Drama Drama Drama...

The past few weeks have been busy for the girl. She has been involved in a two week long drama camp. We enrolled her in this camp to help build her public speaking skills and also just for something fun to do. She loved this drama camp and surprised us with her lack of shyness. She wasn't scared at all about performing and seemed to enjoy being in the spotlight.

The drama camp worked with the kids on lots of different theater skills. Many are things that I am unfamiliar with, but if you ask Mary Alice, she will quickly describe the different dance steps and her newly learned theater lingo. She now says things like "monologue" and "hold for applause". What a silly girl she is!

At her performance on Saturday she did a monologue. She was Little Miss Muffett. We got it on video. She was pretty sweet, but I might be just a little biased. She sang a solo and did a few smooth dance moves. :) She especially liked the singing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" and "Follow the Yellow Brick Road". I am so glad that she was able to have fun with her little theater buddies and so proud of how friendly she is becoming. This is definitely an answer to many prayers.


Off the subject, but definitely noteworthy: Something funny the girl said last week...

A conversation I had with her while snuggling before bedtime:

Me: "Mary Alice, you are so beautiful. Did you know that?"

(smile and giggle from Mary Alice)

Me: "I'm serious! You are SUCH a pretty girl! Don't you ever just look in the mirror sometimes and say 'I am SO beautiful!' "

Mary Alice shaking her head: "Well, I THINK it, but I don't SAY it out loud. That would be being proud."

I was just trying to point out how pretty I thought she was. I didn't know I was encouraging pride at such an early age! :)

I am looking forward to a peaceful week at home. All of this going and blowing has the kids in a funk. Drama camp is fun for a little while, but we like our home not to be full of drama most of the time. I am hoping that any drama around our home will be limited to the setting of a peaceful home, characters that are calm and obedient, minimal conflict, with maybe a little comic relief here and there.

Baby Clay

Well, I just returned from a trip to Huntsville to visit my good friend, Brook and her new baby, Clay. It was so good to spend some time with such a dear friend, though I wish the circumstances had been different. Clay is doing better than most babies that were born so early. He is breathing on his own (a BIG deal) and hasn't had any of the scary problems that lots of preemies can have. His heart rate, temperature, and breathing are constantly monitored and look good. Also, he is taking breastmilk through a tube placed in his nose. This is also a BIG deal because many babies aren't able to take their mother's milk this early. Another huge blessing is that the hospital where Clay is staying in The Woodlands supposedly has a really good NICU. After being there for a few days, I can say that the nurses there are so sweet and helpful and kind to Brook. I am so glad that these people can help to encourage her and that she has such knowledgeable people caring for her baby.

I know that this is a time of worry and uncertainty for Brook and her husband, Kyle. They credit how well Clay is doing to prayer. The nurses used the phrase "one in a million" to describe Clay's progress. They said that he looks "strong". He looks so fragile to me. His tiny head is about the size of an orange. His feet are about the size of my thumb. His diaper is about the size of my fist and they have to fold it over to make it fit.

Please continue to pray for Clay, his parents and his big sister Kendall. Kendall hasn't been away from her mom often, so all of this craziness is rocking her world a little bit too. Some church people are pitching in when Brook's mom leaves to help care for Kendall during the day.

I tried to take some pictures of Clay. Clay is kept in a dimly lit room with very little light. Flash photography can be irritating to preemies this little. I am an ameteur at working without light(as you can plainly see), so the pictures came out a little bit fuzzy. Josh told me I used the wrong lens. UGH! I might have to make another trip down there pretty soon to see those guys again. Please pray for by best friend Brook. She is having to deal with so much stress. Nearly every day they tell her some test that they are doing to make sure that Clay doesn't have some serious health problem. Thus far, he has passed each and every test with no problems. Please keep praying.

The Next Cindy?

An uneventful evening...
My sister was trying to figure out her lights. Guess who got to be her model? I have decided that modeling is my hidden talent. But, what do I know? I'll let my blog readers be the judges.

Prayer Request

I would like anyone who reads this to please say a prayer for the baby of one of my closest friends, Brook. Yesterday morning she gave birth to her little boy, Clay. He was born several weeks premature and is a mere 2 lbs 5 ounces. He is doing okay, but the next few weeks are critical. Please pray for Brook, her husband Kyle, their other daughter Kendall, and sweet baby Clay. Clay is in a hospital in Huntsville. Brook said that this particular hospital has a great NICU, so that is a blessing. I know that the next few weeks and months will be hard on their family. She would really appreciate any prayers for her precious baby boy.

Fireworks and Milkshakes

I am not a master of HTML codes and have much to learn about picture posting. (Please excuse the offcenter pictures.) I thought I'd go ahead and post some pictures of my precious buddies anyway. On the Fourth of July, my sister took us to the Botanical Gardens to take some family pictures. It started to rain about 5 minutes after we arrived, so she was only able to get a few quick shots. I thought she did a pretty good job working with a five to ten minute time frame and a sleepy two year old. We're going to try again in a few days so that we can have more variety.

When it started raining, we left the Gardens and headed over to The Purple Cow for some hamburgers and milkshakes. Josh and I celebrated the fourth at a Rangers game with Chad and Miranda (Josh's sister and her husband). It rained for quite a while that night. Thankfully, we were seated just out of the rain. The people in front of us got soaked while we stayed dry. The guys watched the game while Miranda and I talked and people watched. (In my opinion, that is the best reason to attend any sports event anyway.) All in all, it was a very fun way to spend our fourth of July. The kiddoes went to their grandparents. I wish I could have seen them. Apparently, they clapped and jumped up and down after each and every firework.

On the eighth, our little town had a celebration of sorts that was really quite good! I was expecting something lame, but was pleasantly surprised. They had a pretty impressive carnival and fireworks show out at a local park. I bought the girl some cotton candy. We sat out on a blanket and watched some pretty neat fireworks. The only thing that would have made it better is if Josh and Major had been there. It was on a Saturday night and would've kept Major out too late, so Josh stayed home with him. Maybe next year...

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with some old friends from Dallas. I can't wait!