The Fight For Life

Who can forget what happened with Terri Schindler-Schiavo? It shows how easily parents can lose control of their children's rights to their children's so-called spouses. Well, there is a chance that a similar situation can happen again. I urge you to visit Scott's Fight. Please read through it and familiarize yourself with his story and then take it up into prayer. Pray for Scott, his child and his mom. Pray that his life be saved.

Thanks!

CARS

Well, we just got back from seeing Cars. It was pretty cute. But I think it was more enjoyable for the adults than for the kids. They just made sure to make us laugh, that's all. The miss was pretty good for most of it. It started at 1:50, but I had us there at 1:00. Thankfully the theatre was open, so we didn't have to wait in line. When we got home, I figured her pull up would be pretty soaked, since she drank so much during the movie. But it wasn't too wet at all. So, I had her sit on the potty when we got home and she went right away. I am so excited that she is getting potty trained. YAY!
I have some pictures for you. Grandma wanted to see her in the cute outfit she sent us. So, here are some pics of us. The last few are taken right outside the theatre. They have a huge fountain that is turned on in the summer time and the kids run through it. She wanted to play in the water so badly. I was scared that she would slip and fall on her head. Her whole skull fracture fiasco is going to leave me quite gun shy for a few years I reckon. But she was just fine, and she got very wet, so she had a ball.

Here she is waiting for the movie to start. She is sitting in her booster and eating her Kid's Movie Pack. I got Steve mid-bite. Oops!


There's the little speck of the miss getting pretty darn wet by the fountain.


And here she is running around.

Saturday Photo Hunt

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This week's theme is Community.
I am posting pictures that I didn't take, but I wish I had been able to. Back in September of 2004, there was a candlelight vigil held outside of little Allie Scott's hospital room. Allie was a tiny baby girl who had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia at five months of age. At that time, her parents began a website mainly for family so that they could stay updated on little Allie's condition. Somehow her handful of readers turned into millions more as her site began to be visited by millions all over the world. Light The Night Walk cancer teams began forming in honor of little Allie. And within an MSN group, hundreds of people from all over, joined together to talk about and pray for little Allie. Sadly, in September, a few days after these vigil pictures, Allie lost her battle to Leukemia. She was nine months old. Here are some pictures from the vigil held outside Allie's hospital window. THIS to me represents the love from a COMMUNITY.








The gal in the pink Allie shirt is Jenny, Allie's mom. She came out to thank everyone.


You can read her post about the vigil below. And for more information about little Allie, you can visit The Scott Household Site

The candlelight vigil was breathtaking. To be honest, I was extremely hesitant about this at first. The attention made me squirm a bit. As I watched cars being directed by a security guard into the parking lot, I got even more jittery. Can't explain it. I didn't want to come out. Then, all the candles were lit. We stood in the pantry with Dennis and Dana and shined our flashlight down at the crowd. Dana and Dennis went to join the crowd, but not before encouraging me to join them. I was still hesitant. I called Dana on her cell phone for a crowd assessment. She told me how wonderful it was and urged me to come down. We saw the camera crew leave (didn't think I could handle an interview), so I decided that yes, I did want to be down there.

As apprehensive I was about having it, I'm ten times more appreciative that it happened. From the 12th floor, the sight of those candles was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. It made me realize just how many people are thinking of my family. As we came off the elevator, Andrew and I grabbed hands, uniting us to meet the crowd. We walked out of the building and could hear a low rumble of voices singing Kumbaya. We grabbed each other tighter and headed towards the crowd. So many people there in support and love for our girl. So many people who just want to love on her too. How lucky I am to be able to love on her whenever I want right now. I'm scared of the time when our loving times will end.

When we arrived, one of the girls coordinating the event asked me if I was comfortable with a prayer. Of course. I looked near me to see my friend Sinde Wickersham close by. Perfect person to talk loudly! She said a sweet prayer for Allie and our family, and then everyone blew out their candles.

I don't know why for sure, but I felt the need to say something. I stood up, with Dana by my side because Andrew preferred to stay on the sidelines (no surprise to me there), and spoke. My ADD was kicking in and I couldn't focus on words to say. I was too busy scanning the crowd for faces. I think I garbled something out. I saw many people I had never seen before, but even more that I knew well. There was such a sense of warmth and community outpouring from everyone. We had co-workers from my school, other Plano ISD employees, co-workers of Andrew's, Frances' and my mom's work, family, close friends, neighbors. Several of Dana and Dennis' friends and family came. And we had students! My kids. One of the first faces I saw was Michelle Conway, a now 11th grader (yikes!) with big crocodile tears looking at me. As I spoke, I asked for my students to raise their hands. Then a voice yells out, "We love you, Mrs. Scott!" Oh yeah, I could pick that voice out of any crowd--AJ Sartor. There must have been more than thirty of my former students. If not more.

My years of experience with Spring Open House prepared me to handle the swarm. We told people thank you for coming, and then the crowd closed in--on me!! My students came first. Big hugs and tears. Those kids have been one of the biggest driving forces in my life for the past four years. The kids there represented each of those years. How proud I was to be standing there with them.

As we headed in, we stopped the security men to thank them for their extra effort. What a help they were, very appreciated. We hit the elevators, and Andrew said, "Sorry I wouldn't join you when you were speaking." I teased him about ditching me and he said, "well, that's how we work as a team--you know, you're the mouth!" Gee, thanks. Insinuating, of course, that he is the brain. Actually, its a fairly accurate assessment.

Thank you to all who attended the vigil, and to those that light their own candles in their home last night. I am honored that you are here with us on this journey.

THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY PHOTO HUNT 1.reverberate58 2. Mar 3. Pat
4. Miss Suzy 5. Melli 6. Irish Church Lady 7. Wystful1 8. Michele 9. better safe than sorry
10. ribbiticus 11. expat traveler 12. Carmen 13. goofyj

Last Installment about the weekend

Okay folks, this is the last installment about our weekend. So, here goes. We left our house Friday evening around 5:30. The first session was to begin at 7:30, and we were pretty certain we'd miss it. The traffic to get out of our area was INSANE and then once we got through all of that, it was still a long drive. We ended up at the hotel at 8:40 P.M. So, we missed the first session, but that was okay. We were both starving so we had a romantic dinner at Burger King and then headed to our room to rest from the long drive. The drive sure was pretty though. So very green. Up north, is totally my cup of tea as far as the scenery I would love to live with everyday of my life. Of course the area is surrounded by mountains....and so much green. Oh my goodness so much green. And then there were little creeks and lakes that looked gorgeous with the woodsy backdrop. I haven't fished since I was five, heck I don't even know if you can fish in those waters...if there are even fish..but if there were, I would get in a boat and sit there surrounded by that beauty and fish. I tell you what!

Anyway, Saturday morning, we met at the conference room areas for breakfast at 8:00 A.M. Our breakfast and lunch had been included in the cost of the retreat. So that was nice. The breakfast was yummy. There were sooooo many couples at the retreat. And for the most part nobody really knew each other. So, we'd sit down at a table and start talking to people we had never met. Some were close to our age, but most of the couples we talked to were probably 15 years older than us....maybe even more, but that's okay. Sadly, we probably won't see any of these couples again. Our church is huge and there are four services. Out of the couples we talked to, none of them attend the service time that we do. So, shrugs, oh well. We were kinda hoping we'd make some friends to hang out with or something. But that didn't happen. Anyway, we had two sessions after breakfast and then it was time for lunch. The lunch was so very delicious. It was Pregnant Erica's dream. We had salad, chicken, pasta and then a huge piece of chocolate cake with strawberries. Yum. Then, after lunch was one more session, and then the rest of the day was ours. We went back to the room and relaxed for a few and then it was off to walk around. You saw the pictures. Then we went back to our room and took a nap. We still had car lag, I think. At around 6:00 P.M., we headed out to a little place called Edwards to find somewhere to eat and go to the movies to see XMen. The little Edwards area had little shops and then above the shops were businesses. We ran in there to find a bathroom. I noticed on the second floor where the restrooms were, that there was a Security Title. I thought to myself, wow! Their Escrow Officers must make out like bandits considering that most of the houses in the area are millions of dollars. I can't even imagine what the commission they make is. Right across from the Title Company was what appeared to be a software company and down below those two offices, was an architecture firm. So, I decided that we will move there. I will work at Security Title. DH will work at the software company. Kate will work at the architecture firm and also take wedding pictures at all of the resorts in Beaver Creek. And between us we will share a house in that gorgeous area. So, folks, that's the plan...in a perfect everything goes Erica's way world.

Anyway, dinner was pretty good and I really enjoyed the movie. I hadn't heard good things about it, but I really enjoyed it. And we stayed past the credits at the advice of someone in the theater and saw some secret little scene. You can let me know if you'd like to know about it.
Sunday we headed home where we spent 5 hours in our car. And that was that.

So, some of you family folk have asked how the miss' weekend was while we were gone. She had an absolute blast. Kate's mom met DH at a shopping center halfway between the two of us to do the exchange. The miss was so excited, she didn't even really say goodbye or cry about being away from her daddy. She had a great night and didn't want to go to bed. She ended up staying up until 11:00 P.M. playing with Kate's family. They finally put their foot down and told her she had to go to sleep. She cried for a few minutes, but then conked out. She was up at 6:30 A.M. Saturday morning. My little early riser, gotta love it. They spent Saturday at the zoo. She had a great time seeing the monkeys, but she was also very tired and a little cranky. When they got back to the house, they told her she had to take a nap. They put her down and she was not happy. She looked at Ginge and said, "No. nap. I'm mad!" Ginge said that she had to leave the room so that she could laugh at how cute it was without the miss seeing. Anyway, she had so much fun playing at their house and with their dog , Daisy. She and Daisy are so cute together. Ginge was painting her toenails and Audrey saw and asked for her toes to be painted as well. So she sat still while Ginge painted her toes a pretty pink and then showed her how to hold her foot up by her mouth to blow on them. Now, the miss calls any motherly figure she is with, like Tiffany, Durin's mom for instance, Mommy or Mama. She calls any older man she is with, Papa. Please, Papa and G.G. don't be saddened by it. It doesn't bother me that she calls other people mommy because in a way she is right, they are a mommy. And she doesn't understand. So, anyway, after her toes were painted, she ran to Kate's dad and said, "Look, Papa, my pretty toes." She was so excited to have her toes painted. Sunday afternoon, Kate's dad, Bob was watching a WWE dvd. She got out her pillow and rested on the couch next to him watching wrestling. She is a big wrestling fan. When Ginge told her it was nap time, she said, "no nap. Watch this with Papa." So, they let her stay up a bit to watch it. She finally went down for a nap and was napping when we got to their house to pick her up. Ginge was very impressed that Audrey knows all of her colors and shapes and is talking so well. That's my smart cookie for you. She said their favorite part was when Audrey sat down at the play vanity that they have in the baby room for Kellee's little girl. I had packed her purse filled with all of her makeup. She sat down at the vanity and put on her pretend powder, blush and lipstick. She then brushed her hair. Ginge and Bob were watching her. She then looked up at the both of them and said, "I'm pretty." And she gave them a cute little smile. Ginge said that they melted. When she woke from her nap, and saw us there, she didn't really say much, she just started tickling and playing with her daddy. We all hung out there for about 15 minutes and then we headed home. All in all, she had a GREAT time!

Well, I have written a novel and I need to get ready for my day care kiddo to get here. Until next time....

Pictures As Promised

Well, we spent a big chunk of the day in the car. It was a 3 hour drive back home and then an additional hour drive to pick up the punkin. Then we had an hour drive back home. So, driving for five hours definitely wore us all out. I crashed when we got home, for a little bit and even now, I am exhausted. So, I am just going to post some pictures and then call it a night. So, I'll have to yap about our weekend tomorrow or sometime later on this week.
I am using thumbnails, so click on each image if you desire to view it in a larger size.

This is a picture that I took on our drive up to Beaver Creek. We were surprised to still see snow on some of the mountain tops.

This is a picture of the inside of our hotel room. It is just the kitchen/dining area.



We had these huge windows in the living room. We liked to keep the curtains open during the day, because the view was soooo gorgeous.



This is heading out the side door and onto the balcony.



This morning, I did my devotion and Bible study out on the balcony while sipping my yummy decaf coffee. I must tell you, I praised God quite a bit this morning for the beauty of His creation. How can you not, when you have THIS view?!?!?!?



On Saturday afternoon, after our last session, we went walking around the resort area. The area of Beaver Creek is actually like a little gated community/ski area. It has tons of other hotels and resorts in it. There are also private residences, for I am sure millions of dollars. In the center of the area, were a bunch of shops and things as well as little hiking paths, so here are some pictures from our walk around the area.


Shops

Another part of the shops area. Behind the low black wall near the tables and chairs, was an outdoor ice arena area. Had I not been preggo, I would have ice skated that evening.



We went exploring and found a beautiful golf course.



As we were walking around, another couple from the retreat saw us and were kind enough to take a picture of the both of us. And of course I am in the same shirt that I always seem to be in when a maternity photo is taken of me. I swear, I do have other clothes.



Here's little ol' me



And finally, this is DH disappointedly watching the Suns game while eating at a nearby cajun restaurant. We found a buy one entree get one free coupon, so that was very nice and the food was yummy. And it was right across the street from the little move theatre we went to.


Well, that's it for now. More stories about our time there to come later. Good night all!

Hello From Beaver Creek

Hi all!
Tonight, DH and I were out to dinner and watched a big chunk of the Suns game, but had to walk away from it during the fourth quarter, to get to our movie. So, we just got back to the hotel and ran to the computer station for a few to check the score of the Suns game. As we expected, they lost. It's too bad. They had such a lead at one point. I am glad we ended up not watching the entire game, because it was only stressing me out, watching them.
Anyway, I just wanted to quickly say hello. It is absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous here in Beaver Creek. Oh my goodness. It's sooooooooooooooo beautiful!!!! It took 3 hours to get here..so it was quite the drive, but well worth it. We have been having an amazing time. I will write more about our stay and post pictures tomorrow evening when we get home.
I mainly came on to tell you how excited I am about some of my Psych grades. My class ends tomorrow, but not all of my assignment grades have been posted yet, so I can't tell what my final grade will be. BUT, she did grade my research paper and I got a 100% on it!!!! Can you believe it? I couldn't. I was so very excited to see that. I also got a 100% on my debate and power point presentation. So, I am just waiting for the results of my essay tests that I finished up before we headed out here. Well, DH and I are off to go play some Air Hockey. Check back tomorrow night for a post about the weekend and some pics. Until then......

Music Recommendation

I came across a Christian band I wanted to tell you all about, Starfield. They just released their sophomore album, Beauty In The Broken, a couple of weeks ago. You can listen to 4 of their songs by going Here. Only two of them are from the new album however. Anyway, I have yet to hear this album in its entirety, but from what I have listened to, I think I like it. Click on the banner at the top of this post to be directed to their official site where you can listen to snippets of their new album.


Click on this banner to download their song, Obsession.

Taken from a review of their album...
"With songs that grapple with touchstone issues like alienation, identity and the quest for fulfillment, Starfield begins to speak for a generation that is dying for love, crying for truth. Beauty in the Broken points Starfields listeners to God during their most public times and their most private ones, offering songs for the service as well as songs for the self.

We all ache for God, but if we don't know God we use created things as substitutes for God.... material things, knowledge, relationships, sex - all of these things are good and if were looking we can see God in them. But if we don't know how to piece them together we will inevitably try to take these broken pieces and substitute them for the Creator. And the created will never fulfill us."