Team Ray

Children are magical. They are wiser than most give them credit for. With innocence comes thinking outside of the box. Their new eyes see without prejudice or judging.

God has blessed me with my soul mate. Together we work together in guiding our children through this world and we try to give them the best possible tools to become confident, happy and loving individuals. Of course we want for them to succeed in education and careers, but most importantly we want them to be happy. We want them to have healthy and honest relationships. They see us work together in in small ways (what is for dinner?) and large ways (parting ways with toxic family relationships). They see us hug, they see us disagree and work it out, they see us laugh and flirt, they see us tired and grumpy but still show love and respect.I will never underestimate what children see and absorb. I also know that they can handle more than many give them credit for, if given the trust and support of loving adults.

Last night was one of those nights where we had to share with them news that many parents (my own included) would have candy coated or even hid from their child. This week, our family was given the news that my Father-in-Law has cancer. Cancer. Yuck....I despise that word.My husband, as did the rest of his family, was speechless.

We talked. We hugged. We cried. But we knew together we would fight. We would help. We would tackle this with his family. We know life is busy, we HAVE to work. But with enough of us, we would find ways to be there....and show our love and support. We would help in any way we could. We would also not wait to tell the children.

Why?

Because they need to know.

They deserve to know.

They need to see us pray together. They need to see us working together as one, and not two individuals who are struggling through this alone. They have earned the right to ask questions, to be scared, to hug and know that they are not alone. They need to see, that through prayer and trust in God, that we will not think the worst. Because we are family. They are not two minor characters in our life. We are a team and we will win.

So last night we told them. Jordan, who is 5, asked if she can get cancer. Andrew's eyes fought back tears. Jordan said she wished cancer wasn't in our world (don't we all agree on that). Andrew sat there in shock. We hugged, we talked, and they started to let the news absorb. On their own, while in their beds and giving good night kisses, they prayed for Poppy. For the cancer to go away. For Poppy not to hurt. For healing.

All children are magical...

Watching my little ones....I know that we were given two of the best children that we could ask for. They were made for our hearts. Andrew is my soul, Jordan is my heart. They are perfectly imperfect.

Today the kids will go to school. Andrew has his favorite book character (Max from Where the Wild Things Are) and Jordan will dress up for her Thanksgiving program. They will probably tell some friends of their news, but they may simply forget because they are too excited about the events of the day. But either way....we know that when it is time for bed, they won't forget to pray for him.

Tomorrow, when they see MiMi and Poppy....they will have more questions. And we will welcome them.

Thursday Thoughts

I am

Wanting new boots, cowboy boots. I will know them when I see them, until then no expectations

Figuring out my Pink Bra outfit for the fundraiser tomorrow

Upset that I have not trained in 2 weeks. I am so bad. I was being so good

Wishing I did not eat so much rosemary Parmesan bread

Looking at a house that needs attention

Needing to edit but will take the day off to care for me and the house

Missing my mom

Drinking hot tea (out of agave nectar...must hit store)

Feeling blessed that I reached my fundraising goal but I want to keep going! $2300 was hard to raise!

Hoping it does storm today

Feeling beat down today, I need to reboot

Lucky to have the successful business I do

Getting off of this computer and will start cleaning. HAHA

Enjoy your day!

XOXO

30 Minutes

Yesterday I had quite the scare. To make a long story short, I visited my family doctor after a 9+ day headache (accompanied by neck and eye pain). The decision for me to go was because yesterday my headache worsened and I began hearing a whooshing sound in my ear.

After a 20 minute exam, my doctor rushed me to the E.R. She was concerned about a dilated artery or an aneurysm. She called and spoke with a specialist at the local hospital so that they could be prepared for me.

In just a few minutes I had a plethora of emotions. I was devastated that I was going to miss my children's meet the teacher night. I felt more alone that I ever have at that moment. I got on the phone, called my husband and told him that he will have to take the kids to meet the teacher. I called my cousin to tell her that we would not make it to her house that evening for dessert and fun. I called a friend to let some others know what was going on...just in case.

One of my best friends arrived to keep me company until my husband was able to be there with me. She kept me busy and laughing, although my head was throbbing. I tried to laugh it all off, and she was the best person for that job. During this time I got a CT scan. My aunt and cousin showed up to give me support and a few more laughs. Head was beginning to hurt more, but again.....what can ya do? Laugh. :) Hubby showed up and after a while it was just the two of us.

We waited.

Then I was wheeled off for an MRI. Actually two. One for my head and one for my neck. This is where they would look at my arteries in my head and neck, and figure out if it was an aneurysm. Again, in the wheelchair I cracked jokes to the tech who wheeled me into the room. There I was geared up with what seemed like a football helmet, I was given earplugs, and pretty much had to sit still for 30 minutes inside of that tube. The earplugs did no good, it was loud and scary. I can not imagine little children who have to have these done. So scary. So loud. So much time to think.

30 minutes

I closed my eyes. I took deep breathes. I prayed. Tears streamed but I could not move. They puddled in my ears. They overflowed and dripped down my neck. They itched. I could not move.

I thought of my husband who was being quiet in the room because I know he was just holding it together. I thought of my mom who was my angel that day. I thought of my babies. I thought about the worst. About who would snuggle with Jordan? Who would hug Drew every morning and sit with him while everyone else slept? Who would write them notes in their lunch boxes, read them stories, go on faerie hunts, make up games, watch them grow? I was sick to my stomach with the thought that I may never smell their sweaty little scalps, smell their morning breath when they kissed me good morning, hold them and snuggle with their squirmy little feet, hear their question after question when all I want is silence....I thought of so many more things that I am certain any of you out there would think.

In that short 30 minutes my life changed a bit.

Results came back fine. Now we just need to figure out what is causing this.

What was nice, is that while I was in my own world for that 30 minutes, I had SO many people praying for me and thinking good thoughts for me.

I felt it.

Happy 5th J-Bird!

Never in my wildest of dreams would I have guessed that a little girl could mean so much to me. I never dreamed of having a daughter, I never understood the bond that a mother and daughter could have. Having you changed that. Year after year you and I grow closer, you are my kindred spirit.
You are so smart and intuitive. You are loving and funny. You make me laugh with your silly jokes and make me cry when you say your heart felt prayers. You surprise me with your view on life and the world, to the point of making me step back and see it in such a fresh light. You are wise beyond your years. You are so easy, so loving, and so imaginative. You went from being a high need baby to such a self sufficient little girl.
This past year I have watched you grow and change. You have developed your own little quirky style, one that is at one with nature with a sprinkle of girlie.

This year you have:

• 
  
  Grown 2.5 inches


• 
  
  Decided to have your hair cut , and you have loved the Alice style (Twilight ha)


• 
  
  Gained about 10 new little nose freckles (aka "stars" as Andrew calls them)


• 
  
  Developed so much confidence that has helped you become a leader when you needed to be, but you follow when you should.


• 
  
  learned to read!


• 
  
  Finally loved falling asleep in your own room!


• 
  
  Made a difference in so many lives
  

I love you JBird

<---------T H I S M U C H-------->

Mommy

Best of Dallas?

Thanks to a client of ours, Jackie and I have been nominated for WFAA’s Best of Dallas “Wedding Photographer” category. We were entered pretty late (didn’t even know it was going on! LOL) so we only have until FRIDAY to rack up some votes.I you could take a moment and vote for us, we would be eternally grateful!

Vote Here!

Yes Please

Sure, I will take it

A mustache party thanks to the groovy duo over here. They hooked us up with our own printable mustache template

One of these comfy dresses for my Jordan

A lovely bike w/basket lined in one of these (is that not the coolest places on the web?)

Tea for one

More to come.....going to sleep now. Nighty night.

Best Friends-20 Years Later

I have more than one best friend. I am so blessed to have a handful of people I know I can rely on, cry with, laugh with, share secrets with. This weekend I got to enjoy my best friends of twenty years. TWENTY ***gasp***YEARS! We met when I changed high schools in 11th grade. I was 16.

These girls are my sisters. They know me, I know them. Deena and Dana are twins that have welcomed me in as the other sister.

Our friendship has seen so much. Together we have supported each other in so many ways. We have been there holding the other through tears and heartache. We have been there to support and sometimes steer in a better direction. We have hurt each other's feelings and overcome insecurities together. We have seen each other at our best and at our worst (inside and out). We were their to celebrate love and birth. We have cried through loss. We have laughed to keep from crying. We have cried from laughing so hard.

I taught them how to drive a stick shift. We have been mugged together. We have ordered drinks when we were too young to drink. We have danced in parking lots, sat on top of water towers, and taken road trips together. We have witnessed so.very.much. And we still love the other.

Twenty years later we have witnessed our children developing a friendship. Between the three of us we have 4 girls and 2 boys. From ages 3 to 8. To me, it is so cool to see these children become friends. Seeing our girls hold hands, the boys do their boys stuff, and our families just hanging.

I will write more about the actual trip later. But today I wanted to get my love out there for my two beautiful friends.

Here is to girl talk, Elvis, laugh lines, mom swimsuits, expensive wine, annoying geese, Murphy's Law, black and blue lemonade, s'mores, guacamole, peach ice cream, arrows on our feet, Taylor Swift over and over and over, and us.

Cheers