Black and White Wednesday- RUDY'S

Our family has a small obsession with the greatest barbecue restaurant ever- Rudy's.  Trent and I went their frequently when we were newly married in San Antonio.  Over the years we have collected a lot of Rudy's cups, t-shirts, and hats.  The name Rudy's is found in almost every room of our home.

In 2000, we moved to Waco where there was no Rudy's.  I had to wonder if God would really send us to a place that didn't have a Rudy's.  :)   Then it happened.  Waco got a Rudy's and we were at peace again.  Trent had a favorite Rudy's hat that he wore all over the world.

 (In Casa Blanca)

 (At the Eiffel Tower in Paris)

(In Marrakesh in the Djemaa El Fnaa)

(Over the Le Mat river in Zurich Switzerland)

(In Tiananmen Square)

 (The hat's final home with a boy named Jonas in St. Marc Haiti)

So back to my story.  In 2007 we moved to south Houston where again there was no Rudy's.  I know! Tragedy!  But I have good news.  It took almost 5 years but we have be reunited with our favorite place to eat.  Yes! Webster Texas got a Rudy's Barbecue.  We went to the friends and family opening tonight. Pictures from that to come. 

Sunday Snapshot- Week 1

It was a good first week of school.  I figure 2 greats and 1 lonely probably equals a good all around week.

Jack got the 1 teacher he was scared of because he had seen her in the hall the year before getting her class in order.  I assured him that a teacher who has firm control of her class is our kind of teacher.  After one week, he completely agrees.  His 2 comments from the week-
1. "I really like math.  I think that is my favorite subject."
2. "I like 3rd grade because we don't have a long recess.  It is too hot out there for recess."

When I found out Sam's teachers name, I texted a friend who used to teach at the school and she replied that Sam's teacher is the same teacher she chose for her daughter. SCORE!

She has been teaching for a long time which is a good thing because I have a feeling Sam will be a bit of a challenge for her.  He made a new friend this week that he says he likes to joke around with.  This same friend got in trouble this week for climbing under the bathroom stall to see if the other boy had Transformers on his underwear too.  Sounds like Sam has met his match.

His favorite part of the day has been P.E.

With the boys gone, Ruthie and I have had extra girl time.  I have tried to entertain her with outings and play dates but every time I stop for a minute to get something done, she looks up at me and so sadly says, "I miss my bubbas."   I think this sweet child is so used to being entertained that she has forgotten how to play by herself.  

Looking forward to seeing what week 2 holds.

Perception + Truth= Perspective

There are a lot of benefits to going on a mission trip.  Not the least of which is that a mission trip gives you perspective.

While I was in China with Bring Me Hope, my family group made these bracelets out of torn bandanas that we colored together.  I am still wearing mine today because when I look at it, I am reminded of those girls and where they are now, and suddenly I have perspective.

I came home from China to a myriad of challenges- my home needed a week's worth of catch up, our refrigerator went out, we had some not so smooth transitions going on at work, my hours (and thus income) was cut in half because of those transitions, I was in a car wreck this week, and the list goes on.  Every time I have a moment that threatens to take my joy, I look at my bracelet and suddenly I have perspective.

This equation came to me the other day.  PERCEPTION + TRUTH= PERSPECTIVE.  You see we can live our lives based on our perception of our environment (and it may never be good enough) OR we can permeate that perception with the truth of how fortunate we really are and suddenly we have perspective.

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For those friends and family who come here just for pics of the kiddos, I have a few pictures here from my trip with Ruthie to Kemah to play in the spray fountain.  Little did I know that a major storm was heading our way.  So we played in it anyway with water shooting up from the fountain and falling down from the sky.  This place is normally filled with hundreds of people and on that rainy day we were there with less than 20.  For you photographers, these were all taken through my SLR water proof bag.

Black and White Wednesday- Back2School

I really wanted to shoot back to school pictures of my kids near an old school bus.  I found one and went with my family to ask the owner if we could take a few pictures by it.  When he threatened to shoot my husband I figured it was time to go with plan B.

I was really pleased with how these turned out though.  Forgive the # of photos here. I actually edited 65!

1st Day of School Video

Many of you will have already seen this on facebook but for those of you who aren't my friend on facebook (I think that is just you dad), here is our 1st day of school to my new favorite song.

Sunday Snapshot

 I have been a bad blogger this week.  We have been busy with back to school stuff and had 2 different sets of family in.  It was a great week but left no time for blogging.

This week wrapped up with a Back 2 School Bash hosted by our church.  It is a great outreach where we give school supplies away to the neighborhood kids.  Jack worked the line while Sam played hard enough for both of them.  Ruthie attached herself to our neighbor and friend who served as a great babysitter while I chatted and snapped a few pics.  

School starts tomorrow!!! 

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Snapshot- RAIN!

Yesterday we went to a swim party and on the way home, it started to rain.  Sam asked me if it was a meteor shower.  I know it has been a long time since we have seen rain, but has it been that long?

The kids jumped out of the car to play and I ran inside to get my waterproof camera bag. :)

Then we remembered we have those things.  What are they called? Oh I remember- umbrellas!

They may need some repair after this day.

But that is okay because it rained and it was worth it!