Johnny & Chachi

For more Johnny & Chachi videos go to Echo Conference's youtube channel.

Lake Day!

It's been an incredibly fun, yet exhausting day. We went down to Sarah's parents' lakehouse today. Unfortunately, we had to leave Rob at home because he was sick. But we still had a great time. There were fifteen kiddos, ages 5 and under. It was crazy, wild, and amazingly fun. The kids all got along great. Below are some pictures from our day.

The slide:


Cobb, Abby, & Charly hanging at the top of the slide

Here's Prince Ridge kissing his "sleeping princess" sister

Charly and mommy

Charly & her cousin Rhody


The Lake:

Cobb loved the slide and the wave runner. He rode the wave runner with Christman twice, and with me about 5 or 6 times. He ran hard all day, and unfortunately got a little burned on his cheeks & arms. YIKES! First sunburn!

Ridge loved the lake too. And it was shallow enough for him to stand up and play "ring around the rosy" with the girls.

He also rode the waverunner with mommy twice! He laughed the whole time shouting "Go, Go, Go!"


The ride home was not as quiet as I thought, and we had a few unexpected bathroom stops, one being on the side of the road (but I was so proud of Charly for telling me). I was surprised that my kids were not wiped out completely. They played hard all day! Unfortunatley, when we got home, I had to convince them they were tired and to "pretend" to lay in bed and fall asleep. They apparently found some second (or third or fourth) wind that I did not find.

Thanks again to B & Pop, Fifers, & Bowlins for having us!

Charly sings the Beatles

Charly remembers words and tunes very fast. I decided to teach her some of Pop's favorite songs. One of them is "Hey Jude." So without further adieu, I now present Charly singing "Hey Jude."

Johnny & Chachi at ECHO

Braun and I got to perform at Echo this year and we did an 80s Medley. The best part about it was that it was full band! The Porch band guys were awesome... plus, you get a little Blair in the mix.


Johnny & Chachi LIVE @ Echo 2008 from Echo Conference on Vimeo.

More Procrastination with Rob

Okay, so I saw Haley's old pictures so I figured I needed to do it as well.

A Little Procrastination

Well, I saw Yearbook Yourself on my friend Lindsay's blog, and I thought it was so funny. So of course I HAD to try it. Anyway, here are a few of my results.
1952

1960

1974

1980

1990 (I don't think my real yearbook picture looks much different than this!) hmmm. . .

1st Soccer Practice

Cobb had his first soccer practice, and Rob had his first practice as Coach. They both seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Rob is coaching with our neighbor Bob (see below)

Charly found a friend. 3-year-old Bella is the little sister of another player.

Ridge kept saying, "Cobb, Daddy. Cobb, Daddy." He was finally appeased with the team snacks.

And Charly didn't hesitate to join in.

Party Day

Today was a day of birthday parties and lots of fun. We had our neighbor's Star Wars party at 10 this morning. Cobb had a great time in the bounce house. Then later I took Cobb to his friend Ty's party at Amazing Jake's in Collin Creek Mall. Meanwhile, Rob, Charly & Ridge headed down to Missy's house for Bo's 2nd birthday party.

Amazing Jake's is such fun place for kids. The party started at 3, but Cobb and I were there until 7:30 p.m. He was SO sad to leave(somehow 4 1/2 hours was not enough). Because we were part of a birthday party, we had unlimited use of the rides. My energizer bunny took full advantage!

Cobb and his friend Conner hung out during the party hours running from ride to ride (bumper cars, miniture golf, rock climbing, air hockey, bowling, etc.)

After a failed attempt to conquer the rock climbing wall when hanging with Conner, Cobb wanted to try again and "do the one Conner did." This time he made it, and he climbed all the way to the top 4 times in a row!

Climbing the one Conner did.

Ringing the bell at the very top!

Satisfied with his accomplishment, but wanting to go "just one more time??" (I had to call it quits for him after 4 times. . .poor thing was going to wear himself out! That climbing wall is 25 ft tall.)

Bumper cars with Ty. Cobb not only enjoyed the bumping, but also spinning continuously.

Undoing of the Done

My sweet husband made the bed this morning. Our boys had undone his hard work by 8:15 a.m. They had a great time though, and that's truly what matters.

Our kids LIVE at ECHO

Here are our precious little kids on stage at the ECHO conference. Charly was the most excited about getting on stage, but then got shy. Cobb was great with it, but, as Pops pointed out, he realized he had a 'frog' in his throat when he shouted ECHO (see his reaction cough). Ridge was fearless and Haley didn't cooperate with my request.

The ECHO Teaser starring Cobb

ECHO Conference Teaser Video from barton Damer on Vimeo.

Borders is OPEN

The kids and I went to the new Borders in Watters Creek right by our house today. We're so excited that it's open!

Ridge mostly ran around laughing with a boy named Hudson.

Charly read princess books (I know we are all surprised). Her friend Addi and my friend April are in the background.

Cobb chased Ridge for a little while then settled down with a book.

Each came away with a new book. Fun times!


FYI: I had my colonoscopy & upper endoscopy yesterday. They are doing some biopsies (sp?) due to signs of infection, but I won't know anything for a couple of weeks. I am still feeling great!

The TV/Wii Jar

Cobb is the kind of boy who would watch TV or play Wii all day long if I let him. So earlier this summer, we had to create a TV/Wii Jar. This way he and I can have a visual of how much TV/Wii has been watched/played each day. He gets 3 tokens a day with the possibility of bonus times. Here's a staged picture of him with his empty jar today.

But even though the jar is empty. He still tries his best to convince me.

Cobb(with sly smile): Mommy, my head hurts. It hurts so badly, and it is telling me that I NEED to watch a movie.

Mean Mom: Cobb, I'm so sorry your head hurts, but the answer was "no" five minutes ago. And it is still "no."

I half expected Cobb to say, "So you are saying there's a chance!" But he didn't. He just asked again 5 minutes later in another creative way.

Precious relationships

There are several relationships that I look at and think they are priceless. One of these is Charly and her daddy. She loves him so much, and when he walks in the door her grin expands from ear to ear. I pray that she will continue to look at her daddy as a hero, a protector, a joy to be around, a person of great value, and someone who loves her unconditionally. And I pray that she will be able to see that her heavenly Father loves her the same way, but even better (if that can even be imagined). What a sweet thing to see her run into her daddy's arms, and for her to call out to him when she needs him.


And the other relationship I'm thinking about tonight is Cobb and Abby. They've been friends since birth(15 days apart), took their first outing together, and grew up to be fast friends of 5 years. They are both about to enter into new and different worlds. Abby will start Kn in Lake Highlands in one week (I can't believe it!), and Cobb will start a transitional Kn program in Allen, playing soccer, and making new friends. I believe this bond they have will continue even though their little lives will not cross paths near as much as before. It is such a sweet bond of friendship that we as parents are so grateful for.

Mulan

The last day of ECHO was incredible. Kendall Payne opened the morning with a mini-concert. I love her songs. Check her website out if you get a chance. Brad Abare and Mark Steele both had keynote addresses. I didn't get to hear Brad's talk, but was able to listen in on Mark's. It was amazing. He wrote a book I recently read called "Half Life Die Already." If you've got a chance to read it, I recommend it.

After ECHO, Rob and I crashed at home Saturday night. It was great to be home, see the kids, and chill. We had movie night where we lay out blankets and pillows on the floor, cuddle up with the kids, and watch a movie. Our pick Saturday night was "Mulan."

The fact that we chose that particular movie made me smile. Why? Well, Rob and I actually have an inside joke that involves "Mulan." You see, I'm a procrastinator, and when Rob and I were hanging out early in our relationship, I was in graduate school. The evening before a huge test, Rob stopped by to say hello. So instead of helping me study or us going to do something fun, we decided to watch Mulan of all things. So today when either of us want to forget things we are supposed to do, we usually say we are "Mulaning it." And Saturday night it was so nice to just turn our brains off while we watched the movie with our kids.

ECHO continued

Today was great. I'm really enjoying the speakers and meeting all of the people I have heard Rob talk about or refer to. I started my morning by driving home to help mom and dad get the kids ready for their big performance. They paraded across the stage this morning and all said "ECHO" into the mic. They were so stinkin' cute, and I was so proud. Charly almost chickened out, but when she saw her younger brother say "echo," she got the nerve to follow through. Wish I had a picture of them on stage, but this one was taken backstage afterward their big performance :)

Todd Wagner, senior pastor of Watermark was the first speaker. He did a great job. I didn't get to hear the whole thing, but hope to listen to the recording. Four of the his kids helped us in the info booth today (Alli is not pictured).

Rob sat in on the Worship House podcast #53 at lunch.


Matthew Paul Turner was 2nd keynote speaker. He's written several books, and I'm excited to read his newest one called "Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite A Holy Mess ."


Johnny & Chachi opened for Mattew with their dance.



Here's Jeff and Stacey Parker with us at the conference. This has been so very cool to see the conference come to life; an incredible journey watching RT productions expand from just Igniter Media to include Worship House Media, Collide, and now Echo. We love that we have gotten to experience that growth with the Parkers. We are now neighbors, and our youngest son is the same age as their first. I look forward to what God has in store for the future.