Pumpkin Tooth

(When I go back to to work, I promise to get the chord that magically makes the pictures from my camera land on this laptop.)

Because you have never seen anything as cute as my Pukpkin-toothed boy.

"It couldn't have happened at a better time of year, " he says as his tongue pushes right past the giga-gaps in his sparsely-toothed grin.
I smile back at him in utter admiration and say, "No baby, your pumpkin smile is just what we need this time of year!"

Just a few squishy 'baby squeezes' left on this kid, but I intend to savor every one!
Thank you God for the blessing of J.
My heart does back-flips for his pumpkin-tooth grin!

Because

Everybody's Crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man!

Oooooooo girls! If you could see my hottie walking out the door in his uniform each morning...
It'd make you wanna slap yo Mamma!

He's a byoot!

:)

How many times....

... can you title a post "life is good" and truly, truly mean it?

Seven years. I waited and prayed and hoped.

Now...

My husband is home at night. My husband is home at night.
He's here every night.

Life is so good.
God is so good.

Remember to praise your great God who loves you so!

Can it be?

It is sooooo wrong to accuse him of this, so I won't.

But...

If I didn't know better, I would swear to you that my husband has been 'fake' mopping the floor...

I come home to a mop bucket filled with water and a mop in the water - propped in the corner of the dining room.

And the floor?

Not mopped.

Is he trying to score points with a girl who knows what clean is?
Is he shooting for the placebo effect?

What is going on here?

I know, most of you would tell me to be happy that it appears as though he's making an effort.
And I am, When he does make the effort.

But this thing, which I am most certainly not accusing him of, is just sooo very like him.

Do you think it's possible?
Is he really just filling the bucket and setting it out to give off the appearance of helpfulness?

No! It can't be...

:)

For all you camera buffs out there.

I finally got a new camera!
Don't laugh, you professional photogs! It's a Canon PowerShot Elph (with a bunch of other numbers and descriptors) and it has a pretty quick capture time, which is what I need with a lightning bolt for a son and a 'head-turner' of a daughter!
It's nothing special, but it takes the pictures I want to take and I am completely thrilled!
(I think I started griping about the inadequacies of my old camera over a year ago, so this is a big moment for all of you... I will finally quit griping about it!)
Here are some shots:

I still need to learn the settings so the pictures aren't grainy. But they are pictures. And I can take some now. So it's a big improvement.

Sunday, September 27, 2009 - Day One.

In just a few short hours, Chris will walk through the door and take off his "lobster" shoes for the last time.

Wow. 11 years. Done.

The things we have been praying for, believing for, hoping for, dreaming for, for so long - and today's the day it all ends. Or begins? Yes, it's day one.

Of course, I am fighting back tears. I am ashamed to say that I can't really distinguish whether these tears are filled with joy or with fear.
Joy because everything we have He has planned for years culminates this very day. And it's absolutely wonderful, and scary...
Enter 'fear' that was neither expected nor invited.

How will he be? Will he have regrets? What will the unknown hold for him? For us? Will this work or will it blow up in our faces? Will he enjoy this new career path?

The last time Chris went through a career change was 'never.' It has always been this, in some form or fashion. This is a huge turnabout for him, and he has not always greeted change with open arms. He's a man in his mid 30's who is starting over...
As his wife, I want to be everything he needs, but I am not sure what that is yet.

I also have been very careful not to fret (in his presence) about what this change means for us financially. We have already received our final paycheck. And goodness, that felt so final!
I have no concrete idea when we will get paid, or how much it will be - I am stinking walking on water here, so to speak... :)

And if you know me, then you know what an incredible stretching experience this has been. Somehow, I feel better for it, that somehow - for once in my life - in the midst of all this stretching and trusting and praying and believing - I have actually turned loose of 'my plans' and let God do what only He can do.

Strangely and consequently, the overwhelming sensation that I feel welling up inside is peace. It's not so much a sensation though, because it's more than that. It's an absolute tangible thing. Peace that really, truly, God is in control. He is the Jehovah Jireh for the Ochoa's and has already chartered these waters. He has given us - His children - the privilege of walking out, for His glory, the path that was laid in the foundations of this earth - just for us. How incredible is that?

So just because I don't know what's next... I have peace.

May the God of all Peace rest squarely upon my husband's shoulders in the days that lie ahead. I pray that favor be the pavement upon which Chris walks, and may he find his completeness in your perfect love. When the weight of fear confronts him, may your strength hold him up, O God of Jacob. Amen.

Sliding under the birthday radar

I nearly didn't get here in time...


BUT.....



TADA!!!!!



Happy Birthday to the best sister a girl could ever hope to have! May this year be filled with incredible blessings, happy twists, and unexpected terrific turns!

I love you!

According to my sources...

I am the meanest mom ever.

You just can't put a cherry on top of that, can you?

Wow! I need to update.

Things on my mind as of late:

1. I love my husband.
2. I love my children.
3. I worry I'll do something stupid and lose my job, send my family into a cardboard box, make it to where Chris can't start his new job, all because of my inability to deal with people.
4. Church jobs are hard.
5. Worry is a sin.
6. I worry too much.
7. I am a big time sinner, saved by grace, through faith - and so are you!
8. I am really loving most of what comes with my job - just need to learn to set my priorities right alongside what the Bible says...
9. Turns out, First Grade is NOT torture. J. loves it!
10. A. is loving preschool. Not a big surprise, she is so easy to please!
11. Chris has 8 more days at Red Lobster!!! It is wonderful and crazy all at the same time.
12. I may never defeat the weeds in my backyard. Kinda metaphorical but also literal.

Irksome Jerksome

So there's no hiding behind the title of this post...
I am stinking mad as a raving lunatic over a gallon of milk, or a Swiss ball - I'm not sure which.
Sounds mature, doesn't it?

Well let me set this up for you - so you can fully appreciate my outrage.

I picked the kids up somewhere between 6 and 6:30pm this evening and remembered that we have no milk, no fruit, and no hope for tomorrow's lunch box- except for to go to the store.
So we went to Sam's and bought our milk, our OJ, our fruit, bread, and lunchmeat.

We unloaded the Jeep and as I tried to pack it into the fridge in the kitchen, I realize I bought more than I could squeeze into just one fridge.

Luckily, we have an extra fridge in the garage. Man, I love having that fridge - but I HATE going out there. It's less of a garage really - more of a tragic work out area that also collects lawn furniture and stepladders from time to time.

I realize I MUST go out to our 'what should be a' garage and wade through the work out equipment muck to get to the fridge, so in an effort to make only one trip, I make a strategic tower of groceries that includes a 4-pack of juice boxes, a gallon of milk, a gallon of OJ, and some other stuff.

I realize just as I turn the corner into the garage that I have company. The kind of 4 year old little girl company that always wants to be a part of what Momma's doing and kinda perpetuates 'under foot syndrome.' One side-effect of 'under foot syndrome' is that Mommy gets to look like a stumbling drunk from time to time.

Strategic Tower of groceries + 'under foot syndrome' = recipe for disaster

Strategic Tower of groceries (STOG) + 'under foot syndrome' (UFS)+ Swiss Ball in walkway = raving lunatic

But Wait. That's not all. There's more...

STOG + UFS + Swiss Ball + 65 pound kickbag swinging back at you after you knocked your 4 year old daughter into it after you tripped on the Swiss Ball = toppling Strategic Tower of Groceries, gallons of liquid bursting everywhere, and a berzerk woman.

How much milk and orange juice does it take to cover every square inch of a two car garage?
Precisely one gallon of each, my friends. The garage (ahem- storage facility for a Total Gym, Bowflex, Swiss Ball, and 65 pound Punching bag) is now soaked in milk and OJ.

Does anybody remember why I went to the store in the first place?
That's right, because I needed MILK>>>
I think we've come full circle.