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.

Boundaries.

Say it with me: bound-a-ries.

A good life lesson - one I'll never master.

But every little bit, through every little tight spot, I take away another portion of the lesson.

This week's temptation was a revisit with an old familiar friend called 'saying no to something good because of a greater good that could suffer the consequences of overcommitment...'

There ya go. Boundaries.

Nope.

Just Nope.

Life is good.

There will be oodles of new info in this post. And if you know me, that means it will be lengthy.
Go to the bathroom and grab your snugli.

Jaron's first day of first grade was, "Torture." But to quote him accurately and to do it justice, I'll have to type it like this: "TOR-tuuuuuuuuuuuuure...*gasp*"
The second day, he got to play BINGO so that made it all better and Jaron is now the biggest fan of first grade you ever saw. At this rate, I am not sure I can endure all the emotional highs and lows of first grade.

Jaron and I were shopping for school supplies and I found the absolute coolest composition notebook EVER! It had a pencil drawing of 2 dinosaurs on it and was oh!-so-very first grade boy. He took one look at it and said it was 'lame-o.'

Yes Ma'am. That's right "lame-o." I think he hit a worm hole on the way out of kindergarten and warped right into junior high...

OY!

Chris has OFFICIALLY turned in his notice at RL. He is a new man. It's amazing what light at the end of a tunnel can do for a man. Truly.
He starts his new job on October 1. The benefits for Chris and the kids are terrific. What's more is he will work M-F 8-5. You say, "SHUT UP!!!" I say, "No, I will not shut up!"
Ladies and gentlemen, that's about as normal as normal gets for the O-bunch. Thank you, God, for answered prayers.

March 17, 2009 = my very first day at my current job.
August 27, 2009 = the very first day that I felt like I didn't stink at it. Today, I began to really feel my stride in this job. I might even be pretty decent at what I do.

The day started out early. I went in at 7:45 after dropping Jaron off at school. I went to the bathroom ZERO times today. I ate ZERO lunch. I had a cup of Jo. I worked solid until 6:30pm tonight BUT>>> I don't stink at what I do. I might actually survive this.
5 months, 10 days = leaving survival mode.

We are about to get a hefty pay cut. I am working really hard at this 'Trusting God for provision" thing. I do feel like we are smack dab in the palm of His mighty hand, so much so that I envision the "Bringin' Home a baby Bumblebee" song when I think about it. All except for the stingin' and smooshin' part... That would just stink!

But>>> this pay cut is considerable. He will provide.

Life is good. God is better.
I love God.

Also, in the background of my living room as I type this post is one of my absolute favorite sounds on earth. Yep, you guessed it NFL football. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Nothing is a soothing as the sound of an NFL game. I absolutely love it. So glad another season has begun...

The Sting

We all went to Corpus Christi about two weeks ago. There were lots of fun moments. The kids had never seen the ocean, and they had certainly never tasted it or felt its magnificent hugeness - so we went.
What a fun trip, and not a moment too soon!
One of the tragically funny moments on this trip was when Avery got stung by a jellyfish.
Preceding this awful event were no fewer than 300 conversations with the kids about jellyfish. Avery had fretted so about the existence of jellyfish.
It was all I could do to convince her to get in the water. Then as the 4 of us huddled close to the shore, of course it was Avery who got it...

She shot out of the water and said something BIT me!!! And I looked at her, and like the caring, concerned mom I am said, "I don't see anything. You'll be fine."
She griped for a bit and then no amount of coaxing could get her back in the water.

A couple of hours later, she got in the bathtub of our hotel room and there it was a 3-4 inch long red, angry stripe. I examined it and knew what it was. In all my horror, realizing that "Mom-of-the-Year" was definitely in the bag, I told her I was sorry and asked if it still hurt. She said it wasn't too bad, but then looked at me sort of like a beggar and asked, "You're not gonna pee on me, are you?"

See? When I told you that we had no fewer than 300 conversations about the jellyfish, the remedy for a sting was discussed multiple times. Jaron was so impressed at the idea that you could PEE on something and make it better... Avery was not so much impressed as she was disgusted.

I assured her that no one was going to pee on her. Sweet relief! Poor baby. So in the end, my forgiving sweet little darling has moved past my lack of concern for her in the trauma of a jellyfish sting.
She was fine and all was well.

Another Jellyfish Comment by Jaron: "Avery, if it wasn't for jellyfish, we wouldn't have any jelly. And I know how much you love jelly..."