White Rock again...

Sheesh... I'm getting old!!!!!

dancing king...

here's coop on the front page of the abilene reporter news insert. The headline says Tiny Dancer and the caption says: Cooper Pruitt,2, dance to Candi Davidson's tune as she plays for him. They were joined by other members of the Revolution during the Optimist Club's 53rd annual youth appreciation reception at the Abilene Civic Center Nov. 12. And then it says some other stuff about Candi and Revolution. Revolution is a mostly violin or fiddle group (some guitar and occasional base and chelo) that really was great. it was at an optimist awards banquet in abilene and we had 3 youth group kids receiving "outstanding youth of our city" awards. it was great!
as soon as they started playing, coop was up and out of his seat dancing.
cindy is convinced that he's got special musical talent. i keep asking her "why? 'cause he can shake his bootie?" he does that a lot! we love dance parties in our living room. i hope i'm still saying that in 7 years! (with a 16 & 14 yr old!)

it's the most wonderful time of the year...

christmas changed the world. a gift of life was given. let's change the world. i hope you join us.

interesting... and true...?

inks lake state park

chillin' with dada.

Different sky, same minute...

The sky turns...

Turning just a little bit, you can see a different sky just south of us.

5 hours and a world away...

The sunsets out here are awesome... The lack of humidity is
incredible!!! Even after the rain today!

Chillin'

The youth group stayed late up at church to watch a movie tonight
after VBS (or SBA as SoHo calls it). It would have been fun to watch
with them, really fun.
I guess you could say I got a better offer...

what kind of minister is this kid's dad?

on our way to longview... aubrey drew a picture of easter.

in her defense, she said that the bunny is standing in front of the
crosses, and not hanging on it... yeah right. i guess we should
tighten up our theology around our house... yikes!

home coming... ?

the girls nappin' it up on the way to longview...
peace, perfect peace!

posters' progress

the girls finished up their posters on saturday and then made more crafts on sunday afternoon. it's like they get started and then they find anything and everything and pull it out, draw on it, cut it, glue it, string it together... you know... and they favorite part is "clean up"!
coop ran up to to posters and barked at the puppy. then tried to grab the ball and said "uh bah" that means "the ball".

so... speaking of crafts... this is what i like to make! 2 for cindy and 1 for me. or something like that.

as far as work goes... it's been fun getting to know this new group of teens. they are a super busy group, but we some how managed to get a group together and have a scavenger hunt between 5 teams 2 saturday nights ago. it was really fun. here's a pic of something i never thought i'd do... squeeze in with 9 other people into a vw bug! we were able to shut the back hatch too!
another aspect of work is meetings and getting used to new co-workers. and them to me... yikes. anyways... here's one of my coworkers feet that were next to my chair yesterday at our staff meeting. her toes were like that the entire meeting. not stretching or moving them. that's the way they naturally were "sitting" there.
i just thought that picture would be interesting... you know... instead of the normal parts of my job that i could tell you about... like parents meetings, teaching, interns, planning, planning, getting to know youth workers, all that is good and the regular stuff.
oh, did i say "her feet"... i meant "his feet".

being in abilene has freshened me up in many ways. made me realize how old i am in other ways.
here's a song that's been working on my heart in the past couple of weeks... in the midst of me going through culture shock. some days have been really tough and cindy and i have really struggled and had to just have faith that we did follow God's leading. when we do that, we feel and see more clearly... but anyways, here's the song... and it's playing on our blog's playlist:

Today I found myself
After searching all these years
And the man that I saw, he wasn't at all who I thought he'd be
I was lost when you found me here
And I was broken beyond repair
Then you came along and you sang your song over me

It feels like I'm born again
It feels like I'm living
For the very first time
For the very first time
In my life

Make a promise to me now
Reassure my heart somehow
That the love that I feel is so much more real than anything
I've a feeling in my soul
And I pray that I'm not wrong
That the life I have now, it is only the beginning

It feels like I'm born again
It feels like I'm living
For the very first time
For the very first time
It feels like I'm breathing
It feels like I'm moving
For the very first time
For the very first time

I wasn't looking for something that was more
Than what I had yesterday
Then you came to me and you gave to me
Life and a love that I've never known
That I've never felt before

It feels like I'm born again
It feels like I'm living
For the very first time
I'm living for the first time
It feels like I'm breathing
It feels like I'm moving
For the very first time
I'm living for the first time
In my life

fun days...

the past couple of days... the girls like to play basketball with daddy after he gets home. cooper runs around like a wild man... he loves the out doors! all three love to go bare footed. coop also likes to lick cool concrete... hmmm... he's a third child, dirt won't hurt. we've learned that by now!


so... it's been bath time everyday lately, too...
we had a fun wrestle mania match this morning with everybody in it. of course it's always everybody against daddy! but i just throw cooper on the others to keep them busy, try to steal kisses from mama and the girls attack me, trick me, and laugh. yes, a lot of laugher. that's the basic script. my favorite weapons are: biting, sucking on eyes, popping toes, blowing in noses, fish hooks... and other secret weapons.

today coop and daddy mowed the "lawn"... ok, over grown weeds.
it's so dusty!!!!!!!! especially when heading heading east! there is a west wind that blows it back on top of you... you just get covered!
this morning, coop played with two of his best buddies on the floor... mommy and talking and dancing elmo!!!! coop loves to dance anytime he hears music. i guess going to the toddler praise class with mommy at church where they dance and listen to music may have an influence on him!



he also likes to push the buttons that make him talk, sing, tell stories, sneeze, and - of course - dance.

the girls got creative and made posters for their rooms. aubrey already made hers, so she made one for cooper and lolo made hers.



and daddy's favorite part: mama making lasagna!!!!!! the best.

updating the blog!

Back online...

welcome to west texas... yes, we miss the trees, the rain, and some variations in the elevation... but longview doesn't have this scenery every morning looking out the front door...

it's a daunting task to put the first post up after a while. especially if you just can't find the time... and you've become more friendly with the fb world (so much easier!). but here it is and these are some excerpts of a letter to our youth group here as cindy and i and our 3 monkeys and this church continue on our adjustment to each other.

The past few months have been filled with different experiences for me and my family. For the first time in 10 years, and in our lives as a family, we are in a different city, different church, different school, and different house. Not to mention different job, different families and teens, different neighborhood, different stores, different friends, different mechanic, different doctors, and at the top of the list – don’t forget - different Mexican food restaurants! There’s a lot of things that are different, and honestly, different doesn’t always feel good. There were some good things that used to be a part of our lives that are no longer a part of our lives… and we’re faced with the reality that things are different now.

What if instead of the word “DIFFERENT” we substituted it with the word “NEW”. What would that do to change our perspective? Think about it. My attitude gets pretty down about “all the differents” we face in our life. But what if I look at it as a “new city, a new church, …” you get the idea. It gives my mind and heart room to think of great possibilities.

When I was 12 years old, my favorite bike of all times was stolen from outside our house. I was so sad, mad, disappointed, and – don’t forget - left with out a bike! You’ve got to understand that everyday after school I rode my bike and played soccer with my best friend and his brother. I was devastated. After a few weeks, my Dad took me to look for a new bike. I couldn’t find one just like the grey one I had – and yes, my old one had a banana seat. The best one we could find was a kind of green/gold color and the seat wasn’t as good as the last one. It was different. It didn’t feel the same. I had lots of reasons I didn’t like it as much as my previous bike, but I guess at some point I just got on the bike and decided to start riding it. Everyday. I made some great memories on that bike just riding with my friends. Yes, it was “different”… but it was also “new”.

As I think of all this, I know that this ministry in Abilene is going to be “different” for me. I know that the yearly SHYG routines and summer schedules will be “different” for teens and their families. But what if we decide to use the word “NEW” instead of “DIFFERENT”. What if we give our mind and heart room to think of great and new possibilities? I think it’s worth a try, and trust me… there’s a lot of things we’re going to call “new” around here.

so... here's to a better attitude, and a renewed effort at beating "culture shock".

don't know why it's hyper texting... but the picture above is one of the "trees" in our back yard.
here are the girls playing on the air mattress after amy and grandmommy and grandaddy spent the weekend, while cindy and i were at winterfest with the youth group.
checking the mail in our soon to be populated street (apple blossom road!)
lolo... doing what lolo does...

the girls have done well here for the most part. school is going well and they really are each other's best friend... even if they argue 1/2 the time. it's fun to watch when they are friends... which is a lot lately. they miss their friends and just haven't found that "buddy" yet...

wearing coats and getting bundled up has been a new routine too... the wind is just ... arghhhhh!!!!!!coop getting bundled up for the "tundra" that we moved to.here's coop and me after a morning jog. coop at home warm... me in the WIND. wow. so far, i'll take the wind to the humidity in east texas... but that doesn't make it any more fun.cindy and coop getting ready to head out on the town! with cindy being able to stay home... well, with us making the choice for her to stay home this semester and the summer, she's gotten to get that first year to year and 1 & 1/2 home with our baby. she's gotten to do that will all the kids while they were really young. it's so cool. they become best buddies, and it's draining on cindy sometimes (because that buger is a little time demanding) but we both see such a great benefit to her bringing stability to our home routine... and to coopie while he's still so "little"...

this was duct taped to a minivan at the bank cindy and i had chosen to get our morgage and do our banking at. nice. i think i'll fit in here...

aubrey using my pearl snap shirt in a... creative way...

our routine has been blown out of the water and this is what we've seen more than once as we roll in late from someone's house, going out to eat (when we can ... it's hard with 2 morgages!), coming in from longview... you name it.

we have a great little route that we can walk around and get some exercise... or jog. it's 1 and 1/2 miles... coops didn't make it completely through this round!

grandaddy came to town and brought us our table that we bought in longview. we can put two leafs in it and it sits 10 people easy! awesome! we love it! now, ya'll come see us!

my senorita at a local restaurant called "los arcos". cindy and her roommates found it in college and its still there on ambler. we like it... just don't eat the fajitas - no bueno!

no place like... home?

we got in last night around 11:45 and hit the bed by 1:30.
should be an interesting day unloading and trying to settle in to
apple blossom.
we're supposed to get some help today ... and we need it!
here we go...