Our neighbor Dakota has his birthday party today. He had a petting zoo come to his house. It was a really cool petting zoo. As you can see from the pictures the kids were allowed to pick up the animals, feed them and play with them. There were a lot of really cool animals. Jack loved it……Mabry just wanted to ride the pony the whole time……who would have thought?? Here are a few pictures of our favorite animals.
OK…get ready for me to bombard you with some pictures. This weekend was the first annual Gayhart Campout. We have never taken our children camping. It is pretty risky, b/c we never know how Mabry is going to do. John decided this was going to happen……I wasn’t so sure. So we set off to Peas and Quiet Farm (some of you my remember that it is where John and I got married.) Anyway…..long story short it was a ton of fun. Both kids had a good time……and were really good. We ended up heading into the house about 3 in the morning……b/c it was really cold, but other than that we did everything you are suppose to do on a campout.
We cooked hotdogs
We roasted marshmellows to make smores.
We rode four wheelers.
We sat on the tailgate of the truck.
We went fishing…..didn’t catch anything though.
We put up a tent.
(no John is not woking…..it was a high tech campout…..we let the kids fall asleep watching a movie….what can ya do??)
We played the guitar and sang around the campfire.
Finally…..we spent time with our honey! Thanks Honey for letting us come to your farm!!!
Fall is my favorite season of the year. Although…..it is not quite fall weather here in Texas…..I still love everything about fall. Football, cool weather, fall food….like chili and stew, and jeans. The only thing about fall I don’t like are the allergies……but those should be better in a few weeks. Today we visited the Big Orange Pumpkin Patch with Jack’s class. Lots of fun…….but we were in and out in a hurry. Mabry does not last long in places like this. Kind of stresses mommy out too! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.
This is about as good of a picture as I am going to get of my kids together!
This is Jack and his best friend Ryan.
This is Mabry trying to stick the food cube up the Longhorn’s nose!
Our pastor has been doing a series on Joseph’s Journey. It has been a really good series so far, going through the 10 tests that Joseph went through. The first was pride……and the second was The Pit. Last Sunday sitting in church listening to this message I felt like I was the only one in the roon and Pastor David was preaching right to me. Have you ever felt that way? I felt like everything he had to say was directly related to my life and what I am dealing with right now. The main thing I took away from the message was when he asked the question….”What are you hearing when you are in the pit?” It took me a while to realize what he ment by this, but it quickly came to me. All of the thoughts of doubt that you hear in your head when things are going bad……THOSE ARE NOT FROM GOD! The devil gets you when you are in the pit……he tries to fill your mind with negative thoughts…..your not a good mother…….you should have done this and things wouldn’t be so bad……your not a good Christian……..
Let me remind you my friends……these thoughts are not from God. God is loving and good and only wants to lift you up in times of trouble. He wants to help you through it……not tear you down. I have been slowing starting to realize when these thoughts are coming into my head……and have started praying them away. Also, I’m learning to consider trials pure joy…..realizing that these trials only make me stronger!!!
OK…..I know I have been away for a long time. Sorry….I have kind of been dealing with some stuff. But I do have a huge confession to make. I no longer drive a minivan! I know the shock and horror are overwhelming you right now. It’s true……the minivan has been traded in……chicken nuggets and all. Here is my dilema…..do I have to change the name of my blog? I love the name of my blog……because I will always be a minivan mom at heart. Do I have to change it to “Tales from the Tahoe?” Your thoughts.
When the kids are in school is suppose to be the time for mommy to get a break. That’s the idea anyway. Since Mabry’s recent setback in the behavior area it has been really hard for me to relax…..especially while she is in school. See, Mabry’s teacher said that she was going to call me if Mabry bit anyone and broke the skin……just so I would know what to expect when I pick her up from school at 11:00. I really do like the idea…..and I appreciate the effort from Mabry’s teacher…..but man it is killing me!! I am usually at the gym with my cell phone attached to me……afraid it is going to ring at any second. Or…..like right now I am home getting some work done…..I have the home phone and my cell phone right next to me. The home phone just rang and I about jumped out of my skin. Darn sales people!!!
All this to say…..for the next couple of weeks don’t call me…..I’ll call you…..during the hours of 8-11 that is……texts are fine. HeHe! It is 10:27 and the school has not called yet. Might just be a good day!
Please pray for this country. As most of you know I spent some time there in May. I feel like part of my heart is still there and I do hope to return there some day. They have been devastated by hurricane after hurricane. I received an email today from the director of the rescue center where we spent some time and they are in terrible need of relief. Pray that God lays His hand on this country and heals them. Pray that they will get no more rain…..since they are already so water logged. Pray for all of the kids at the rescue center. Pray for Licia who is there running the rescue center during this horrible time. I don’t know what else to say other than pray! If you would like more information go to http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/
Yahoo…..there is nothing better than Cowboy season. If you know us well at all…..you know our week is determined by how well the Cowboys do on Sunday…..not really……but we take it very seriously. Here we are dressed and ready for the first game of the season. You can see Mabry followed TO’s directions and she “got her popcorn ready!” Glad to report we opened the season with a nice victory over the Cleveland Browns. Go Cowboys!
Soccer season is back around. This morning was Mabry’s first game of the season with the Frisco Miracle League. She did pretty good. She actually stayed on the field…..and managed to kick the ball once or twice in the process. Again, if any of you are interested in an awesome opportunity to get involved with special needs kids this is the place to do it. The Miracle League does an amazing job!! Here are a few pictures from this morning.
Mabry kicking off…everyone gets a chance!
She’s got skills!
Taking a break…..and drinking other people’s drinks.
How Mabry spent most of the game.
Yeah Yellow Team! Notice Coach John leading the troops!!
For any of you who fly……you know the phrase, “If someone around you needs assistance with their oxygen mask, please put your mask on first and then assist them with their mask once yours is secure.” Well, this weekend I had to take some time and put the oxygen mask on myself first.
Last week was a VERY hard week. Mabry is having a very rough time right now and John and I are just not sure what the problem is. We have appointments with our specialists scheduled for next week, but it is going to be a long wait until then. Mabry is being very aggressive and is hitting and biting people that she loves very much. She bit Miss. Julie, Gretchen, and all of her teachers. One good thing is that she is not biting kids. Anyway, she is having a rough time. Sometimes it simply means that her medication is off and needs to be adjusted. I am praying that is the problem.
So this weekend I took a break. Let me start by saying how much I love my husband. He was so willing for me to leave for the weekend and get away from the situation for a while. I appreciate that about him so much……he loves spending time with the kids……and doesn’t think of it as babysitiing. He knew that I was at the end of my rope and I had to go climb back to the top of the rope. So I headed down to Austin to spend time with Jamie. It was just nice to not have to think about things for a while……but what did I do the whole time……thought about it. But, it was nice to step away and get a fresh perspective on the whole situation. I think God was working in me this weekend. He let me see some things in a different light. Sometimes it takes retreating in order to see things more clearly. Sometimes it takes taking care of yourself first (putting your mask on) before you can successfully help those around you.
Minivanmoments's Weblog 
