Reflection

I hate it when I offend people. I have accepted the fact that it will happen, to people I care about. I will say something or do something with a good intention, but it comes out wrong. I know sometimes if I have an idea on how to do something I just plow ahead without asking anyone else's opinion. This is probably not the most effective way, especially when that idea includes those people. I want to apologize to those I have offended. I hope they know me well enough to know that I would never do it on purpose. I feel awful when I know that I did something that hurt someone else. I also know that to a large degree it is our choice to be offended or not. However, that doesn't make how someone feels any less important. This may seem from out of nowhere, sort of out of left field. But on looking back over the past few days, even few weeks, I realize that sometimes I just do dumb things, or say dumb things. The way they come out is not at all how I intended. I love my family and I love my friends. I also know I have a big mouth, which has gotten me into trouble over the years. I am working on thinking before I act and speak, which is a lot easier said than done.

Update Time!

The day before Cassie and her family left, Shannon had planned an egg hunt for the kids. You're awesome, Shanny! The kids really liked it. Sarah is holding the one egg she found. After she found it she lost interest in finding others. All the kids were so cute to watch. Brendan was expecially awesome since he was the oldest and saw most of the eggs but let his cousins find them. Thanks Brendan! Did I get your name right? I can never remember if it's an "e" or an "a". How lame is that? How long have I been in the family? ANyway...

I went garage sale hunting (love it!!) and found a car seat for Jared for 10 bucks! So now he is in the back with Jacob and Sarah is in Jared's seat. No more baby car seat! I can't believe my babies are so big!

We did our own egg hunt the day before Easter. We ended up doing it at Kim and Julie's since we were there. The kids were hilarious to watch. YOu would hide an egg at the base of a tree and one in the tree. The boys would find the one in the tree but never think to look down. It was so funny to watch them pass the most obvious ones. They finally found all of them (with help from Mommy and Daddy) and we shared the spoils.

My cute kids in their Easter splendor. I wish you could see Sarah's dress better. It is adorable. She is determined to start walking. For the past week or so she has been standing for a few seconds at a time. I know her break-through will be soon.

Whitney went on a ride-along Saturday in Oakland. He had a lot of fun. I know he is looking forward to his graduation in less than 4 weeks. It has been a long road and I am so glad the end is finally in sight. Thanks to all of you for your love and support.

Movie Review #2

Whitney and I went and saw "Fast and the Furious". If you liked the other movies, you will like this one. It was very entertaining. There was, however, a scene that was less than tasteful. Luckily it didn't last long, but it kind of caught us by surprise. I feel it is better to be informed of those scenes if possible.

Reading Corner

I just finished a trilogy that I really liked. It's called the King Raven trilogy. It's a robin hood story but with a different twist. I really liked. The books are very clean. The author is Steven Lawhead. I found it at my local library. I totally recommend it.

Quick update

We have been working with Jared on potty training. He is really good about not having accidents during the day. Last week he wore underwear from about 9:30am to 2pm without accidents or going potty. But as soon as I put a diaper on him, he will go. On Friday night he kept asking for a diaper when it was close to bedtime. We made him sit on the potty until we heard the music from the potty. He had finally gone but some was on the floor and he had whetted his underwear and shorts. He was petrified. Whitney and I immediately started praising him for finally going in the potty and he saw that we were happy so he became happy. Then today after church we realized the depth of his fear. He kept asking for a diaper and we kept sending him back to the potty. I was trying to help him but he was holding it in. He was so scared to go. He started dripping but was ruthlessly holding it in. Whitney and tried everything we could think of to get him to not be afraid. He finally couldn't hold it any longer and went. FINALLY! Again, we showered him with praise and told him how good he did. Any ideas on how to deal with the fear? Input would be great! I'll give more of an update this week. We love you all!

Movie Review

I just watched "Bedtime Stories". I thought it was a really cute movie. It stars Adam Sandler. I thought he did a pretty good job. It's Adam Sandler humor that is clean. Oxy moron? Well, I liked it.

Hurray!!!

Whitney is assigned to Oakland! Yay we don't have to move!! I am very excited about that. As far as how I feel about Whit going to Oakland, I just have to trust in the Lord to keep him safe. As some of you know or heard, there were 4 Oakland cops that shot and killed 2 weeks ago. The funeral was huge. I found that I can't dwell on thoughts of him getting hurt or dying or I will drive myself crazy. He is going where he wants to go and I am ok with that. I am happy that he will be happy with his assignment.

Wicked

On Thursday, March 19th, a huge group of us went and saw Wicked. It was awesome!! I highly recommend seeing it if and when you can. The music was fantastic and the dialogue was very well written. I loved it. Both Whitney's sisters came to see it, along with theirt husbands,other family and friends. It is in San Francisco until September. Awesome!!!

Ok, next topic:

We had all the Lowe cousins here for about four days. That was great for all the kids. They played alot together. It was nice to hang out with Whit's sisters too. I had spent time with Cassie on our big trip, but didn't get a chance to spend time with Diana. It was fun to sit around and talk and play games and laugh at people on YouTube (Jake, cough).

When Diana was here, we all went to Muir Woods by San Rafael. It was a really neat place to go. This is Jared showing Daddy the banana slugs that live there.

These are all the Lowe cousins (minus Ashlyn because she was asleep).

Jared split his head, again. This time he had to get 4 stitches; not just 2 staples. I took these pics for posterity's sake. Apparently, Jacob pushed Jared off the chair in their room and Jard fell back and hit his head on a toy with a charp edge. Lovely. Jared came out crying. So I bend down over the top of him to kiss it better and realize the back of his shirt was soaked. My first thought was, where did he get the grape juice? My next thought was, crap. My third thought was, Whit's not here. Great. SO I called my mother in-law. She and Cassie came over and took Jacob and Sarah to her house while I took Jared to the hospital. We were there about 2 1/2 hours, which is better than the last time around. I am very proud of myself for not freaking out and for holding it together. But, man it would have been nice to have Whit there so I could stand outside the room while they stitched him up. I know that Whit would have come if I have asked him, but I knew it was more important for him to stay at the academy that night when it wasn't a serious injury. I love you Whit.

Happy Birthday to Jacob!! I was really excited about how the cake turned out. One of my new hobbies is cake decorating. I had d0ne some really cute cupcakes for a baby shower earlier in the month.

And the last picture is Sarah doing her stink bug walk. Absolutely adorable. She will be 10 months on the 8th. This year has seemed to go by so fast. And yet it feels like the Academy will never end. Just 6 1/2 more weeks!! Yay! We should find out in the next week or so where Whit will be working. His top choices were all in the bay area so the chances of us having to move are small. I am keeping my fingers crossed, though.