Happy Father's Day!

I am lucky to have been blessed with two wonderful dads. They are both quite different from each other, but I am thankful for having both of them in my life.

My dad, Calvin, lives in Oregon...far far away from here. He has only seen my oldest daughter twice, but I know that he loves us all and would do anything for us. I love you dad and miss you VERY much. We can't wait for you to visit!!!

My other dad, Jones, lives in Borger...which is still too far away from here, but at least we get to see him on a regular basis. Because of this, he has become a staple in my daughters' lives. It is so amazing to see him interact with his grand daughters. The joy they get from each other is contageous~just look at the lengths he goes to for his girls~climbing trees, playing pirates, digging for worms, or just giving them a cozy place to snug. I love you, dad and I love watching you spend time with your girls.

Becoming a father...

Tonight I want to take a moment to brag on my husband. Even though Father's Day is "all about dad", he took another step into learning that it is all about being a dad! They had a Dad's and Dogs (hotdogs) event after church tonight. We got our dogs and then went and sat down under a shade tree. A few games were planned for the kids to do with their dads. Spoon and egg races, balloon toss, three legged races..... none of it really his kind of thing. Go carts would have been much more his speed, since he is all about speed! Elyssa really really wanted to play a game. Once she figured out it wasn't just for the kids, she asked Tony if he would do something with her. He was sidetracked on the phone and kind of turned his nose up at the idea. What he didn't realize is that just moments before two girls had turned her away when she asked if she could play with them. Her little heart was already broke, so the thought of him not wanting to participate truly broke her heart. He quickly noticed how his response and affected her. Within moments he had signed them up for the three legged race. I'm not sure he even new what it was. :) It was a real treat watching them work together to get across that field. They didn't even come close to winning, but he is certainly a winner in his little girl's eyes.
When I got home and started pulling pictures for the post for my own dad, I was bombarded with images of my husband being drawn into fatherhood.



















I love you, Tony. Thank you for being such a blessing to our family.

Stress Relief

This email came at the ideal time. Give it a try....BUBBLE WRAP

The Thumb

Here are some thumb pictures like I have been promising.

Oh Mr. Sun

Mr. Sun did a little more than just shine down on us today. We had a great time at the pool, but as I placed my bag upon my shoulder and headed towards the car, I realized that I had gotten a little more sun then I had intended. By the time I got home and stripped down for my shower it was obvious that I wasn't just a little red. All areas of exposed skin on the front of my body are lobster red...fried to a crisp. I began to wonder about how age effects skin. Rarely have I ever been so badly burned. I remember one time when I hurt this much, but it was after a full day at a water park, not an hour or two at the neighborhood pool! As much as I hate to admit it, I realize that I am fully to blame. This was only my second time at the pool this season and not only did I not use sunscreen, but I actually added a little banana boat oil from last season to enhance the look of my lizard like dry legs. Stupid, stupid, stupid...
Mr. Sun was definitely laying on the rays today. Elyssa's face was looking quite red by bedtime. She has been out a lot already this season and has never burned before. She is already brown all over, but the sun did some damage today. Luckily I had little Lainy slathered up and kept her in the shade as much as possible. You can still see patches of red on her face, though, where I didn't want to get the sunscreen too close to her eyes. This has certainly been a learning experience that I won't soon forget. We will all be wearing spf of 30+ the next time we head for the pool. Which for me won't be for a while, since even the thought of putting these bright red legs back in the sun makes me slightly sick to my stomache. :)

Our Chunky Chipmunk

Tony started calling Lainy "chipmunk" when she was about a week old. She always seemed to have both hands up at her mouth, which made her look like a chipmunk chewing on a nut. (Thumb pictures will be my next post! A month ago she rediscovered her thumb and it is now her most favorite thing!)

She is without a doubt a little chunk. I hadn't started blog when she went for her 4 month check up last week, but here are her stats for all the friends and family that I haven't had a chance to talk to.

15 pounds 25 inches
(90% for both height and weight)

Dr. Nail says that she is healthy and proportionate, which is good. She is where she should be with all her milestones. She smiles and laughs, follows objects with her eyes, holds things in her hands, plays with toys on her activity gyms, and rolls over. She hasn't rolled all the way from back to front yet, but she rolls from her back to her side all the time. The truth is, she doesn't like being on her tummy, so I don't think she will work to get in that position any time soon!

Childlike Faith

Matthew 18:3 (Amplified Bible)
3And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].

How is it that the child God has given me to raise and teach about Him can so often be MY teacher? Just last week we were reading her nightly devotional and that night it was about the Lord's Prayer. The scripture was in a different translation then the one I memorized as a child. I said, "this is how I learned it" ...and quoted what is most likely the New King James version. Elyssa quickly replied, "That's not how I pray. I just talk to God." We continued our discussion, but in my head I couldn't get past the realization that my 6 year old daughter possibly has a better and more intimate prayer life than me. I want to pray and trust and believe, but she DOES pray and trust and believe. I am so thankful for that.

She is in Amarillo right now and will be home late tonight. Her grandfather (Eric's dad) is in the hospital after congestive heart failure. For a short time we didn't know if he would make it. When we talked about it she listened and responded that if something happened she would be OK...she was used to it. Then she pointed out that he would get to be in heaven with Jesus and see Mia and my step mom. "And his mom and dad...that would be good, huh? He would be happy." She understands that sadness of losing someone, but she looks at heaven as something to look forward to, not something to be scared of. She is certainly glad to still have her Papaw here with us for now!

I am officially a part of the blogging community...

...and I am afraid it could become an addiction! There is a never ending supply of page elements, :) I have been reading my friends blogs for quite a while, but never really looked into doing one of my own. I figured my phanfare site (www.tntsdao.phanfare.com) was good enough. Then I decided that I needed to create a blog for my Recollections Photography stuff, since that seemed to be the big thing for photographers right now. I started playing, and now I am hooked!
The idea for my blog name came to me as I lay in bed attempting to drift off to sleep. When Elaina was born, someone came up with the idea of calling her Miss Elaineous. It hasn't stuck, but it was the perfect jumping off point for my blog. I have called Elyssa "Little Bit" as long as I can remember. So much so, that when I referred to Lainy as little bit one afternoon Elyssa quickly responded, " She's not little bit - I'm little bit!" So put the two together and you have Little Bit and Miss Elaineous....which is what I will be writing about: the little bits and miscellaneous of our lives!