I did it!

I showed up and ran the scenic 4 mile run! I almost missed it. We got to the start line approximately 3 minutes before the run began. Just enough time for me to put my race number bib on my shirt and the chip on my shoe. It was a great run though. Lots of hills and I mean, big hills. I had not even thought about it until I was talking to a co-worker on Friday and she said : "Erika, you know scenic means big hills, right?" Didn't do great, but I crossed the finish line running. What a wonderful experience. I definitely will be doing this again. The kids had fun watching me participate, although they were wondering why I had taken so long to come back. When all was set and done, out of the blue, Carson whispered in my ear "Mama, I think you are a good runner." Natalia also said to me: "Yea, I think you won." I really don't know how she figured that out since there were about 150 people who crossed the finish line before I did :0)~ 

  Here we are at the finish line!

A few pictures of the scenery (of course, not taken by me :0)

After the run, since my aunts from Guatemala had never been to Wimberley, we took advantage of our trip.  So we went to a few of the many cute shops around town. The kids behaved nicely which is always a plus. We ended the day by eating lunch at Rudy's.  

  

  

When we got home, Tia Naty gave me a pedicure and Tia Lety a manicure. ~Wow, what a treat!

Happy Mother's Day!

Here are a few things Natalia gave me this Mother's Day:

She made this picture frame especially for me at school for Mother's Day!

I don't know who she was thinking about when

she decorated this cake at school.
~She loves frosting!!!!

Isn't this sweet? ~I almost cried when I read this little poem.

They grow up so quickly.

(The card reads, "Dear Mom, I hope you have a good mothers...

and I have something for you for Mother's Day")

My official Mother's Day card from school.

Now...this card, she made for me at home on Mother's Day.

The card reads: "Mom, do you love me? Yes I love you said Mom."

Natalia also made me a book written and illustrated by her. I'll probably scan and post it tomorrow. It's pretty long and I don't have time to scan it right now.

Thank you so much Natalia for all my wonderful Mother's Day gifts and cards. I love you!

Proud Mama!

Awana Club - 2008 ~Leon Spring Baptist Church~

Okay, so it might not be a big deal for any of you, but for me....it means a lot. Not only did we have to quit Awana's in Beaumont, but then we also had to find a church in San Antonio that offered the Awana Club. It was so hard to do that. Natalia loved her teachers and her friends in Beaumont and Carson loved being able to go to Cubbies and see Mr. Matt and Ms. Elizabeth. That was the highlight of his day! But I knew that we had to continue with Awana. So, we got to San Antonio on Monday, January 28th and on Wednesday, January 30th, they were attending Awana in San Antonio. I remeber that first day, I wasn't even sure why I was doing this. They had a little bit of a hard time staying and trying to figure out what they were supposed to do. I remember calling Dave (almost crying) right after I dropped them off, telling him that I didn't know if I was going to be able to do this. But I knew that they needed to keep learning about God and they needed to keep hidding God's Word in their heart! And that is the only thing that motivated me week after week.  They had to get used to the new teachers, new kids and new way of doing things. It was truly an adjustment period. I would get off from work at 5:00, I would go over to the house to pick Natalia and Carson up. My Mom (thank you Mom) would feed them and have them all ready for me. She would keep Luke while I took the other two to Awana.  We would leave the house by 5:30 and drive about 30 minutes (with traffic) to the church. Even though it was a huge adjustment for all of us, I'm glad we did it. Natalia and Carson learned a bunch of Bible verses this "school year", and we even tried putting some of them into practice. So, let me brag a little (more :0) )...

                           

Natalia finished her handbook so she received her crown, a patch and all the red and green jewels that she could possibly receive. She also earned all the blue (?) jewels because she had perfect attendance!   In addition, she received the Sparky pin (BIG DEAL!!) because, after finishing the handbook, she finished the whole workbook.  Some weeks she would learn 3 to 6 verses per week.  Her teacher asked Natalia if she could learn Psalm 23 and say it in front of everybody for awards night.  At first, when we started to learn the Psalm, Natalia was a little hesitant to learn it because she thought that if knew it then she would have to stand in front of everyone and use the microphone to say it.  Once I told her that she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to, she learned Psalm 23 with no problem.  Well, the night of the awards, the teacher asked her if she would like to say Psalm 23 in front of everyone and Natalia said that she would do it.  So she did.  She said it with a little boy.  They were both a little shy and quiet, but they did great!  Anyway, I'm very proud of her!

Carson, was a champ.  He also learned so many verses this "school year".  He was so excited to receive his little Cubbie Bear, which will go on his vest.  He sat with his whole class and stayed with them throughout the entire ceremony.  He also had perfect attendance!  The only night he missed is when he got his tonsils taken out and his ear tubes in on a Monday. That Wednesday he wanted to go to Cubbies so bad but he had to stay home.  He  stayed crying while Natalia went to Awana's with Matt and Elizabeth.  ~I mean, talking about being committed! :0)

Carson showing off his little Cubbie Bear and his certificate.

Anyway, sorry if I bored you with all this information, but I just don't want to forget how young they were when they started learning scripture!  And how much they enjoyed it while doing it!

I'm So In!

Okay, so I did it! I just signed up to run the W4 -WIMBERLEY FOUR. I'll be running a scenic 4 mile run by the river and through the village of Wimberly this Saturday. They are calling it a "TREAT"! I'm going to "have the chance to run along some of the most scenic stretches of this hidden, Hill Country gem." --Yea, we'll see.

Japanese anyone?

By the way, just in case you needed or wanted to know, this is how you write Carson Stovall (blue paper) and Luke Stovall (green paper) in Japanese. Well, that's what they told me anyway. Who knows, it might say something completely different. I just thought I would share this with you since I paid $1 each and I don't know what else I can or will do with these. So, enjoy!

We are going to the Zoo today!

We started our Sunday by going to eat breakfast at Pico de Gallo.  This mexican restaurant is one of my parents' favorite restaurant.  

After eating a very yummy breakfast, we went straight to the zoo. Oh, where do kids get all their energy from?  -Seriously, they never stop!!!  At the zoo they walked and ran and walked and ran and walked and ran... Thank God for another day with perfect weather.

Natalia, Carson & Luke reading the map

Mami bought popcorn and everybody wanted to hold the bucket!

Okay, so this is Luke as we were leaving.  Who can guess what he is doing in this picture?  Yup, you are right - throwing a fit.  Are you starting to see a pattern here???

Do I see a competitive streak in Carson?

Carson finally got a chance to play his very first tennis match last Sunday. It was by chance that Daddy and Carson were on one side of the court and Tia Naty and I ended up on the other side. Oh, Carson was so excited.  While playing, Daddy said to Tia Naty, "oh sorry, I didn't mean to hit the ball that hard."  Carson turned toward Daddy and said, "Daddy, don't say 'I'm sorry', we want to win."