Let's Wrap This Up!

2012 was a whirlwind year for our family. I haven't posted since July, so I should catch everyone up since I know everyone is waiting on pins and needles to hear what happens next for the Toups' family.


I will start where I left off. We are back down to being a two cat family which is fine by me. We found stray momma cat, Crystal, a new home. She was not working out. A very set in her ways 10 year old cat and a hissy and moody 2 year old cat was not working for me. The other two kittens in the litter found homes as well.


Late July also brought with it a change in jobs for Danny. He was hired on by Tri-Mac Transportation to haul chemicals across the U.S. He hauls it all so I usually do not ask because sometimes it is better not knowing the liquid until after the load is complete. His pay almost immediately doubled which has been a huge blessing as we are still on the Dave Ramsey track to be debt free.


For those of you paying attention, our goal was December of this year. We are closer but had a few minor setbacks. Come to find out dental work is NOT cheap so we halted our debt snowball to pay for the fixing of two mouths in the family. We will be debt free this year, Lord willing!


Life has been pretty routine with Danny on the road for about 8-10 days at a time. In late October he was asked to run a dedicated route to Blackie, Alberta Canada. Five days up and 4-5 days back with a couple days R&R then repeat. The girls and I are in a strong routine which makes life a bit simpler (ha!).


Summer consisted of day camp, a couple of trips to the beach, lots of splash pads around the city, and lots of time at our neighborhood pool. No out of town trips just yet.


Meagan started Kindergarten in September and this momma almost lost it dropping her off on the first day. Well....I actually did lose it but I was hidden well with all the other Kindergarten parents losing it as well. It has been amazing to see the maturity in Meagan once real school started for her. She still has her moments but I actually see a little lady blossoming.


Emily started back at her preschool four days a week. She is our little spit fire. There is not a week that goes by that a stranger does not say to me (with a giggle), "you have your hands full don't you!". Emily is a black and white kind of girl. She questions everything, hugs everybody, will talk to strangers all day, loves to have tasks and complete them, and throw the best Emmy nominated fit/tantrum out of the blue. We do have our hands full but she is a complete blessing.


The Fall brought just a bunch of busy to our family. Work at Chick-Fil-A ramped up for me, the girls were involved with swimming every week, more birthday parties than I can count, and reading homework every night for our budding schooler. Working full time with two little ones and a husband on the road is NOT easy but somehow it happens.


The holidays got here way to fast and I was not prepared. I look at the Chrismtas season through two lenses. My Chick-fil-A lens - with a check list including decorating two stores, hosting Santa at two stores on separate nights, and visiting all 75 fantastic schools in our trade area who love our nugget meals for school parties and all want them on the same day. My family lens this year seemed blurry. I packed way too much into the month of December wanting to make sure my kids had great memories.

First, I volunteered to chair the Winter Wonderland event at Meagan's school complete with dinner, Santa pictures, a bounce house, cookie decorating, and crafts. It was not hard to coordinate and delegate but it was too much when combined with work and home life. The event was a huge success! Second was Christmas shopping! I didn't step foot in a retail store this year except Target and Academy one time each. I did all of my shopping online mostly out of necessity but also because I do not like crowds or the mall.


Third, we hosted the Toups' annual Christmas party this year complete with Shrimp Gumbo and Boudin. It was a huge success with 10 hours of deep cleaning the house and bailing on our Sunday School Class party to get it all done. We never play hookie from church but I am not ashamed to say we did the Sunday after the party. Danny pulled out for work at 2am the morning after the party and I felt like I had been hit by a freight train after the party and a 50 hour work week.


As is life with two little ones, I have no social life (or very little). I say that not for pity but to highlight the Joshua House adult class at Kingsland Baptist Church. I have been going consistently for a little over 3 years now and am now starting to make deeper connections. This class would go to the moon and back for anyone and I have seen them do it time and time again. Even when they don't know it, they have been a support. I so look forward to Sundays for "me" time at church - a time for me to get recharged, laugh a little, have a semi deep conversation, etc.


Why do I tell you all this in detail? I am not assuming most of you want to know all of this but I do it first to keep a written memory of 2012 which included a move, a new job for Danny, Meagan starting Kindergarten, the loss of Meagan's first two teeth, and lots and lots of hugs, giggles, screams, tears, and wanting to pull my hair out. I wouldn't have it any other way!


Let's see what 2013 brings.....

CATS!!!!!!

Cats! Lots of cats! We went from being a family with one cat to a family with 5 cats temporarily. If you know me then you know I am a sucker for animals. Danny and I have rescued over 25 animals since we got married. Most have been dogs. But, now, it is CATS! I have to admit, we have too many and two must go! Our sweet Gumbo is almost 10 years and we decided to add a cat to our family to give her a companion. We added 8 week old Cali the Calico kitten. She was our rescue at one day old when momma cat proceeded to give birth in our backyard and walk off (or so we thought). I will come back to that comment. Our Vet Tech bottle fed her and got her to a healthy age and then we took over. Two days into our new happy family, momma cat shows back up at our doorstep begging for food. Sidebar....Did I forget to mention we had been feeding momma cat for about 3 weeks before she gave birth(didn't know she was pregnant)? Our goal there was to earn her trust to get her Off the street. She would come in and eat in our kitchen and immediately want back out. She was very moody and took a long time for her to warm up to us. Bck to the story....two days after bringing our sweet Cali home, momma cat shows up for her evening meal and has a kitten in tow. Oddly enough the kitten is the same size as our little Cali. After our shock wears off, they both come in, eat and leave. The next morning, momma cat shows up with her baby plus an additional bundle of joy! Are you keeping count? Where were all these fur balls all this time? In a coinki dink, our neighbor was tearing down a shed in his backyard the same day the kittens appeared. They lost their shelter and momma brought them to us. At the very next feeding time, we let them in on the kitchen floor to eat. Momma proceeded to eat, sit down, and not want to leave! Her usual bit of eat and bolt was no more. We knew at that point she had no more kittens outside. Fast forward to today. The kittens are 12 weeks old and two WILL be finding new homes in the very near future. As for momma cat. She has turned out to be the calmest and laziest cat ever. So our family now consists of Our sweet Gumbo, 12 week old Cali, and Crytal the 2 year old who has decided we are her forever family. I am sure this will not be our last animal adventure. I truly believe, they put out a signal to animals everywhere that a sucker lives in our house and they will not be turned away. Oh, and if you want to know how to keep a house clean and smelling fresh with 5 cats, I am the queen of that department. Hopefully my next post will be written with two less curries pouncing around my living room.

Just Good or Absolutely Great!

I love my job! I don't know if most people can say that these days. My boss is fantastic, I get to use my creativity, marketing and speaking skills, and I get to build relationships with Raving Fans of Chick-fil-A everyday. He is a constant encouragement, source of knowledge, has a listening ear, and challenges me at every turn. I have spent the last couple of weeks mentoring and encouraging a friend in the marketing industry. She is good at what she does, and could be great, but is held back by a boss who sees her as just another employee. What I mean by that is that I go to work everyday with a couple of goals in mind. Represent the Chick-fil-A name well and lift my boss up by doing the absolute best job I know how to do. My friend desires that as well but is being pushed down with every idea or action. She feels frustrated, deflated, and stuck. Why do I bring this up? I was thinking, how many times do I (intentionally or unintentionally) limit God in His ability? Sounds like a strange question because God's ability is endless and perfect. How many times does He tell me something or put something in my path to move me His direction and I don't see God for who He really is? In the ordinary day to day life, do I make Him ordinary? Is He "just God"? I think life has a way of detouring God's plan for us at times. He desires to do great things in and through us but we miss the blessings because we are like that boss....we hold God back with what He wants to do. We get "good" but we could have gotten "great"!

Up To Speed

When I was a kid, time never moved fast enough. An hour in an English Lit. class felt like 4 hours, waiting for a date to pick me up felt like an eternity, and parents could not get home quick enough when babysitting. I find it interesting that time now seems to move at lightning speed. I remember almost every detail of the last two Christmases because they seemed like they were just a few months apart. The litle girl who I rocked and sang to just a year ago is now 3, and it seems like yesterday that our beloved BoBo died...and it's been almost two years.

What is it with time? I am just as excited about upcoming events as I was as a kid yet they seem to be over in the blink of an eye.

2012 is lining up to be a year of milestones for my family. Meagan will start Kindergarten in the Fall, Danny will prayerfully transition into a new company in late summer/ early Fall, we will be moving into a house in April, and Emily will be fully potty trained leaving our house diaper free for the first time in five years. With time moving so quickly, I wonder if I will remember the details of these events.

What is it about time? There is so much of it yet not enough. I am working hard this year to revel in the small moments and journal them through picture and words so I can capture the details that will be forgotten otherwise. I am blessed with every second of life God gives me and I would love for it to slow down so I can enjoy it even more.

Living With An Extremely Strong Willed Child

Don't get me wrong, our first child (Meagan) is strong willed, a leader, and extremely stubborn at times. How can that be magnified? How can that be topped?

Enter child #2.....Emily. Any idea must be her idea.....or at least she must think it is her idea. She tells you exactly how she is feeling all the time. You never have to wonder what she is thinking or feeling. Her facial expressions give it away every time. She is not good with change and has to be given warning when things are going to be different. This helps to prevent a nuclear meltdown of catastrophic proportions.

With all of this, we have two of the most amazing kids ever. Our two girls may be challenging at times but We love the fact that God designed them with extreme leader qualities, the desire to be different than other kids, and the ability to express themselves.

I remember something an old friend said when her first child was born 10 years ago. She said, "My job is to break the qualities that need reshaping without breaking his spirit."

This is soooo true. Our job is to allow God to work on her Spirit and for us to encourage it while molding and sometimes reshaping her.

No schooling prepares you for raising kids so I agree that it is the hardest job EVER. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it but it is still the hardest job EVER!

Oh and did I fail to mention that I am strong willed as well? Ha ha....that makes my job even harder. :)

So for all of you with strong willed kids, hang in there. For all of you who are strong willed kids, young adults, or fully grown....I would go hug the neck of your parents, guardian, or who ever raised you. Most likely you challenged them numerous times, gave them a few more grey hairs, and added a few wrinkles to their aging face. Yes, we can blame part of the aging process on strong willed children!

So this strong willed woman will go back to raising our two strong willed girls and love every minute of it. :)

Potlucks, Fish Hooks, and Santa!

It has been a very fun and eventful weekend for us. Friday night we had a potluck Christmas social with our Bible Study class. Danny was home and was able to attend. I firmly believe potlucks were designed for men! Multiple types of meat and potatoes all for the taking and tasting. All I had to do was bring one small dish and....voila....he gets fed to his hearts content.

Saturday started with A Coca and Santa event at one of Meagan's friends house. A ton of people, tons of breakfast food, and a great chance to let my kids run wild in someone else's house for two hours. Meagan shared with Santa that she wanted a trampoline. Being this is the first I have heard of this and the fact we live in a town home at present.....well....wish denied! I am sure she will not be traumatized after she opens everything else.

Saturday afternoon was spent at the Fort Bend Theatre watching a production of Winnie the Pooh Christmas Tale. My kids wiggled quite a bit but kept their eyes fixed on the stage for 45 minutes! That is a huge testimony for the theatre.

Saturday evening was extra special because Danny was cooking and watching the girls while I took the night off. After just 15 minutes home from the theatre, a fish hook met my pinky and my quiet evening was interrupted briefly by a trip to the ER. I started to actually feel sorry for fish as I felt the barb dig into my flesh.
No one was at the ER and it took all of 30 minutes for them to stick me with a couple of needles and pull the barb out. I was still able to come home to a good dinner and sneak out for a couple of hours to stroll the mall to window shop.

Our life is full, fun, and sometimes not planned but is all mine and I love it!

So....What is Normal?

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote. Life has sped by so quickly and some days feel like a blur.

Many times over the past (almost ten years of marriage) I have heard the following comments...
1. Your life is never dull!
2. I bet you would enjoy some normalcy in life.
3. Sometimes things just need to happen to someone else for a change.
4. Do you ever just shake your head and wonder why?

Danny and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage this coming February and I will agree with the comment that life is never dull for us. In the last ten years we have
- bought a house in the country
- rescued 19 dogs and 10 cats
- bought a small restaurant
- had 3 miscarriages
- sold everything to move overseas to what we believe God was calling us to do (lived in 5 different places before leaving since our house sold so quickly). Was five months pregnant with our first child.
- had the joy of giving birth to two daughters in Japan (I need to write a book on those experiences alone)
- Danny seriously breaks his leg on a deep sea fishing charter while living in Japan, finding out we were pregnant with our second child, and finding out that my job was going to be cut all in the same time period.
- Moved back to the states after just 3 short years (this should be part of my book too. Traveling with your life on your shoulders including a two year old, 6 week old, a dog and two cats....and on a series of planes. Let's just say we can laugh now.)
- settling into an apartment as our new home
- Danny changing careers and struggling with low income while he completed training
- my two year struggle with stomach issues only to have my gall bladder removed
- and last....Danny falling and breaking his arm on the job putting him out of work for awhile.

Would we change anything? No! Obviously God knew all of this was coming and we could somehow manage. Don't get me wrong, I had many a talk with God to ask for a break and some normalcy.

As another Thanksgiving passes, I am reminded how thankful I am for life, my family, and all the craziness that goes with it. I have come to realize that this is our normal.