yelling or when the girls were playing and screaming with their high pitched voices. But, regardless, there was good food, great fellowship, and fun all around! Since the kids are on school break, we are just going to play it by ear..day to day! It's so nice to not have to get up and worry about school! I'll be busy for the next couple of days just shopping and getting things ready for Christmas. I'm not even stressing about it, surprisingly. I know it's all going to work out!

L-R: Carmen, Carmen's mom and niece, ME, Sue, and Mariela's hubby

My two older kids just hangin' out!

My friend Mariela with my three youngest kiddos. They love her!

Boys and video games!

and more games...Girls & their dolls!My friend Carmen brought a simple craft for the kids to do! We were cutting out scriptures from an old calender and gluing them on to glitter paper, and then attaching a magnet to the back!

GOOD FRIENDS...GOOD TIMES!!

Patricia and her granddaughter

I had a wonderful surprise today!!! One of my friends (who I have not seen in a couple of years) stopped by in the morning!! Her and her hubby bought a house up north (a good two hours away), so we have not seen them since they moved. She had to do errands down this way, so she decided to stop on by to see how we were doing! She brought her little granddaughter with her, so it was nice to see her too! My friend doesn't even look like a grandma! She looks more like she can be her mama! Anyway, we used to do so many things with their family! It was one of those friendships that just "clicked" from the beginning. I do miss seeing them and her kids. It's funny how God brings certain people in your lives for a season. Not to say that we're not friends anymore. We will definitely keep in touch more often now that we saw each other, but I just remember that time in my life where our friendship was a part of a growing process (in the Lord). I'm just so glad that we were able to start off where we left off and that there was no "awkwardness" between us. We are making plans for us to all get together again. Hopefully sooner than later.