My Journal of our Weekend!

THIS IS A LONG POST! BUT DADDY AND OTHERS WANTED TO KNOW HOW IT WENT :) YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

There is a homeschooling conference held in Santa Clara every year that is held by the CHEA foundation. As I am in the deciding stage of whether or not I want to homeschool I thought I would give it a shot. We have amazing friends that live about 25 minutes from the convention center where it was held, so I knew we would have a place to stay and that they would love to take care of the boys so I could go! Last week I was kind of worried about taking this trip alone. I had hopes of bringing friends but didn't have the transportation means until, Susan (john's mom) offered to give me the van (TV built in, Praise Jesus)a couple of days before the trip and by then I knew it was too late to ask anyone to come! But I knew that if I didn't go I would regret it, plus sitting around another weekend without John would be awful!
So here we go.....
Friday morning
9-10:15am- I had a cleaning job
10:30am- met my mom and picked up the boys/Mom left for camarillo
10:45am- realized she had my debit card-she had to turn around from oxnard to meet me
11am- On our way! Boys were great,napped and enjoyed snacks and Jungle Book
1:00pm- Stop at Tastee Freeze(Atascadero) for lunch and potty break. Chaotic but we did it!
1:46pm- headed off
2:30pm- Got a call from my friend Kelly
(the restaurant had my wallet, found kelly's number in my wallet. Thanks for the call kelly)
2:32pm - Call my mom and John's mom in tears asking for prayer! Boys were great but
I did not want to have to add 90 miles to my trip.
2:45pm- Got off the phone and I was fine, GOD IS GOOD!
3:30pm- Back at Tastee Freeze. Got out, let the boys run and play and go potty!





3:45pm - Back on the road! boys napped and were amazing (thank you Lord)!
6pm - Destination MORGAN HILL!
Played hung out with uncle Justin and Auntie Sarah! so fun



7:30pm- went to dinner (boys were loopy, tired and grouchy)
9pm- Put boys to bed
12am- Adults up, catching up and having fun! BOYS STILL AWAKE IN THE OTHER ROOM!
4AM- Boys woke up (weird place, unsure where they were) mommy camps out on the floor with them. Jack fell asleep...CALEB DID NOT!! Mommy tired!!
7am- Mommy leaves for conference after 3 hours of hanging out with caleb.
7am-5pm -Mommy goes to conference! 9am- falls asleep in one of the sessions oops!
7am-5pm -Boys had morning naps(gee wonder why) went to the park with uncle justin and auntie sarah. Flew kites had a picnic! lots of fun. Came home had afternoon naps!









5:30pm- mommy came back exhausted. Justin and Sarah cleared off their bed, gave me the remote, and the laptop and told me to take a nap! THEY ARE THE BEST FRIENDS EVER
6:30pm - beautiful dinner!
Rest of the night we played and hung out with the boys!




(you will be such a fabulous mommy!)
8pm- boys to bed (oh and anytime caleb got up, Uncle Justin went in to tell them to go to bed...the boys needed a male voice and it was good practice for Justin)
THEY ARE EXPECTING A BABY GIRL IN AUGUST!! YAHOO!
8:30pm- Pulled out dessert and speed scrabble and mommy Dominated!
Sorry guys but it's true!
11pmish-Bed time
7am- woke up, packed up! lots of hugs and kisses to puppy, kitty, and Auntie Sarah
sorry we missed you uncle justin
8am- On the road!
10:45am- Stopped in Pismo and played








11:15am-Caleb decides he doesn't want to walk back to the potty cause he loves the park, so he decides to poop his pants instead!
11:30am- Back on the Road
1:15pm-HOME AT LAST!
This afternoon the boys got to play and mommy got a big nap! thanks Grammy:)





Thanks again Richters! You made this trip worth it! You are our very best friends and we are so blessed by your hospitality! Thanks Jodi for letting us borrow the camera...I got a little trigger happy (it's just so fun!) Thanks to everyone that prayed for us. I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to go and I feel well equipped for the journey of homeschooling:) Thanks Heather for letting me know about this convention! Well worth it!

who is in charge?

last night I felt really sick and didn't fall asleep till 3am. This morning my mom let me sleep in and she took care of the boys. I got up about 9:45am and sat next to caleb.

CALEB: " You do not get out of your bed, i give you panks (he tapped me on the leg/spank) do you understand me??"

I could not stop laughing! You all now know one of our biggest struggles right now is keeping Caleb in his bed at night:) They repeat EVERYTHING!!!

The many sleeping positions of Caleb!!!

No Daddy No Camera!

So life has been hard without daddy! He has been gone for a full week now and we have one more to go. Days seem longer and everything just feels different. We miss him. God is Good though. He is teaching John so many amazing things and is helping me cope each and everyday! My mom is in town this week which helps so much!! We have a had a lot of fun the last couple of days but it's hard not having a camera to capture anything. I feel naked and it seems hard to track the things that we are doing. But here is some update!
**Caleb learned to ride his tricycle last Thursday which is so awesome!! He has been so hesitant for so long but he finally got motivated and went for it. I am so proud of him:)
**Jack is talking like crazy. He literally attempts to repeat everything I say, and he tries to do everything his brother does (almost to a fault though)
**We have had a good time with friends, play times with Cracker Ness (my mom), Awana's, swim parties, shopping!
**But lots of sad times, caleb missing daddy, Jack just saying "daddy", waiting for emails, not sleeping very well, lots of lonely moments!
p.s. yesterday we heard a very loud helicopter and I could've sworn it was Jodi coming to pick us up to head to Africa:)
We can't wait for his return but anxiously wait to hear everything that God is teaching him!
Please keep us in your prayers, as well as the team in uganda!

Penguins?

This evening I showed Caleb and Jack the pictures that John posted on their blog. Pictures of Giraffes and Hippos that they saw on their safari.
Caleb: (in tears) "I yanna go heyicopter (helicopter) to Africa."
Me: "you do? What do you want to see there?"
Caleb: " I yanna see hippos...(still in tears)& penguins"
Me: "me too baby"
At that moment we decided to pray for the Africa trip...
Caleb:" Dear God please be wiff daddy...far far away...and plane ride...and Jesus"
AMEN!
Please pray for your little family right now, we are definitely missing daddy! Weekends are hard and days feel slower. We are so excited about all that God is showing, teaching and blessing them with over there! Please pray for this next week as their conference will begin. That Christ would use these men to make his name famous in Uganda!
10 days to go!

Toms!

I've been a faithful friend of Toms Shoes for about 3 years now! They are making a difference for children all over!
The impact of a pair of shoes has on a child can be life-changing. Raise awareness this April 16. Go barefoot!

The Facts:*
Fact #1: In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help.
* Fact #2: Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
* Fact #3: Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
* Fact #4: In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
* Fact #5: Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by wearing shoes.
Support Toms! For every shoe you purchase another pair is given to a child in need!

First night with daddy gone!

So last night as I headed off to bed I checked in on the boys and found Caleb still awake(10pm) I decided it might be nice to have him in my bed for the night so I snuck him out and we watched a little TV in bed and talked about the misquito eater flying around...we decided to call him Fred! I kept telling him that he needed to be quiet and try to go to sleep otherwise he had to go back to his bed. By the third time he woke me up talking (11:15pm) I asked him if he wanted to go in his bed and he said, "yes"! He snuck back in his room and fell fast asleep. By 1am Jack woke up crying...I waited it out a little and he fell back to sleep but by 2:15am he was screaming and I knew he had pooped and was in a lot of pain. I got him up, changed him, and put him back to bed. We all woke up a little later then usual but again he woke up poopy. We took him to the doctors and he told me that the stomach flu is going around and that he must have skipped the throwing up part! AWESOME! He reassured me that Caleb will probably get it (thanks Doc) and sent me on my way with a prescription for diaper rash cream! PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY! PRAY AGAINST ANY ILLNESS AS OUR MEN ARE NOT HERE TO HOLD OUR HAIR BACK! Thanks
P.S. They arrived in africa Safely and have updated their blog...check it out
www.africapastorconference.blogspot.com

Jack's Easter Afternoon!

Hilarious! He had a pretty rough afternoon. What do you expect when he doesn't get a nap? HAPPY EASTER JACK!!

On His Way!

Well Daddy is officially on his way to Uganda. They flew out at 9am this morning and are on their way to Amsterdam as I type:) 1 day down 14 more to go:)
Of course the day daddy leaves is the day Jack has one of his worst days yet. He has had about 6 diarhhea diapers today and because of that has had an awful rash:( He has not been a happy camper. Luckily we had Auntie Coco with us all day and Grammy is always around, so the company is nice.
Please keep the Uganda team in your prayers, and if you find the time check out their blog. We are hoping they will update frequently as this will be our only source of contact with them! http://www.africapastorconference.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all your love and support! and if anyone wants to hang out...give me call :)

Easter!

Easter was lots of fun but very exhausting! John got up at 4am to lead worhsip at our Sunrise service at Grant Park (a park on top of a hill overlooking Ventura). Then he played in two other services our church held! I got the boys up and we got our easter baskets and spent time playing that morning and talking about the Resurrection! Then we headed to church! Afterwards we went to my uncle Doug and Aunt Aimee's house for lunch and fun with cousins. The boys had a great time....but jack started loosing it right around egg hunting time...Video to come (haha)!