What Do You Remember About The 80's?

Remember Mega Date Night? Well Last Night some friends threw an 80's roller skating party for my birthday and we ALL dressed up in FULL 80's fashion! And as usual Joey went all out (Which by the way, is one of the things that I really love about him... He does nothing half-heartedly and he makes nights like these that much more fun.)

So here we are... 80's Roller Skating Night...



Roomies and friends...

The Couples...


Adam & Tara Me & My Man


Bobby & Anna Jason & Mindy

Jim & Mo John & Lisa


For some reason I missed out on getting a picture of David & Nicole, and My friend Milly. But they looked awesome!

Here's most of the girls...

I am not quite sure why I am willing to post this picture... I do NOT approve this kind of behavior!! You should be sharing that shake with me Mr.!!!! :)

All the boys...

And everyone....

Skating...

Guys, thanks for being my friend and for being so much fun... I am so grateful for friends like you who brings loads of joy into my life! Blessing upon blessing!!!

Happy Papa's Day

Good Morning Papa! We made this sign for you for Papa's day... hope you like it! :)



We took this picture for you this morning... and in the process a miracle happened... ALL THREE OF US looked at the camera AND smiled at the same time!!!! It's just because we love you that much Papa!


Mama asked us what we like about you this morning Papa...

Siah said, "I like his hugs. I like the camping trip in the mountains and after the desert trip we went to see the snow. He makes fort with us."


Reesie said, "Mamamamama, La? DAAAAAA, Yiya... Yiya, Yiya, PAAAAAApa!"




Halee said, "We talk about funny games, the game about water we were watching when we were looking at Papa's phone. And see that ball over there... He plays that ball with me, yeah, I like that!"

We love you our Papa!!!!!!! Happy Papa's day to you!

My love, you are one amazing man! I can't believe the things that the Lord has brought us througha nd blessed us with. If it is this good and it has only been nine years, then I can hardly wait for the rest of my life! One of the things that I love most about you is the way that you cherish our kids. I have no doubt that they feel loved by you every second of every day. You are one incredible man and I feel overwhelmed by the way that you love me and our kiddos! Can't wait to have some more treasures with you. Loving you always, Your Wife

PS I posted about our trip below if you'd like to check it out...

Oh My Goodness Me,Yipee!!!!

I started my Friday morning as usual... 

I got my loud Reesie out of bed and down stairs at the crack of dawn so that the other two kiddos could sleep in till a decent time... I got a bottle for Reesie & had some quiet time with my Jesus for me... Then breakfast, clean up... Up stairs to get the crew and myself dressed for the day... 

But lo and behold, on my way up the stairs my Joey walks through the front door and busts out a poem for me on my birthday. (you can read it in the post below if you'd like It's hilarious and totally Joey. He read it to me out loud which made me feel special cuz I know that reading out loud is not always his thing:)

Forty minutes later, I'm showered, dressed, packed and kissing the kids good bye as I run out the door draggin my man out with me as fast I we could go. Not really, but I was super excited to have twenty four hours alone with my Joey.

The surprise destination????? CATALINA ISLAND. WOOHOO!!!

It's not to far from home, but just far enough to feel like we're really far away. The drive up was lovely. We held hands... YES WE DID. :)

We took the fairy out of Dana Point. It was smooth and quick.

We got off the boat and walked to our hotel that turned out to be maybe 200 feet from the water. It was gorgeous! I am going to try my hardest to not be corny here, but seriously it was one of the sweetest things ever. If you know Joey and I at all, you know that we are budget folks... we camp when we travel... we're perfectly content at the motel six... But this hotel room was for royalty (ok, maybe not royalty, but it was pretty close.) As we were walking up the stairs Joey sweetly told me that he had asked for the best room they had. And when we walked in I was MORE THAN STOKED! I started to cry (no surprise there.:) It had a huge balcony that overlooked the ocean, a giant jacuzzi tub that could easily fit a whole slew of people, a king size bed that had the softest pillows I've ever felt and a down comforter that made it feel like home. Fancy is far from the norm for us, so I decided that I would just soak it up, be forever grateful, and enjoy every second of this extra special gift!!

The hotel that we stayed in.

Our Giant jacuzzi tub!

After we dropped our stuff off and I pulled my self together from all those tears of joy, we put our suits on and headed down to the beach. I took a long nap and I am pretty sure that while I was asleep Joey just might have been playing on his iphone. :) It was beyond wonderful! Being alone, on an island, with my Joey, soaking up some sun... YIPEEEE!

Us getting ready for the beach. 

 I had suggested that we just pick up two $5 subs from the grocery store below our hotel and bring them back to our room but my sweet Joey insited that he had been saving for this trip for some time and he was stoked to be able to take me somewhere nice. What a treat!!! So I put on a dress and even tried to put on some make-up. But while I was trying to put on my mascara I poked myself three times in the eye. I was annoyed and flustered, so Joey just kissed my forehead and said that I looked beautiful with out that silly eye stuff. So we had dinner without my mascara. :)

That night we had dinner at the Via Portafino. It was a quaint Italian restaurant right on the water. We got there before the crowd so we sat at one of the only two tables that faced the water.

It was a most lovely dinner... we talked about things that we love to talk about... memeories, dreams we have for our family, friends we love, things the Lord has blessed us with. We laughed, ate really, really good food, & Joey even got me to taste this (really nasty, I must say) wine. I am not a big fan of the taste of alcohol. Although sometimes I wish that I was. On occasions like this it could be a nice treat. :)

We spent the rest of the night at our hotel, eating ice cream on the balcony and enjoying each other. I fell alseep at nine and slept in till nine the next morning. I can't remember the last time that I did that. It was the best!

The view from our porch...

Me eating ice cream on our porch...

 

When I woke up the next morning, Joey had a card for me...

If you can read the words you will know that it is a total Joey card. Which is exactly why I loved it so much! (The picture in the background is us on our wedding day, nearly 9 years ago:)

We went to a cute little breakfast joint and shared some eggs benedict for breakfast... came back and got ready for the day, watched a little "Nija Warriors: on TV (Which I will confess that I think is totally hilareous!)... then checked out of our hotel.

We rented a super fast golf cart that went maybe 8 MPH MAX!. We made a little video for your enjoyment below... It's silly of course... :)

We took some pictures too...

Everyone on the island drives golf carts... I think we saw a total of twenty actual cars...

Then we rented a tandem bike and rode it to this little beach club that was right on the water in it's own private cove. I had the most delicious virgin pina colada that I have ever had, we ate nachos and sat quietly for a little while and watched the waves... and a couple of drunk guys that were there for a bachelor party. :) Lovely isn't it?

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At this point in our lives, twenty four hours is the perfect amount of time for us to get away... anything less doesn't give us much needed refreshment... anything more and I get homesick for my treasures.

I'm not really sure how to express what I feel towards my Joey for blessing me this weekend. Thank you is hardly sufficient. I am so grateful for the way that he  makes me feel so cherished. There are moments in marriage that feel so challenging. Then there are moments in marriage that feel so overwhelmingly intimate, & pure, deeply rooted, wishful, and romantic. I felt so close to Joey this weekend. I felt indescribably loved by him. And the crazy part about the way my heart feels right now towards Joey, gives me only a tiny glimpse of the way the Lord feels about me. The romance, I felt this weekend, the Words that Joey shared with me at dinner that made my heart skip a beat and joyful tears stream down my face, doesn't even begin to touch the surface of God's romance toward me. How can that be?

It's not the money spent that mattered to me. It's was his thoughtful heart towards me, his humble, and tender words that he spoke, his soft & patient touch that brought me great assurance of his love for me. Thank you My Love for letting the Lord use you to show me a tangible glimpse of His great love for me through the way that you love me.

Thank you My love, for truly one of the best weekends of my life.

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I'm also super grateful for my precious roommate and our wonderful Granny for watching our treasures while we were gone. 

When we arrived home last night Tara had made my absolute favorite dinner. The house was sparkling clean and full of happy children welcoming us home. Our sweet friends Jim and Mo came over and we all ate some delicious brownies that Tara had made for my birthday. T__ You really are one amazing friend. You're full of wisdom and generosity. You are always doing little things to bless me and make my life with my MSC a little bit easier. I am so so grateful for you. Thank you for being my friend. :) And thanks for making my birthday so special. I can't wait till wednesday to see you in you eighties attire and cruising the rink on those roller skates!!!! 

What a wonderful birthday...

Love, Your Little Treasures

I am hijacking Kacy's blog today to post a special message from her kids.

(make sure to mute the music at the bottom of the blog)

It would be so fabulous if everyone could flood her comments with birthday wishes too!

Happy Birthday sweet friend.

Love,Tara

To My Wife For Her Birthday

Hi There, Its Joey. I am so excited to take my wife away for a little mini vacation to celebrate her 30th birthday. I wrote a poem for her to let her know what we were doing and she wanted me to share it on our blog. So, here it is...

To My Hot Babe Wife

A poem for my wife to celebrate her life.

This year shes turning thirty and my, isn’t she purty.

That’s Texan for pretty, and believe it or not, I love her more now than when she was twenty.

For this special day, something specials in store, hopefully it wont be a bore.

Shes an amazing wife, an incredible mother, someone you just wanna smother.

Kisses and hugs I do love to give her, even if sometimes she thinks i’m a bother.

So now shes thinking where is this all goin, she better pack her bags cause we’re off for an island. A boat we might take, and no, its not a cruise, a ferry more like it, heck, there might even be jews. That’s got nothing to do with this trip, but this weekend i’m so excited, I could do some backflips. Its me and my hot babe for one night away to some place enchanted to stay.

So, pack for the beach and bring a sweatshirt, cause those golf carts go fast and I don’t want ya to get hurt.

Don’t worry about the kids, they’re in great hands, with granny, and our cool friends.

We might come back a little sunburned but hopefully refreshed, cause your turning thrirty and deserve some rest.

So, get your bag ready, but not too heavy, cause we might be walkin, just not through a levy.

Its only one night, but hopefully will feel like forever cause I’m bringin out these funky rhymes and doin something clever.

The point of this story is that my wife I do love, so much so that I think we fit together better than OJ’s glove.

With Love from The Papa

The Latest

So the latest around our crazy home is this...

Reesie ate chalk for a snack yesterday. And today, I saw her pick something up and put it in her mouth. When I got to her, she had pulled it out of her mouth and was sporting a disgusted look on her face. "It", turned out to be a snail. (Yes, we feed our kids really well around these here parts!) I just took that snail out of her hands and matter of factly suggested, "honey, we really do have better snack options if you ever get tired of chalk and snails." :).... Lovely... just lovely...

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If I have to say, "please stop holding yourself," or "stop picking your nose," one more time... well golly geee, I just don't know what I'll do! I mean seriously... COME ON!!! Can't we be done with this??

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Hal is way into popcorn these days... she can't seem to say POPcorn to save her life, so it has become lovingly known in our home as HOPcorn because that's what she calls it. I'm sittting outside typing this post while my girls are playing some sort of make-believe game that involves Halee relentlessly offering Reesie some pretend HOPcorn. Got lovet these girls. :)
*********

And the grand finale... since I constantly find myself telling the kids that they CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS THEM, I had to give myself the same piece of advice the other night at our final women's bible study pool party.

Check it out below... And not to ruin the surprise or anything, but after much, much hesitation, I really do jump!

(Oh and remember to turn off the music by scrolling down to the bottom of the blog by pushing pause.... that is, if you wanna hear all the awesome encouragement that the incredible women in my life have for my petrified little soul. :)




So there you have it... the latest news at the Clark house. :)

They Are Growing.... Up

It's 9:45 am and I am sitting on the couch eating left over BBQ chicken and scalloped potatoes for breakfast... I really love leftovers by the way... which is a good thing cuz my man doesn't really care for them that much so all the leftover eating has been left to me :)...

Reesie is asleep up stairs and the other kids are playing in the living room. Tara took Vivy to the doctor this morning so AJ is hanging out with us. For the past hour the kids have been creating their own little world in the living room with all the pillows from the couch.



When we first moved in to "the giant house on the hill" (as Siah calls it), the kids were really struggling to get along. It's not that they disliked each other, it was just an adjustment to be around each other, day in and day out.

But lately I have seen Josiah going out of his way to look out for the smaller kids. AS I am writting this post, he has helped AJ find three different things to play with three different times so that AJ can be a part of what Siah and Hal are doing. Also this morning he has been teaching AJ how to do his "sneeky walk." Siah's sneeky walk is hilareous! (Next time you see him you should ask him to do it for you. It'll make you smile.)

I see leadership qualities in Siah that would be awesome if he knew how to channel them in the right way. He has turned into my little mimic lately. When we are in the parking lot and I am instructing Halee to hold my hand, Josiah follows suit and promptly instructs Halee, "Hal, now hold mama's hand. This is the parking lot and we need to hold hands or you will get bonked by a car and be dead... Now hold my hand and don't let go!" ... Well, then. Thanks for letting Hal know what she needs to do.

...No seriously, I think that it's really good for the kids to spur each other on towards love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24) but I am feeling like there is a fine line between encouraging each other towards good things, and being flat out bossy! At this point in time, Siah's mimicing sounds more like the ranting of a little boy who thinks he's in charge.

SOO... we are growing...

We have many conversations through out our day that go like this...

"Siah, who is Mommy's authority?
"God."
"Who does God say is Siah's authority?"
"Mama & Papa!"
"Ok then. Is it your job to tell Hal what to do?"
"No."
"Ok then. You need to show Mommy that you trust her by letting her tell Hal what she needs to do."
"Yes Mommy."

There is a wonderful side to Siah wanting to tell the other kids what to do. He speaks a lot of truth to them when I'm not standing over him, in the midst of play. Sometimes he informs the little ones that they are "Not being peace makers." or that "They need to choose kindness..."in whatever the situation might be at that moment.

I am enthralled with them growing. They are growing into these amazing little people. And every moment that I m spending with them I feel like I am growing to... Growing into being the type of Chirst-follower that I never fathomed I could be.

Well that' it for today...

Blessing upon blessing...

How Some People Play Duck, Duck , GOOSE!

Today at the park my sweet, treasure of a friend, Milly, decided to teach the little ones how to play duck, duck, goose. She gave very simple, yet specific instructions and asked the kids if they understood...



Josiah was up first... duck...duck...duck...

GOOSE!!!!! ..... Wait.... what happened? Why is EVERYBODY running? Let's try this again.


Halee's up.... duck....duck....duck....


GOOSE!!!! Whoops... Remember? Just one person is supposed to run... Oh, well. :)


On a different note... Isn't she B_E_A_U_T_I_F_U_L????


They're getting ready for cupcakes here. It's not really a super great picture, but when I saw it I was just so amazed at how old they each look to me. Halee's hair always makes her look older to me than she really is.



And Josiah... He REALLY does not care for having his picture taken these days... So when I get one of him genuinely smiling I soak it up...



He's kinda really handsome, huh? Just like his Papa...
In other news... Today the Lord showed me His glory again!!!!!! Not only was the morning extra lovely at the park with several amazing, godly friends... BUT... this afternoon I went to the store to get a few last minute things for our final women's study, potluck party tonight. AS I was checking out a friend that is also going to the potluck was there and she totally paid for my groceries for me! It reaaaaaaaallllly blessed me and each day since I started asking God to show me his glory, He has been MORE than faithful to do so!

Blessing upon blessing!!!

Reese With(her)spoon

I know that I have been lagging on pictures of the kids lately so today's the day for a glimse of one of our cuties....

Reesie... what a super confident baby... there have been several days lately that I have found her outside, holding her own, while the older kids play all around her. She wants so badly to keep up... and she doesn't let the fact that she can't yet walk stop her from joining in on the fun!


Reese With(her)spoon... :)... get it? :) I'm so creative,and witty, I know. :)


Gotta love this face...


So here's the scoop on Reesie's hair. It hardly grows on the top and she has a full-on mullet in the back! If you know me well, then you know how I feel about mullets.... NO THANK YOU!!! But against every desire in my body, I am going to leave it well enough alone and hope that in 6 months or so her whole hair situation will work itself out!


The good news is that her hair is now long enough to put in a little "fountain" on the top of her head! And y'all know how much I love coming up with fun do's for my girls!! So fun!!!


We went to the park today to celebrate our precious friend Kelsi's birthday. Here's Reesie checkin out the older kids playing on the playground. Less than 60 seconds after I took this photo she found herself a spot right in the middle of all the older kids. She sure seems to love people. :)

Well, I have some pics of the older two, to... I'll try and post them later today if I have time...
Peace out for now. :)