Minivanmoments’s Weblog

Try filling in the answers to the following phrases….it’s not as easy as it looks.

i am: lonely tonight
i think: my husband is adorable
i know:  God is love
i want:  my kids to do what I tell them the first time I tell them.
i have:  gray hair
i wish:  I could snap my fingers and Mabry was better.
i hate: ignorance
i miss:  John
i fear:  being inadequate
i feel: insecure
i hear: my kids not going to bed like they are suppose to be.
i smell: the onions I had for dinner
i crave: dr. pepper
i search: garage sales for good bargains
i wonder: what goes on inside Mabry’s mind
i regret: being so quick to anger with my children
i love: being with John and the kids
i ache: for my parents to live closer
i care: what people think of my kids
i always: have shoes on
i am not: disciplined
i believe: Jesus is the way the truth and the light
i dance: to old school hip hop
i sing: Barney songs all day long
i cry: when I’m tired
i don’t always: pray like I should
i fight: the urge to eat junk food all of the time
i write: letters that never get mailed.
i win: any board game I ever play !!!!
i lose: my debit card in my car at least once a week.
i never: say the word “moist”
i confuse: wants and needs
i listen: to John on the phone every night
i can usually be found: in the minivan
i am scared: to lose a loved one
i need: to be told nice things about myself
i am happy about: how God is working in my life.

It seems like it has gotten really hot really fast.  I never thought I would want a pool……but now that we have it I love it.  Today the kids were hot and cranky……so we headed out to the pool for about an hour and things seemed much better.  They both play good in and around the pool.  Mr. Safety Patrol Jack is not going to let anything shady go on in there.  Hope you enjoy these picture from our afternoon.

Yeah…..our new grill works!  Jose who put in our grill  and new outdoor kitchen area did a fabulous job….we love it!  After all the stone work was done John and I thought it would just be an easy fix to connect all the tubes and viola…..hamburger time.  Well…..John worked so hard this weekend getting the grill up and running.  There was so much work to do on it and it wasn’t easy to get it all figured out.  But…..he was determined to do it and he did it…..I’m so proud of him.  Here are some pictures of our first cookout on the new grill!  Notice the grill marks on the hamburgers….nicely done Johnny!

To be quite honest……I get a lot of alone time.  I know what you’re thinking…..you’re a stay at home mom with neither kid in full time school….how do you get time alone?  That is very true……but many nights after the kids go to bed I am alone.  John travels ALOT.  Usually 3-4 nights out of the week.  This leaves me with a lot of time at night to myself.  I have always been the type of person who likes to by alone now and again.  When I travel with John he laughs at me because sometimes I never leave the hotel room.  That is because it is nice to just sit still with yourself.  I have come to really appreciate this time.  It’s a time to sit and gather thoughts….. read……be creative……or take a bath.  I have realized that in this time I have been spending WAY too much time watching tv.  So….here recently I have started turning off the tv and doing something creative with my time.  I have loved blogging……but I have also been working on projects.  I have tried to take a negative (John traveling so much) and turn it into a positive (I get to work on me a little bit.)  I think it has also really helped my relationship with God.  You know a relationship is only as good as the effort you put into it.  So……I am now putting in the effort.  I am desperately seeking.  I am waiting and listening to what it is God wants to do with me.  Ever since Haiti I have had a feeling God was going to call me in some way to something big…..I am now just to see what it is.  My ears and my heart is open.

All this to say I like to be alone every once in a while…….it sure makes the nights together that much sweeter.  John…..can’t wait for you to get home tomorrow!!  I love you!

What do you like to do with your alone time?

Has to be my favorite time of the day.  Forget the fact that I have absolutely no patience by now……but the idea of relaxation is upon us.  As soon as the bath water starts running is when Jack starts negotiating…..trying to move his bedtime back further and further.  He can come up with more exscuses than any kid I have ever heard.  Anyway……back to why it is my favorite time of the day.  The kids smell so good……and I love kids in pajamas……I just think they are so cute…….their little bellies stick out so cute.  Also, it is a time when we are winding down……spend time sitting on the couch together…….reading some books and just being together.  Also, before we go to bed we spend time in prayer with the kids.  They get to pick two things they are thankful for……only two or we would be there all night.  With their hands folded and their heads bowed they just look so sweet.  It is hard not to laugh sometimes at what they are thankful for……a couple months back Jack’s two things he was thankful for were his “church shoes” and Walmart!!

Here are pictures for Daddy of their new jommies:

“We walked the local village with Robinson.  He was born and raised in the village.  Children ran up to us in droves.  They just wanted to walk with us and hold our hands.  Some were hoping that we would give them gum or shampoo.  Modesty in Haiti does not exist.  Little kids will just stand in front of their house completely naked.  At first it was hard for me to look.  I felt like I should not be looking….like it was wrong.  As time went on it was like I did not even notice it.  I don’t know if it was numbness or acceptance.  The children seemed so happy for us to be there, but the women in the cillage seemed almost disgusted that we were walking through their village.  It was probably the way I was feeling abotu myself……like how dare I invade their lifestyle.  I felt like they knew we would be leaving in a week and going back to our house that have running water and air conditioning.  Again maybe this was me feeling disgusted in myself.

We spent time at the dam and the river.  This is truly the village lifeline.  This is where they swim, take baths, wash clothese, wash dishes and gather water for their families to drink.”

Skipping some thoughts for the sake of time.

“Then we were off to deliver some food to an orphanage in Bercy.  We were able to take them four bag of rice and four bags of beans.  Rusty….the orphanage director said that the amount of food we brought would last them about 2 1/2 weeks.  I had mixed emotions while I was at this orphanage.  It was very very dirty.  There were 40 kids there ranging from 1-17.  I think my feelings were mixed because the majority of these kids were not able to be adopted.  They will live their entire life at this place.  Will their lives be fulfilling…..or simple trying to survive?  Again the kids just wanted to be held.  Most of them were not wearing any pants……and of course they wanted to sit on our laps.  Rusty and Cheryl are doing everything they possibly can at this place with the money they have been given……but is it enough?

I love hanging out with all the people on our team.  It seems like everyone of them mhas a ministry…..what is my ministry?

Again, what am I suppose to take from this?  How will I respond?  How will I be called to act?  What can I teach my children?

OK……so today I feel thankful.  I will never complain about not having living room furniture.  I will never gripe about having to take my kids with me to the grocery store.  All of these things are a privilege.

Thank you God for what you have entrusted me with……teach me to walk like Jesus.”

OK…..so I had a completely different vision of how things were going to go.  I dreamed that Mabry would get to meet David Beckam……and of course I would have to be with her.  I thought he would for sure fall in love with Mabry and want to be her benefactor……maybe invite us out to LA……go swimming with him, Victoria and the kids…..you know something along those lines.  Sort of like this:

Here is what actually took place:

No….in all seriousness…..it was a great event.  FC Dallas and the LA Galaxy presented the Frisco Miracle League with $50,000.  It will help to build the kids new soccer fields…..what an amazing thing.  Here are some more pictures from the game and the presentation.  We love the Frisco Miracle League so much.  If you are ever looking for something to get involved in it is so wonderful!

You will see with my posts that I am not the best writer in the world…..I would rather express myself through art than to write something down.  But for the sake of blogging I will do so.  I thought it might give some insight to my recent amazing trip to Haiti to share with you parts of my journal.  I am also new at journaling……so getting my real feelings down on paper is really hard for me to do……but I try.

“I woke at 5:30 this morning thinking it was 6:30.  The roosters sounded like they were literally in our room.  Taking a cold shower this morning was rough…..I don’t know if I have ever had to do that.  I figured out I don’t care for powdered milk so much.

We drove to the rescue center that Licia and Lori run.  I didn’t really know what to expect….that phrase pretty much sums up my entire trip.  We drove an hour and a half most of us in teh back of a pick-up truck.  The road was really bad.

When we pulled into the rescue center it was one of the most emotional things I have experienced in these 30 years of mine.  Amos was standing up on a balcony and started jumping up and down shouting “MaMa….MaMa!!” It was so surreal to see him standing there in person.  I have seen so many pictures, prayed so many prayers, spent so many hours raising money to help get him home and now there he was standing in front of me.  He was so precious.

The kids at the RC were so amazing.  I am the kind of person who usually does not get wrapped up in kids that aren’t my own…..selfish…..probably.  But I was in awe of these kids….they were amazing. All they wanted was to be touched, loved on, played with……held.  We did all of that. It was amazing to me how little these kids have and how so very happy they are.  Their smiles are etched in my mind. Leaving them was hard, but I love knowing what an awesome thing they are doing there.

Amos and Story are staying with us the whole week.  I am so excited to start the bonding process with these two.  I think 10 years from now when the Ivey’s are at our house swimming I will think back to this day……the first day we met.  I will cherish it.

Today I feel……overwhelmed……little……unaware…….petty

I hope to change all of these things.  I want to take what we have and give it away.  We are called to missions…..it is not a choice it is a commandment.  I want to teach my children to be aware of others and other’s needs.”

One of the things I love about summer is that the kids can just run and play outside!!  This makes it so nice.  I love that we have a backyard where people actually want to come and play at our house.  We love having friends over and entertaining.  Here are a few recent pictures of the kids playing outside!

I am so excited…..NKOTB is back touring.  For those of you who are not female and between the ages of 28-35…..then you don’t know that NKOTB lovingly stands for New Kids on the Block.  This group reminds me so much of my tween years.  Those awful years from 10-14.  Akward…..Clumsy……Not very cute at all…….You think that you are the funniest and smartest person in the world when you’re really not.  The singing…..the dancing……the buttons the size of platters that were worn on jean jackets.  How awful is that?  My friends had NKOTB posters plastered all over their rooms.  Of course my mom would not allow that because it did not go “with the decor of the house.”  If it was not country blue and pink then it was not allowed in our house.

So…..all this to say NKOTB is coming to Dallas October 19!!!  Yeah!!!  Are you in?