Happy Birthday Dad!

Wow, I am 2 days late but wanted to wish my Dad a Happy Birthday. He is a wonderful father and Grandpa. We all love him so much. He loves us and he LOVES kids and babies and they ALL love him. He loves to tease and make others laugh. He is a very hard worker and keeps everything looking really nice. We love you Dad!

Couples Conference

Cute Mary and Lucy enjoying a bath.
This last week was crazy but turned out much better than we thought. We had a 3 day conference for Joe's job. It was difficult finding a place for Lucy, she is such a Mama's girl but she did great! We have wonderful friends here already that helped us out a bunch! The conference turned out so fun and we had a really great time. Coordinators came from all over Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and even Southern New Mexico. It was so fun seeing some of our dear friends who moved the same time we did. We also had to speak in church yesterday. Lucy came up while I was speaking and stood/jumped by me my whole talk. Nice, everyone managed to stay awake even though it was sooo hot. I don't know what happened to the air conditioning but it wasn't working. Anyway I am relieved it is over so I don't stress about it anymore.

Awesome Week!

Playing at a cool park that is by our house!
Our new chairs, thanks Grandma and Grandma Painter and Mom and Dad.
Celebrating Mom's Birthday. I think Spencer blew out more than Mom!
Mom and Dad with the girls at Dickey's right before dropping them off.
We visited the Bass Pro shop that is out on Lake Ray Hubbard? It was a pretty cool place.
We got to spend a day at the State Fair of Texas. This is the kids watching the Nerveless Knocks--a motorcycle act. It was great, although it made mom sick! I was sweating too.
They had lots of free things to do, like letting the kids play like they were farmers. They had fun.
There were tons of rides! We enjoyed a few! Thanks Mom and Dad!
Lucy and her outfits, oh my, my parents got a good taste of how many clothes she goes through in a day!

We had such a great time with my parents! It definitely comes in at the top of the charts for good times. Thank you Mom and Dad--you are the Best! I was so weepy yesterday but it was good--we had so much fun and look forward to next time!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's Birthday and I am so happy she is here visiting! We have had an awesome week, that will have to be the next post. I am so thankful for my mom. She has taught me so much and I appreciate her endless concern for me and my family. She is very talented at making people feel good, organizing parties and get togethers, multi-tasking, and loving those around her. She always looks nice and she is a very busy lady. She not only takes care of all of her family: parents, children, etc. but many of the ward members and friends. She is a Wonderful person, mother and friend. I Love You Mom!

Sorry for the confusion!

I just changed back to open blog, I found I could at least limit some of the search engines from pulling us up, it was too big of a pain the other way. Sorry for all of you that just got me changed over to private on your blogs! I promise I won't change again (at least for a couple months) ;).

Art

This is the pic I entered in the Church's International Art Contest. The theme was "Remembering the Great Things of God". I named it "Motherhood", I drew it off a photo I took of Lucy. Lucy reminds me everyday that I have always wanted to be a mother. I know we were prepared before we came here to become mothers and I know we will work for the eternities at being a better one. I LOVE being a mother and I am so thankful for the divine qualities we have all been given to be found, used, remembered, and bettered to build up the Kingdom of God.

This is the bedspread my Grandma Painter made me before I got married, it is so pretty and I have never dared put it on our bed so I decided to hang it on a wall in my room. I love it! My Aunt Cleo Painter quilted the entire thing also, so it reminds me of the whole Painter clan.

My camera is giving me fits and I don't know what is wrong with it, it is fairly new. AHHH! And my parents are coming next week--I have to figure it out FAST! I have been so excited for them to come but I have been trying not to say anything to my kids because they are just as bad as me--well Spencer is just as bad as me and he doesn't need to be reminded until must closer to their arrival. Well I am still running and loving it. In the month of Sept. I only lost 2 pounds but lost 10.5 inches--so glad I measured or I would be ticked! Anyway the boys are doing great in school, just had PT conf. yesterday. That is a relief. Brigham is ahead thanks to Ms. Stacy. She was so great. Spencer is ahead in reading thanks to the Book of Mormon and Mrs. Baer. Lucy has worn a dress everyday now for 3 weeks. She is constantly holding one of her babies, even while eating. Good practice! Mary has a bit of a cold, but she is so good, she acts like normal. She is close to pushing up on all fours and taking off. She can scoot and pull herself pretty much wherever she wants to go. Joe is doing great, he loves his job, he goes to the gym everyday and has already lost 8 pounds or something. When he decides to do something he does it so well! He is eating so great, I love it because it helps me.

Mary's letters

Well today I got to enjoy conference, finish Mary's letters for her side of the room and plant tulip bulbs in the front yard. It was a good day! Lucy is back into trouble now, she got into the gel, hand soap, face lotion, mascara and concealer today. We haven't been able to find all the storage cabinets we need so all that stuff is on my bathroom counter--which thankfully hasn't been a problem until today. She has done so well with all that since we moved here until the past couple of days. AHHH! Anyway some of my favorite quotes from conference today:
"The best is yet to come." "Come what may and love it." "The next time you are tempted to groan try to laugh." And the thought to pray with more thanksgiving than asking. It was so good for me today, I love conference. Joe had to attend all of the sessions at the Stake Center for his calling, so I haven't really seen him today, but I am sure he enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Game room and Kids

The kids have been playing with the costumes of coarse! Lucy loves to play with Brigham.
The game room finally clean enough for a picture!

This is somewhat random but I think that must be how I function. Carpet is GREAT for Pilates. It feels much better than my rug! Spencer has been working on K'NEX creations ever since he got home from school. I love the cool things he builds. He rarely even looks at the "map" that is what he calls the instruction manuel. And we got 2 fun packages in the mail this week, one from Grandma and another from Grandma Great. Thanks so much for the Halloween countdown and the Cute pillowcases--they are awesome. I am going to clean one of the Red Cross places tomorrow where people stayed from Hurricane Ike. Here is a clip of all of Spencer's stuff and a thank you!