Christmas 2009 in review

he tears off on little piece of paper at a time and hands me each one :O)
me and Shilah made these on my bday. it's a ghost on the left, and a dragon. :O)

Cash and Daddy in the snow, Christmas day!

trying to get me and Cash in front of the tree...he is not cooperative!

after seeing the pics i wanted to post today i realized i changed my background prematurely. oh well....happy new year everyone! 2010? crazy! when do we start driving the flying cars?

Don't quit your day job...

Cash says hi and he helped!
Ahhh Christmas cookies. one of the most loved of the Christmas traditions. I thought i'd give it a go this year. i mean, how hard can it be? i'll just buy the sugar cookie DOUGH, and flatten it and cut it with those cute cookie cutters i've had (and never used) all these years.

oh look, see how cute they turned out? these are going to be soo cute! please pay no nevermind to my cookie sheet. i can never get all that off of it. don't judge.

oh they are cooking and lookin--wait what the heck is wrong with them? they are getting all fat and losing their....

shapes. yes kids, these are snowmen, Christmas trees, and candy canes. well sure, you can spot the candy canes. but what tha heck happened to the rest of them? needless to say i was over the cookies at this point.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

December is here

papa requested this pic, Jon loves to take pictures.
Cash was real quiet in his room and i peeked in to find this :O)

helpin dad with the lights!

i know it's been a while since i posted. this is due to (again) i don't really have anything interesting to blog about! same ol same ol goin on around here! :O) everyone is doing great, jobs are good, God is taking care of us in every way! i guess in a way, not "having anything" to post about is a blessing in itself :O)

Luke, the thumb-sucking-monster! rawwwwrrrrrr!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Baby Luke!

November!!

Yay! Thansgiving is almost here! ok, in like 3 weeks. whatever! i'm celebrating every day the things i'm thankful for! :) real quick, i'll throw in some post-halloween notes. halloween morning Cash and I met Marylie for a little photo session. check out the pics.... www.maryliemachphotography.com

after that, Cash and i went to watauga to spend the night with meemaw and pawpaw. Cash was so worn out from pictures at botanical gardens and playing with meemaw and pawpaw that he crashed out at 7! i had left my mom's to go to my seester's house for her halloween party. we all dressed up and she had gone all out for decor and food! she and Alex were Beetlejuice and Lydia. they made their costumes and looked amazing! i was a rodeo clown again. i was glad this year i could fit into it again! last year, halloween was about 2 months after Cash arrived and my overalls would not fit. i stayed for a few hours over there, but left at 9 because i was tired and i'm an old lady.

Jon is still in CO hunting and i haven't talked to him in 2 days. i miss him bunches and i'm ready for him to be home! i got to work last monday as the only assistant for the day. Brandy was off because she moved that weekend. bless her heart, due in December and having to move! :) i know, lots of ppl do it...i just feel for her! :) it was a good and busy day at work and i'm excited to start full time nov 16th! which is just one day after the half-marathon i'm running in San Antonio! if you haven't had a chance and would like to donate for research to NF please visit my page: http://www.active.com/donate/nfsa2009/MJohnso1346 and remember all donations are 100% tax deductible! for any of you who have already contributed or have had the thought of doing so, i want to say a great big THANK YOU! me, Cash, and my mom leave on nov 13th for the weekend. the race is on sunday the 15th! we are all excited about going and participating with Team Denver!!

This sat i am having my first ever garage sale! ok, i'm actually co-having a garage sale with Lindsey and Kristie....at Lindsey's house! i rounded up like 4 boxes/tubs worth of "stuff" that has just been accumulating! what a chore....pricing and getting together! what i don't sell i'm giving away! i just tried to post a pic of Luke on here as a halloween thumb-sucking monster and somehow it posted as it's "own" blog entry. oh well....that's Luke! Lindsey and Cody's baby boy. he is changing sooo fast and getting more handsome as the days pass!

i guess that's about all i have to report today friends! remember to be thankful, not just on thanksgiving or during November...everyday is a gift from God! Don't worry about tomorrow, don't stress about the past or hold on to anger. learn to forgive yourself for mistakes...learn from them and go on in the Lord! Thank Him for each breath you take and remember to tell other's you love them! I love you all, and i'm thankful each of you are in my life!

a post :)

he loves the slide!! he's a daredevil....face first!
it was kinda chilly so i wrapped my jacket around him heehee

playing with the website "picnik"

well...not much to report, or at least it doesn't seem like it! that's why it's been over a month since i posted anything. i know all of you are just DYING to know what i haven't been up to!

i'm training for the half-marathon coming up Nov 15th in San Antonio! Honestly i haven't been real good at the training! i am stuck at 3 miles and it's "hard" because the usual...Cash wakes up. or he cries and i feel like i'm ignoring him lol. i think come race day i will just have to suck it up and get it over with! i think my legs are going to fall off at the end of it. :) either way i'll get it done, even if it takes me 4 hours. (i think that is the time limit LOL)

hmmm. what else?

Jon is leaving for 7 or 9 days to go elk hunting in Colorado! he leaves the 27? or 29? somewhere that week.

i took a job with Dr. Mikulencek in Ft. Worth. my first day of full time is Nov 16th. he only has one assistant for now and she is preg, due in Dec. she is taking her maternity leave at the end of Nov, and that is where i come in to work! she's taking 3 months and then coming back (maybe?). if she does return i will then only be part time. there is the chance she won't come back, because she won't know for sure til she actually has the baby whether or not she wants to go back to work! i'm thinking if she does come back i may have to continue the search and find a full time position because that is wanted and needed. time will tell!

i couldn't decide on what to dress Cash as this halloween...so i just bought a halloween shirt at target. lame! plus i'm cheap, i didn't want to fork out $20 bucks for a cow, or monkey, or cowboy...it seems all the kids his age have limited choices. i could get creative and try to use what i have at the house. i mean, he could be a good lookin' cowboy, we've got all that stuff here....maybe i'll do that? or be lazy and eh will wear the shirt. i'm still not sure if we are going treat or treating or just staying home to pass out candy! last year we didn't have many tot's but it was fun to pass out candy for the first time at our home!

that's all i got folks!

Time to eat!

because I don't feed him enough, he fends for himself by digging thru the trash.
toaster strudel...

ketchup...

pasta...his fave!!

so....when will he start using utensils?

Meeting Libby and Addy!!

I think Cash wanted to get on her back and have a horsey ride! Poor Libby!

don't let the smile fool ya...

teeny little baby Addy!! Aunt Mitty is so glad to finally meet you!

Luke Issac Duncan!

He is beautiful! Born on August 28th, 2009. He was premature (so they say) by a couple of days. I think Lindsey told me her actual "due date" was 9-20-09! Luke decided he didn't wanna hang out in there any longer :) he weighed 7lbs....8? 11? something ounces hahah I think they said 19 inches long. I love sweet baby Luke! Can't wait to meet the rest of the babies that are on our way! Thank You, God, for Lindsey and Luke having a healthy delivery/birth...and for this new life!

can you guess what this is?

um, this is the "after" photo...but blogger won't let me move my pics around right now :)
hey, I found what makes the noise in the bottle when you shake it...

if you said "arterial spray" you have been watching too much CSI! Lol please step away from the crime scene, investigator!

litereally 2 seconds before this happened I had THIS thought: "i'm just gonna go ahead and put those stupid lock deals on these doors in here even though they are a pain in the butt to do it i'm just gonna do it and i'll do in in a few minutes after Cash falls asleep." instead, he throws said bottle of red (the red Jess gave us for our toes for her wedding.) polish to tile and voila! instant mess! how fun the next 25 minutes were, trying to sop up polish with cotton balls. i am fresh out of cotton balls and low on kleenex now! I had put Cash in his bed (he was whiny and tired anyway) after he did this so I could clean it up. He cried himself to sleep while I was scrubbing the floor. I felt a teensy bit bad because I actually meant to go in and hug him once more before he did fall asleep, and to tell him it was alright. It's nite nite time now for mommy too...now I lay me down to sleep....I pray dear Lord to see the morning, and my sweet Cashy's face in his crib when he wakes!

Lindsey's Baby Shower!

one of the delicious cakes!!

maybe i should have taken this pic before half the punch was gone.

it really tasted better than it look in the pic!!

I gave my friend Lindsey a baby shower on Aug 22nd. It was really great! She had lots of family and friends show up. I was really concerned about the food....that we may have too much. Or that people would not eat the chicken salad sandwiches I made. Turns out they really liked it! It was a recipe I googled, I had never even eaten chicken salad sandwich. I totally guessed on how it should "taste"! We didn't have an over-abundance of leftovers, either! I ended up eating the remaining chicken salad sandwich rolls. :) Lindsey and Luke got lots of goodies...diapers, wipes, clothes, lots of necessary things! I may have mentioned before that i LOVE baby showers! I thought after Lindsey's that I was "done" with parties/showers for a while....then I got to church Sun morn and I got invited to another one, for THIS SAT! yay! All my friends are having babies at the "same" time! :) I think after this one I will be "done"....then I get to start meeting the actual babies!

1st Family getaway

here's us watchin the cows get fed. for some reason i was unable to move this pic down in the blog :)

First time swimmin! Cash loved to splash and splash. This was my fave part of the weekend!

Daddy and Cash

Me and Cash in the "river" lol poor Blanco, they have had no rain!

Daddy gave Cash his first taste of lemon at the Gristmill in Gruene. Cash seemed to enjoy it!

Yep, we are def tourists :) We got t-shirts and everything!

Aug 14-16, 2009

had our first little family vacation. although i don't think of it as much of a vacation, since i still got to take care of little man the whole time! lol now i understand "that"....you know, when ppl leave their precious kiddos behind with granny while they go off to the beach or wherever :) Friday afternoon we went to Gruene and walked around...it was only like 109 that day...or it felt like it! Sat we went to Luckenbach and then Fredricksburg. Sat evening we stayed in our little cabin by the river(bed) and watched "view from the top"--they had movies in the cabins...not saying they were GOOD movies...but you take what you get and you don't get upset! haha Jon's friend from work, Phil, and his wife came down with us. They stayed in the cabin across from us and we went shopping everywhere with them. Cash and Phil had lots of fun playing! Phil loves kids, he would swing Cash around and throw him in the air. Cash loved it! We also got to visit Granny Pat a couple of times since our cabins were across the street from her and Opa Al. We went out and fed the cows (i mean, we watched Al feed the cows lol). It was fun to get away from "here" for a few days, but I was real ready to pull back into our drive! I think i've turned into a real homebody!

what i did at 3:15am today

If you know me, you know how I have loved Steven Curtis Chapman's music for so long. His music ministry has had such a huge impact on my life for many years. This video of Maria Sue's memorial service is about 30 min long. Yes I bawled watching it. What struck me most while watching it was: we will never know this side of Heaven how through this tragedy God has moved in people's hearts. We will not know how many lost lambs will return to the flock because of it. I just wanted to share this link and if you have 30 min (turn off the tv...you want reality tv? here ya go.) watch this intimate video. Let's always be careful to give praise to our God for everyday He gives us to live.

http://www.showhope.org/AboutUs/RememberingMaria/MemorialService.aspx

year one

my baby is a year old today! i'm so thankful for the past year, the ups and downs, the experiences, all of it! Praise be to God for allowing us each and every day with the awesome gift of our son, Cash!

just a couple of things

if you are now, or ever, going to build a home. or buy alllll brand new appliances. i would just like to share the following things that i wish i had known when i was doing....said building and buying.

number 1: stainless steel front refrigerator. looks cool but is not magnetic. get the one that just "looks" stainless. you can put all the cool magnets on it!

number 2: black stovetop? bad idea.

number 3: hardwood floors? pass.

please don't think for a SECOND that i am complaining about my home! i love it, i know i am truly blessed to live here and have such nice things. just wanted to share. and it's MY blog, i can do that. nah-nah.

since it's almost been a month...

Yep. Just under a month since I posted an entry! What's new in my world? Cash is walking! He's gettin' around pretty good! and he's mighty adorable I may add. He's getting more teeth too. Needs a haircut, but I still don't wanna :)

if you aren't reading this blog you should be: http://www.hoodmamamel.blogspot.com/

add her to your faves! Melissa, you make me laugh almost every post. Even if it's not a particularly "funny" post...you somehow manage to throw in a one-liner! My favorite part of being a reader of your blog is how I see God using you guys! You encourage me, SO many times, to do more. To be more for Christ! Our God is awesome and I'm so glad we are a part of the "family of God"! :)

My current fave praise song is by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, and I think it's called "redemption song" or "revolution song"...i'm thinking it's actually the first one. anyway...i LOVE it and I feel it is a very powerful song. A few sundays back at my church home (www.willowparkbaptist.org heehee) my friend Bethany sang it. It. Was. Awesome. One guy stood up in front of me, and I wanted to too but I was chicken. I did get an arm raised in worship--but INSIDE i was exploding with a desire to stand in AWE! I love worship and I'm so thankful we have it! God is so good. He has everything worked out. Why can't it be easy to feel that so strongly each and every day? I just read that team Alexander has a court date of Aug 12 to go get their new family member! At least...I THINK that's what the court date means...forgive me if I'm wrong :) Stacy, Tim, and Libby are back in Arlington! hooray! Lots of showers coming up in my future. Well, showers and a certain special little mister man's birthday numero one! I'm also getting to have a mini-reunion of sorts with the sunday school class I attended back in high school! We had a very special group of girls, and a special teacher. She lives in Arkansas (I think...I can't ever remember haha) where her husband is the pastor. She will be coming in soon and we are all planning a get together Thurs July 31. Aug 8th=Cash Birthday Party, Aug 9th=Jess's Shower (whoop!), Aug 22nd=Lindsey's baby shower at my house....oh and sometime in-between there Jon, Cash, and I are planning a mini trip to Blanco in the hill country! I think that's pretty much everything...oh and I'm still working too...busy busy!

I love my friends and family soooooo much!

Holy Holy Holy....is the Lord God Almighty

Who was and is and is to come

With all creation I sing

Praise to the King Of Kings

You are my everything

And I will adore You!