A life lesson

I know I should be doing a post all about our fun Halloween. . .oops I mean Harvest Festivals(why don't we just call it what it is?) but I have a better story to tell!

Elijah is in public preschool this year. As most of you know, we have had a lot of changes in our lives over the past few months. The switch from private to public preschool has been one of the harder ones. Elijah is extremely smart(am I biased? maybe!), hilarious, and overall just quite the character! He doesn't always listen and he doesn't always obey! And sometimes, he does the most outlandish things! But you know what, I love him all the same!

Well, he got into some "trouble" a few weeks ago at school. This just happened to be the day that we had planned to go buy Elijah his beloved Halloween costume for the year(Elijah LOVES to dress up and has been known to go just about anywhere in a suit. . this includes Wal-Mart, church, basketball games, etc.). Ricky and I decided that if he couldn't behave at school, then he didn't deserve the treat of a new costume. This was a Thursday so Ricky told him if he did better on Friday then he would take him to get a costume. Well, Friday came and it involved a phone call from his teacher to me during school. . .NOT good. This of course meant, no costume. This was much harder on ME than I thought it would be! He LOVES costumes and after all he did have an AMAZING week the next week(which was rewarded with a trip to see Where the Wild Things Are). But, as hard as it was, we knew we needed to stick to what we said! We had lots of discussions about which costume he would pick out to wear on Halloween(after all he does love costumes and has several he could have worn) and of course it changed everyday. He went as red/blue Spiderman to the carnival we attended last Sunday. And yesterday, his sweet cousin, Jonah, allowed him to borrow his black Spiderman costume(not that Elijah doesn't have one. . .it was just more special because Jonah let him borrow it). Elijah was excited to go trick-or-treating in the borrowed suit.

While waiting for all the family festivities to begin, the mail arrived. Elijah got a Halloween card from my Mom. This card included a picture of Grandma, Aunt SeSe, AND $5! The pictures got all of the attention at first with lots of hugs. And then, I told him we would go to Wal-Mart on Sunday to spend the $5. And then the question came. . ."can I buy a costume?" I thought about this for a little while. We had told him we wouldn't buy him one. So, after a minute, I responded, "you know, you probably can because all the Halloween stuff will be on sale!" He was beyond excited at the thought of a new costume.

Halloween came and went. Elijah wore the borrowed black spiderman suit and never thought anything about it. He didn't notice that his was worn and torn. And, he got just as much candy as everyone else.

Elijah with all the cousins right before the trick-or-treating began

This evening though, I took Elijah to Wal-Mart to spend that $5. And you know what he got? A $6 Captain America costume. (I figured after all that waiting I could handle throwing in a dollar and the tax.) It was the hardest thing watching him try not to cry every time he mentioned a new costume and we reminded him that we wouldn't be buying him one. But tonight, it was ALL worth it! He has NEVER been so excited to get a new costume! As soon as we got out of the store, he tore open the package and put on the mask. And then he started peeling off his clothes at the car to put on the suit. I am actually surprised I could convince him to take it off for a bath. But, I am 100% sure it will be put on as soon as he gets home from school tomorrow.

Sorry for the poor quality of picture, it is from my phone!

Lesson learned! For Elijah AND Mommy!! :)

*Update*

I went in to the boys room to check on them before I went to bed. This is what I found. . . .

Guess he couldn't wait until after school got out to put it back on! :) (Don't worry, I took the mask off. But, his brother is a VERY light sleeper and I didn't want to wake him by taking off the entire thing!) So, Captain America is sleeping at our house tonight!!

Fall Fun

This week is Red Ribbon Week at school which meant lots of fun dress up days. Tuesday was by far Elijah's favorite day, Pajama Day. He was very excited to wear his new Mario and two bad guys pj's!

One of the churches had their "harvest" aka Halloween carnival on Sunday. I was quite amazed that Elijah was patient enough to stand in line long enough to get his face painted much less actually sit still while she did it. But, he almost fell asleep!

Spiderman with his spiderweb face

My cute little monkey!

People often tell me that my boys look alike(I don't really think so, as much0, so for fun I posted a picture of Elijah wearing the monkey costume when he was 21 months old. Tell me what you think! Do you think they look alike?

We attempted to play outside a couple nights ago as we do as often as possible. This has seemed to be an impossible feat as of late due to the rain or the massive amount of mosquitos. We only braved the bugs for a few minutes but our niece, Jaimee, found lots of snail shells and a few snails. The kids were VERY fascinated by them.

Kyle is REALLY into saying cheese and posing when I pull out the camera! Here is his latest pose along with his favorite buddy and cousin, Jocelyn.

My Elijah is quite the character! I just love his little personality. . .or maybe I should say big personality! He also has an amazing memory! He sees or hears something once and we know we will hear about again at some point. Well, Elijah saw a commercial for a snuggie several months ago. He said he wanted one(as he does EVERYTHING he sees) but I just passed it off and thought nothing more about it. Last night, Elijah got under the load of towels that I hadn't folded and said, "look Mommy, I'm pretending like I have a snuggie!"

This and That

I have been absolutely awful about taking pictures lately(except with my cellphone) and therefore have been absolutely awful about blogging!

We have done some fun things over the last month and I thought many times about blogging but it just didn't happen. So, here is trying to get back in the swing of things!!

I am a HUGE college football fan, especially the OU Sooners(not good since I am in Longhorn (yuck) country!). It has been a rough year for my beloved Sooners but I will watch and cheer for them regardless. I am also a Big 12 fan! I have finally found a Garzon guy that will watch football with me and cheer right along side me!

Here Kyle is cheering on Colorado during the Colorado/Texas game(yes, I realize that Texas won! And honestly, at this point in the year, I hope that Texas wins out and can hold their own with whichever SEC team makes it to the BCS championship! I am a Sooners fan first but will ALWAYS root for a Big 12 team over anyone else! So, if OU can't make it to the championship, then I just hope Texas can get there and play the ENTIRE four quarters!!!!)

Very excited when Colorado had a big play

Anxiously awaiting to see if Colorado could score that touchdown

I wish you could see his face but he was VERY excited they scored!

I am pretty sure that Elijah has at least 30 funny sleeping pictures. This one isn't really unusual unless you look at his feet. I know they look like house-shoes but they are actually the covers to Kyle's armrests on his carseat. Elijah calls them his Sonic(the hedgehog) shoes! He REFUSED to take them off that night!

Elijah and Kyle have become best buddies over the last couple weeks! They play often and actually pretty well together! This makes my heart happy! Kyle has started talking quite a bit more and every time he says something new, Elijah looks at me and says "Mommy, he can TALK!"

Here the boys are playing a game together on my phone

A Reflection. . .

This post, as most of them are I suppose, is for me more than anything else. Do you ever have those days when you feel like everything is going wrong? When is seems like all the stress in the world is on your shoulders? When you feel like your children did nothing right all day and everything that came out of your mouth was no, time-out, or loudly saying their names? I have had those kinds of days for the last couple of days. I know a lot, if not all, of this is because of the stressful situation we are in as a family. However, I honestly think that I "yelled" at the boys more in the last couple of days than I have their entire lives. As I put them both to bed tonight, I realized (actually remembered) that I don't want to rush through their lives! I want to treasure each moment I have with them. . .each stage (even if it is a difficult one)! So, in honor of that, here is a picture walk through each of my boys lives. . .a short picture walk that is! :)

Elijah Mikal, January 2005

Elijah Mikal, January 2006

Elijah Mikal, January 2007

Elijah Mikal, January 2008

Kyle Brooks, January 2008

Elijah Mikal, January 2009

Kyle Brooks, January 2009

Elijah Mikal, now (with his buddy, Aidan, at Austin Park and Pizza)

Kyle Brooks, NOW (with his new cheesy grin)

And as an extra. . . Kyle on his first day of Mother's Day Out

When I look at each one of these pictures, so many memories come flooding back. . .

Taylor

Thursday will mark our third week here in Taylor. It has been a crazy, hectic, wild three weeks but we are settling in and developing a routine. We all seem to be adjusting pretty well. The boys are loving being around Popo and Grandma and Tia Jaime and Tia Stef and of course their cousins.

We enrolled Elijah in pre-k here in Taylor. This has been Elijah's first experience with public school. He went to Polk Street in Amarillo for the last two years and had the same teacher(she moved up with them) so this has been completely different. He seems to like school ok but is still trying to adjust to his non-bankers hours. He has to be at school at 7:45 which makes every morning a challenge for both of us!

These are a couple of pictures of him on the first day of school.

Ricky is currently working at Banana Republic at the nearby outlet mall (yes that means GOOD discounts on already discounted clothes). He is in the process of getting on with a security company that his cousin works for. This job will pay more and give him more hours.

We had the opportunity to visit our future home a a couple weeks ago. Ricky, Kyle, and I(Elijah was in school) headed to Schertz/Cibalo to meet Zak White and his lovely wife Amber along with their adorable little guy, Couper. Seeing the area and hearing how God is already moving through Revolution Church made us that much more excited to be there and "get started". However, we know that this has to wait a bit longer. We are anxiously awaiting the day we get to pack up and make our home in Schertz/Cibalo. This past weekend, we got to attend The Connection Church in Kyle, Texas(I am pretty sure EVERYONE we met made a comment about our Kyle's name! haha) where Zak was preaching. It was a great experience and again just made us that much more excited for what God is doing and that we get to be a part of it!

We are trying our hardest to enjoy every moment here with family! I know my boys will look back and treasure this time, as will I! Elijah wakes up asking when he gets to see "his" Jonah and goes to bed asking the same thing. I just had to add a couple pictures of the kids playing! :)

Kyle and Jocelyn. Jocelyn is 10 months older than Kyle but you can't tell from looking.

This isn't the greatest picture but if you click on it, you can see his combined look of fear and determination. He was so scared but his Jonah had climbed this so he was going to as well! And, he DID!

For some reason, this is how my sweet Kyle smiles when I say cheese!! haha

Elijah and his Jonah

The boys again. This picture is to set up the next picture! :)

Grandma decided to bring fudge pops to the park for the kids.

Sometimes I wish I could look like this and people wouldn't say a word to me! :)

He is feeding the ducks. And of course, I think HE ate as much bread as he threw to them! Silly boy!

For fun, here are some of the things I have learned about living in Central Texas!

#1 Instead of taking a rain jacket to a Friday night football game in early September, an

umbrella does the job MUCH better

#2 People do not slow down here. . .there are no down times. . .it is always GO, GO, GO

#3 Taylor schools have some WEIRD policies

#4 Running is so much easier down here!

#5 It is not fun to live in Taylor, Texas on a Saturday when my beloved Sooners lose and the

Longhorns win!

The Garzon's are. . .

Ricky and I along with the boys have been in what I have called "a time of transition" for over a year. Back in the spring of 2008, Ricky stepped down as the youth pastor at the church we were serving in at the time. He did this with the plan of getting a full time job and continuing to lead worship at said church. However, this plan(as most of OUR plans) did not work out. He continued to apply for job after job and while many things seemed promising. . . nothing seemed to work out. After what seemed like an eternity some days, Ricky found a job and I continued to teach. We both knew that this was not our calling and were constantly seeking where we were supposed to be and what we were supposed to be doing. We had some really rough days throughout this time but one thing that this time did was bring us unbelievably closer! For months, I have known that the calling on my life right now is to be at home with Elijah(when he isn't at school) and Kyle. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE teaching and will miss it immensely but for NOW my place is to be at home with my babies. This was a scary thing to realize as my teaching salary was the major source of income for our family. I shared this with Ricky often and after much prayer we both knew that I needed to not sign my contract for the 2009-2010 school year. This meant at of the end of August we would not have that major source of income. While this was an extremely scary thing, I was excited beyond belief to be a stay-at-home-mom but more importantly to see what the Lord did in our lives. Meanwhile, Ricky has been applying and applying and applying at churches. . . . If you are unfamiliar with this process. . .lets just say it isn't always easy. As with most jobs, the waiting is the hardest. After finding out that Ricky was the runner up candidate for two different jobs, we were getting a little heart broken. We were scared, nervous, anxious, all the typical emotions when your future is uncertain. At this point we knew what we had to do. . .we had to have faith that the Lord we love would take care of us just as He has promised us He would. In June, Ricky and I began doing something we have never done as a married couple (although we should have been doing all along). . .we began reading the Word and praying together nightly. Our faith has grown leaps and bounds and we fall more in love with Jesus together as a couple every night. That hour has become the sweetest of the 24 each day for me. I look forward to sharing my love of the Father with the earthly man that I love the most. We began to truly pray for our future. We asked that the Lord would open the doors that He wanted us to walk through and close the ones He didn't. I could tell you some truly amazing stories about how He did this! We have just watched in amazement this summer as the Lord began to reveal His plan for our lives. We were not always patient and we did not always have the faith that we should have but we continued to be there for each other and continued to seek the Lord's heart. So, all that being said. . .we are MOVING!!!! :) God has orchestrated some truly amazing things and we are ecstatic for our future!

We will be loading up and pulling out of Amarillo on August 22nd. We will be moving to Taylor, Texas with Ricky's parents during our next "transition" time! They have graciously agreed to allow us to stay with them for an extended time. Ready for the best part? We will be moving to the San Antonio area as soon as we can!! We are going to be a part of an amazing church plant called Revolution Church in the Shertz/Cibalo area. We are excited beyond belief that God has chosen us to be involved with this! The church will begin weekly services at the end of January 2010. However, there is much to do in the mean time.

While we are excited about what the Lord is doing there is still some fear and anxiousness that creeps in. We would covet your prayers for our family! Here are some specific areas:

*That our boys would handle this not one but two moves with ease. Elijah is our biggest

concern as he is dependent on consistency. Which is why we have decided to enroll

him in pre-school while we are in Taylor. (and the way this has all worked out is

another amazing story)

*After many months, we have decided to rent our house here in Amarillo rather than sell.

Please pray that God would send us a person/family to rent our house.

*For Ricky to find a job in Taylor to provide for us before we can get to San Antonio.

*Pray for our relationships to continue to grow/develop with the Launch Team that is

already established for Revolution Church.

*That we can get moved and settled in San Antonio swiftly.

*Please pray for Revolution Church in general as well as Zak White the pastor.

What would a blog be without a picture. . .our amazing friend Kara Mercer took pictures of us this summer. Here is one of our family pics. . .

Our First Camping Adventure Post 2

Camping Trip continued. . . 

Kyle taking his afternoon nap outside and in the shade 

Breakfast

My Cousin Alex and Elijah riding the tube. . .he loved this which really surprised me

Elijah and I riding the tube.  If you look closely, he is shooting webs! haha

One final boat ride Thursday evening. . . 

Grandma and Kyle

Grandpa and Elijah. . .beginning of the ride

Uncle Tim and Kyle driving the boat

Kyle LOVED driving! :) 

Elijah and Grandma . . .end of the ride! I think he fell asleep every time he road the boat.  He even fell asleep with Alex on the tube at one point! 

Grandpa took Kyle to the front of the boat for the ride back to camp. . . don't you love his new do?

My cousin Christopher is a student at KU and didn't get to come out until Thursday evening.  Elijah took a liking to him immediately! My cousin Kirsten, Christopher's sister, has a picture of Michael Phelps on her phone.  Elijah and her were looking at the pictures a few minutes before Christopher arrived.  We watch swimming whenever it is on T.V. so Elijah is very aware of who Michael Phelps is.   When Christopher pulled up, Elijah said there he is!!! And ran and told Michael Phelps hello! So, Christopher is now lovingly referred to as Uncle Phelps by Elijah! :) Christopher is amazing with kids.  They played and played!  

My family loves pictures! My Mom has compiled an amazing scrapbook for my grandparents over the years.  So, every time we are together (it seems) we take a grandkid line-up picture! Not as many of the cousins were able to attend this year but here we are! :) 

6 of the 17 Weis grandkids. . .in birth order(and no, I am not the oldest! there are 4 in front of me that weren't there but isn't it sad that I am the shortest?!?!)

Kallie, Alex, Christopher, Addison, Kirsten, Austin 

The Reynolds and Garzon families

Elijah not long into the drive home. . . 

Kyle at the same point in the drive. . . 

We always eat more junk food on trips than normal.  The boys enjoyed sharing a package of brite crawlers! 

They thought this was a hilarious game!

On the way home, we stopped in OKC to eat at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill.  

(getting all 3 of my boys to look at the camera seems to be impossible!!)

We are anxious to attend the next Weis Family camping trip in 2011!!! :)