Changes Coming...

Hello!

I titled this "changes coming" for many reasons. First of all, changes are coming with the weather (well, we are hoping). It's the middle of September, so cooler weather must get here at some point! I cannot wait for it!

Also, changes are coming with work. Ivan and I have noticed some changes with Lucas. We put him in school longer this month, and usually by 6:00pm he's at my feet in the kitchen crying! He just wants to spend time with his mommie instead of me rushing around from here to here to here, never having a second to spend time with those most important! So I've taken steps to transfer my work to someone else at my firm. My first reaction is "oh my gosh this is scary" but God has confirmed this on MULTIPLE occasions this week that this is the right move. I don't know how it will work, but I do know that if we walk in HIS ways, he will make our paths straight, He will provide, HE will supply all of our needs. Needs, that's really something to think about. What are our "NEEDS" here in America? Many more needs than in other countries, that's for sure! Oh, well, something to ponder.

Labor Day weekend was a blast. I got Ivan surprise tickets to the UT vs. Rice Game. They played at Reliant Stadium so I know this was one of the only times my sweetie would get to see his favorite team in Houston. Belita (a.k.a. Ivan's mom) was in town for the long weekenda and was only too happy to watch Lucas while we went to the game. We don't get out much just the two of us so we took several pictures of ourselves! We were SO excited! GO HORNS!!!

I got us awesome seats if I do say so myself!

Activities at the Madrigal house have been busier than usual. We enrolled Lucas in Soccer Tots and his 2nd class was this past Saturday. He was crying most of the time, now I know why; he was sick with a cold (because now Ivan and I both have it!) but after a while he got out there and started running around. We also decided to switch gyms and are now members at Lifetime Fitness. We went over to the pool for a little while before the storm clouds showed up.

Now, for Lucas news. He's now saying almost complete sentences, "mommy I want to eat now", or "I would like to go to the park". It's AMAZING to me to hear him talking like this after almost 2.5 years of life! You know that they will eventually talk like we do, but to start hearing it is really something else. We transitioned to a big boy bed several weeks ago, and he's doing great. We simply have a twin mattress on the floor so there's no chance of falling, then eventually we'll get him a bed frame.

Here is a recent picture of him. He's just growing up before our eyes (we are getting a haircut this weekend!)

He continues to love playing with Thomas the Train. I purchased for him "the crossing" that dings when you open and close the arms. He also has a new battery powered "Percy" that now pulls all of the other engines on the tracks! We all love Thomas! It's a favorite at our house.

Ivan and I start our bible study for the high school youth tomorrow. He's teaching the first lesson, and I'll teach the 2nd, and we'll hand off weekly. We're going to be studying the book of Genesis and include a lot of information we learned from our studies from the Reasons to Believe ministries. It's going to be a humbling experience and I cannot wait to dive in with these kids.

Have a wonderful weekend and we'll update again soon!

Getting Settled In?

Hello everyone!


We had another great week here at the Madrigal house. We were so excited to have our first house guests, the LeGrand clan, over on Saturday! We had also invited the Ripkowski's over, but little Abigail started running a fever so we've scheduled with them for another time. In my fashion, I didn't get a chance to flash any photos of the day, but it was great! We had Lucas, Lindsey, Meagan and little Blake all here with their mom and dad! Needless to say it was QUITE a trip for them, all the way from Sugarland! We THANK them for coming all the way up here.

Ivan and I have decided to take on the responsibility of being bible study teachers at our church for the middle school and high school youth. I am very excited about it, but a bit nervous. My first thought is, "where in the world where I find the time to do this?" but it's something I've wanted to do now for a while, and this is a great outlet for my teaching skills and Ivan's skills in relating to teens and their specific needs. Please pray for us for guidance! We will be starting in a month.

Monday and Tuesday found me feeling a bit under the weather, just a headache and a very sore throat! So, I've been missing my YMCA workouts. I am hoping to be feeling better by this weekend. I love going to the gym and miss it when I'm not there. It's like my stress just builds up and has no place to go! :(

Tuesday after school Lucas and I headed for our weekly trip to Starbucks (by the way, Lucas is now 27 months old). The extra treat was that we also went to the new Imaginations Toys and Shoes store, where they had this amazing Thomas the Train display! Lucas saw it with wide eyes. Mom shopped around while Lucas played with all of the trains. We had a BLAST. Here are some pictures from our big day out:


Enjoying our milk and protein plate (the only thing we get there...occasionally we'll splurge for the butter cookies). Mom is so strict, I know...but it's for his own health. :)

Lucas a few minutes after "discovering" the Thomas the Train play table. He was in heaven! I think the store had every single train made! You can imagine he did not want to leave.

This one last picture as we sign off. I just took this of him. He's here with me in my office as I am typing this post. In the time it's taken me to write this, he's got out my garage sale stickers and stuck them all over himself, got my wallet out and took out all cards and spread them out EVERYWHERE, then found a permanent marker but I caught it before...Oh, the joys of motherhood! :)

So, Tomorrow we are off to a fun event we're going to try out called "SoccerTots". I'm going to see how he likes it! Then Friday we've got a playdate setup with our friends Caitlyn and Nichole. Hopefully I can remember to take pictures this time!

Bye everyone!

Houston Madrigals are Back!

Hi Everyone! We are back! We needed to remove our blog back in 2008, and now are getting back "online" to share the latest happenings of the Houston Madrigals!

The theme of the past month or so has been NEW, NEW, NEW! We put our home on the market in June, and in 9 days got a contract! Praise God! We closed on July 30th and now live in a different area of Houston, in the Northwest area closer to our old home of Austin.

NEW house, NEW places to shop and eat, and NEW school for Lucas! Here's a picture of him on his 2nd day at school. I think he feels pretty comfortable here, what do you think? He'd been completely racked out for almost 2 hours when I arrived and snapped this sweet picture:



Yesterday, as we were driving home from school. He's purposefully looking away from the camera; he's NEVER liked to have his picture taken! He's like Ivan that way; they can't stand for the picture-taking process to get over with!



Last one, this morning in his new Thomas the Train PJs we got yesterday. He's also got these GREAT new slippers from L.L. Bean. We had to order them for wearing at school, but he likes them and they keep his feet warm so I'm going to get him a pair for the house, too. He wanted to wear his PJs to school, but sorry, buddy, we gotta wear real clothes.






So, I'm slowly unpacking boxes each day. The process is VERY SLOW. I work from home several hours each day, so in addition to all of the normal mommie and wife duties we have, I hear the boxes constantly calling my name! :) Ivan and I cannot believe the stuff we have accumulated! We moved from Austin in 2005 with hardly anything. Add 5 years and 1 child and I think we have 3 times the amount of stuff! We are planning our yard sale for September so get ready to come and get your bargains!

We love being out here close to the country. For the first time, I have a yard I can work in, and though I haven't got much time to get out there yet, I have planted a few things and feel such pride at watching things grow and change. There are many new responsibilites to having a home vs. a townhome without a yard, but this is much more "me". Lucas enjoys being outside and pushing his big trucks around!

Lucas is talking a mile a minute now. He can ask entire questions, which I think is very impressive at his age. I can ask him questions, too, and he understands them completely and can answer. Some examples: "Mommie I watch Thomas", "Go school to playground?" "I want to go to church." "I want to go to the store", "Daddy is coming home work", "Mommie go to the pool", "Upstairs take a bath." Not only can he say these things but his words are becoming clearer so anyone could understand him!

Now that we have moved, and his school is MUCH closer to our new house, Lucas has a shorter school day so he can spend more time with mommie. I pick him up at 2:30 each day and we have fun in the afternoons. Right now it's tough because it's way too hot to be outside, but we go to the YMCA child care center (so mommie can workout!), to the YMCA pool, run errands, buy groceries, play inside, help mommie unpack boxes (which is translated as Lucas pulling everything out that I've already put away!) and helping mom with dinner. He really is a great helper for 2 years. I'm so happy about our decision to place him in a Montessori school. He's very independent, can do most things on his own, including putting on his pants and shirt. He's such a busy-body that it's best to give him small tasks to accomplish, like throw something away, pour rice into a pot for cooking or putting his utensils into the sink when he's done eating.

I'm enjoying spending more time with him and being out of the busyness of Houston.