Week two

Click here to see my work in progress

A new Endeavor-- Here's hoping for 52 weeks

Well my blogging has been a little bit better than my scrapbooking, but the only new year resolution I made was to do better at making my little time machines in book form.  THanks to Ursula Williams, I will be able to do just that- here is a look into the first week of 2014 (and NYE 2013 too)

Click to see the Tardis I created

Dance for all Seasons

So many amazing things about living in Crosby, football, softball, parades, summer programs at the libraty, Art with Alex, Christmas at the community Center...

But truly BY FAR THE BEST--

Carol's Dance and Gymanstics

How does she do it?

She teaches little girls to dance and to love to dance 

She teaches them to be kind and friendly

She teaches them that there are wonderful people out there.

Mrs. Carol is a rockstar, she can't go anywhere in Crosby without a gaggle of girls hugging her.

I wish I had a picture of her! WHY DON"T I????

Anyhoo, tonight was her 2013 Dance Recital.

Alice was in tap and ballet this year, so she had two dances,

In all the excitement, I didn't get a picture of her in her tap costume, 

They danced to "Love will keep us together"

The costume was beautiful.

Her Ballet dance was to "colors of the wind" from Pocohantas. I hate to brag, but she was beautiful. The costume was sooo her, very earthy and resembled a butterfly.  Her class was magical.

She started taking dance when she was 4 and she's loved it. She took a year off to pursue her art. 

Most likely she will go back to art next year, and this was probably her last dance recital with Carol, so I'm glad it was so much fun for her.  

She's ten and half now, I can't believe how she's growing up.

Joely earned star student and with it comes this coveted crown and the  wise words from Mrs. Carol 

"to never lose her sparkle"

I'm not sure the tiara will ever come off, a true princess can sleep in hers. 

And here she is in her costume for "Little Saint Nick"

She is in the gymnastics class and worked hard to master her 

FLIP FLOP !!

I was so proud of her accomplishment to do her back bend kick overs and her back flip.

She has a great teacher and loves to practice at home too!!

This is her third of many years with Mrs. Carol!

I can't wait to see what she comes up with for next year.

Homerun Season

 So here is our little Wildcat!  This is Joely's third and final season in Tball.  This year she was drafted with the Wildcats and has done so well.  Her first season was last spring, as a Diamond Diva.  Last year she learned the game, but was very timid.  This season, after playing on a co-ed Tball  fall team, she became

A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E

 She covered third base every game like she was born to play

She had tons of fans come watch her .  This is Katie Crocker, her personal coach for the off season.

In fact, Katie is so awesome, she was able to get Joely in the Press Box at her High School Game.  She had the best view, right behind home plate, with a birds eye view to Third base where Katie plays

Even The brothers helped out in the dug out.  Of course my camera was only with me a little bit, so the only evidence is David.

And Hey Now, She's an All Star

It was fun, and the fun continues with the all Star tournament in Louisianna's Hidden Gem of
Lake Charles.

I'll keep you posted.

For the Love of Dogs....

Last night our dogs escaped out the front door, 

Lulu, the middle one, who looks possessed was left behind by the two dogs on the ends.

I recovered her immediately, but the other two were gone for hours.

Desperate I prayed they were safe and kept hoping they would come home.

Quentin got on his bike and searched the walking trails.

Alice and her friend Tori went on foot.

Joely and I hosted a Daisy scout meeting.

David came home from Art Club and joined me in the search in the van

We drove the whole neighborhood and then left to search other neighborhoods.

David prayed that he would know where they were.

He was certain they were at the park, with the splash pad. 

When we got there (because of traffic it had been about 30 minutes) they weren't there.

We went back home, but he was certain they were at the park.

He heard barking, Quentin thought he saw Truffles (it was another black dog, but not truffles)

Alice and I got back in the van to go to the park.

And there they were, happy, smelly and ready to get in the van to ride home.

What a happy ending.

But it doesn't end there, it's an eternal testament that God answers prayers.  He heard our prayers and kept them safe, we are very grateful , but as a mother I am more grateful that my 14 year old son knew how to pray specifically for an answer.

Jesus concludes His Sermon on the Mount with an admonition in Matthew chapter 7,

"Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you"

David asked, we sought and kept knocking and they were found.

In  St Luke 12:24-28, He says

"24 Consider the ^aravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? 27 Consider the ^alilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; ^ahow much more will he clotheyou, O ye of little faith?"

He knows how much we love our dogs, He knew that we prayed in faith.  I'll be forever grateful for last night,not just for the safe return, but because of the eternal truth my children learned,

 "GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS"

I'm reminded of my own testimony of prayer and when it began.  I was five and my brother was 8.  For some reason I had to stay after in Kindergarten and Brian didn't know what to do because he had to walk me home but he couldn't be late either.  So he knelt down under a tree and prayed to Heavenly Father to send out mom to school.  She testified that the Spirit told her in loud voice, "Go to the school, your children need you."  She went and Brian was confidently waiting for her, he said, "I prayed you would come"

Since that day I have not doubted.

So many times prayers are answered without such dramatic results.  Bless the food, He does, it "nourishes and strengthens us" .  He brings all home safely each day, just like we ask.  My children do well in school and are happy.  Our parents are in His watchful care, "blessing our loved ones both near and far"

  And He also takes care of our pets at the same time He nourishes our spirits.

For this am eternally  grateful and humbled.

awww my fall/ winter must have been horrible....

I guess it must have been horrible because I havn't blogged since football began!!! WHAT???
Football season was a blur.  I only made one of David's middle school games because they were conveniently at the same time as I was picking up Joely for dance and getting ready for girl scouts.  I did go to another game but I was at the wrong location.  I did not read the schedule correctly at all and because of such a thing I was overbooked.
FORTUNATLY  David has his biological father, my sweet husband of 15 blissful years, that made every game.  I was never more grateful for his job than I was during football season.  I still feel like an  "epic fail" but hopefully next year I will make it to all of them.  I did however make two of his four cross country meets, yay me.  He did real well in that and his coach really liked him.  He also got the idea that I am a nice and helpful parent, that's only because he hasn't seen me as psycho football mom, I'll try to keep it in check next year as the same coach is the 8th grade football coach.  He also coaches girls softball for the city league, bless his heart, he drafted Alice to play for him.  From what I can see, the man is a saint, and we are lucky to be associaated with him.  I digress a little, but tonight he made me LOL because we had a parent meeting and he said the number one rule in softball is no crying in softball.  I made sure Alice heard that.

Anyhoo, David made student of the month for seventh grade boys, I was soooo proud of him, His teachers keep telling me what a joy he is in class. He's done amazing this year.  My friend Yvette Fuller promised that if the boys can get through fifth and sixth grade without being the victims of fillicide they will be a joy.  She's sooo on the money on this one. 
David is really funny and sarcastic and still planning on saving our family from the up and coming zombie apocolypse.  He wanted a rifle with a silencer for Christmas but was happy with the machete.
Quentin had his first losing season in football, he doesn't wish to talk about it, and I'm finally just able to talk about it without losing my mind.  He had wonderful coaches the first two years and this year...well lets just say he's really looking forward to playing in middle school.  We both regret not following his coaches to another league, but hindsight is 20/20.  He's doing real well in school and trying so hard for straight a's, but his science teacher doesn't like him and only gives him an 89.  CURSE HER, He's on the chess club too and he's loving his mountain bike that he got for Christmas.
Alice and Joely are both in Dance and geared up for Softball.  This year is girl pitch for Alice and T ball for Joely.  Just like Alice, Joely rolled snake eyes for her coach, Miss Jennifer who we've known through football for three years.  She's a real sweet lady with wonderful children.  I was thrilled to get the call from her that Joely would be on her team, the Diamond Divas.
Joely also requested from Santa that she get a gymnastics mat because Mrs. Carols says to practice night and day.  She's perfected the cart wheen and is working on flips.  She can do a back bend and does "Front limber" I'm not sure if that's what it's called, but that's what I understand her saying. Mrs. Carol is another teacher that is ready for sainthood, she won't need to collect that posthumously. She always smiles and I'm certain there is plenty of drama with all those little girls going to and from dance every day. 
Another interesting thing is that Crosby got a CiCi's pizza, and we now have two subways, and a dollar tree.  If they would just get me a target and an HEB I would never leave the city limits, except for church.
RObert and I celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss, what a wonderful night of memories that was.  We went to Pappas Seafood and laughed and ate some of the best food.  I still can't beleive it's been that long, some days it seems to have been literally just yesterday.
I'm an addict on Pineterst, and I've actually done a thing or two on that board, I dont' just stalk.
I will post some pictures and videos, but not tonight, I HAVE to get to sleep, for some reason I'm wired and that early mornign wake up at 4:30 will make me Sister Cranky Pants.
I love reading the blogs and catching up keep posting, I'm lazy and keep doing my facebook sound bites, but I hope to get back to the peace and quiet of my little blog.

In the Mullens House, Fall =Football

This year Davo jumped on the bandwagon and joined foolsball.

He plays on the little league as a Sr. Cougar with Quentin and Joely cheers.

David also plays for Middle School.

Apparently league coaches are much nicer LOL

David, Like Marcia Brady, has joined another Athletic team..

Cross Country-

No big surprise because that's "his thing" but it does mean that on

Tuesday, Thursday and Friday he runs before school, then has athletics (football practice) first period, and then about two hours of practice after school. He tries to make two practices a week for the league.

His league Coach is real nice and subs him in, so he gets plenty of playing time.

He understands he can't start since he isn't able to make all the practices and due to his race schedule he can't make all the games.

Everyone of his coaches describe him as "all heart"

So here is Joely cheering in 111 degree weather, yes that is surface of the sun hot. 

Her favorite cheer goes like this-

"The Thunder can't rock the house!

The Lightening can't rock the house!

But you can rock the house,

But you can rock the house!"

She has declared, after three games, that

"Being a Cheerio is Boring"

She's right, it is.

And here is my defensive tackle! He's been stuck on the O-Line and he hates not being able to throw people down.  However by the third quarter the coach has let him back on the D-line and he gets some aggression out.  And he has a lot of it, because they have not yet won a game.  Quentin, like me, is learning how to lose with style. His last team did lose some games, but they were always really close, like by one point in triple overtime, so it never stung quite so bad.

It's a building year.

They have new coaches and its' been a very positive experience for the boys. 

Alice and I spent a September  weekend in Conroe at a Girl Scout camp with five other girls and my co-leader Jenny. It was a lot of fun for us and we came back tired and very happy to see our beds.

We stayed in the treehouse cabins and it was a lot of fun.

The troop near us didn't appreciate that the girls had to go to the bathroom all night long and then there was a crazed racoon on the prowl, it was a night to be awake, but we had fun.

I don't remember sleeping much at camp when I was a girl.

We have a few more Saturdays of football and then  I'll miss it until next year.

To keep us occupied we are on a fantasy league.

David opted out once he found out there wouldn't be wizards and dwarvs, he's content with reality football.

This is Quentin on draft night, he's wearing his lucky hat! It's lucky because the great and powerful Mason Boys signed it. It's blessed. I beleive Q is tied for first, I may be wrong, but I know I'm dead last. Even with my mad drafting skills, I'm plagued. Robert says the NFL Players Union will request that I no longer draft players as they inevitably get injured, some season ending, some career ending. Not even selling my soul and drafting Michael Vick has given me a winning season.

Last but not Least, our sweet Alice

She's busy working on some dish towels, she started the joy of needlework this year! I love passing down this tradition. She's in third grade, taking jazz and rocking it at Girl Scouts. 

 This is her at the high school football game. She was in a dance and cheer clinic so it was a magical night. During the first quarter she cheered and between the third and 4th quarter she learned a drill team dance. This is by far my favorite fund raiser the school does.  For 20.00 you can cheer and 30.00 you can dance.  All the money goes to the cheer and dance squad and the little girls love it.

Seminary is back in full swing and I am enjoying the early morning Old Testament Lessons.  I love the boys in my class, they are amazing and such great examples. I keep forgetting to take new pictures of them, but I will.   I'm continually humbled to be their teacher. I've enjoyed discussing various principles and stories from the Old testament with Robert. There is so much to learn about the Blessings that come from Keeping our Covenants. I'm grateful for the wonderful women of the Old Testament and their faith and courage.