who let the dogs out

so.... we finally got a new puppy. how totally stoked, am i? YAHOO...

the kids are happy too, his name is Pete. he's chocolate... like jackson and kavi's eyes.

he's lovely - and smart and good... i'm so excited... and my camera is not working! and i can't take a picture and show you how cute he is. you'll have to take my word for it - plus he's a blast!!!!

after being chastised for lack of content... i would like to point out... that its not for lack of material, but lack of time... however, as this is the only current forum for personal meanderings... i shall meander...

today the kids asked why we knew we weren't going to have any more babies

they were bummed

we are still not bummed, that we made that decision...

but i thought it was curious that they were... and now maybe i am just a little bit... oh wait, i hear four people fighting and having a hard time being kind to one another... let me take care of that...

happy firecrackers and independence...

now it's time to get ready for the next adventure... Kamp, that's right Kamp with a "k"
they are totally stoked - so am i.

i have a new realization.... relationships are very important, i know it, i learned it, i think i work at it... but i'm determined to work harder... everywhere i turn i am hearing how important relationships are. it's what we're here for... very freeing, i think, because it gives me freedom to pour more in to people and see that as valuable - see... i get all scarttery, that's why i haven't meandered in awhile.

what a blessing...

what an awesome day easter was! it all started on thursday, kavi asked Jesus into her heart. We were all there. It was before school. She asked me how she could ask Jesus into her heart... we discussed it, and after making sure she understood that we can't be perfect, but God requires perfect, but he sent Jesus to live a perfect life and then to die and rise again to be the sacrifice in our place... her daddy led her in a prayer that solidified her decision. quint, jackson, kavi, mommy and daddy were all there... it was awesome!
then came sunday.... she went forward in church to tell the world about how she loves Jesus and knows He died for her... and so did Quint! He's decided he's ready to get baptized, so... it was a wonderful easter for us.

hope you are blessed.

just a swangin'

what a cool bunch of kids... spring break, just a swangin'

we went to arlington to see our cousins, we watched a couple of movies... we just hung out...
what a nice time of restoration.

house for sale...

so... it's been awhile. but i realized i had no pictures of my children because the cobblers kids have no shoes.... so it was time to take some...

this one captures everybody pretty clearly... this is really what they're like! fun, huh?

spring break is coming to a close and we're getting ready to put the house on the market... know anybody who wants to buy a house?

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bday girl

sometimes when your birthday is too close to other holidays, your pictures can be lost in the shuffle... but even though she's now 7 1/12.... this was a fun celebration for jackson. we went ice skating, which everyone loved and had her friend sleep over... what made her want to go ice skating? how was she so confident that she would be able to do it? and that she wanted to spend her birthday there? what is it about jackson that gives her such joie de vivre? (does anyone know if i spelled that right?) God has blessed us with an awesome little 7 yr old... can't wait to see what she does for him in the future...

freedom in a promise

i had a fascinating discussion with my aunt today. we were discussing marriage and what that promise entails. we discussed the idea that when entering a marriage, a person might be concerned that he or she might "lose themselves" in the other person...
two thoughts crystallized as we discussed this more.

first of all - i think that when you are less about "you"; you are the closest you can come to your best self. to be about others is to enhance the best version of who you can ever be. Christ gave all of himself, for us to have life that is abundantly full... His greatest command is to love one another. If loving one another is what he, who gave his life for me, is asking... and his promise is abundant life - i am crazy not to do just that - all of him, none of me.

secondly - the promise of marriage is a freedom. when you are not in a permanent binding promise, one or both can elect to leave without certain discourse. the legal, and spiritual covenant of marriage offers a security, a freedom, if you will, to be more of you than you have ever been when the potential for leaving was hanging around in your subconscious -

consider these thoughts... what do you think? does it make sense?

help me please.... i've been blogged down by my blog

so... i can't figure out how to take the ABOUT ME section off of my go chiefs blog... does anyone know how to help me?

kreative... with a backwards k and kidz with a z

well... we got back home friday night... with so many ideas... countless great memories of laughs for days!!! so many inside jokes we will attempt to not use for exclusivity purposes - it will be difficult. it reminded me how crucial it is to spend some away from work time with the people we work with to make the work fun... note to self...

so grateful for the opportunities afforded us, and a commitment to being a good steward of that new knowledge.

creatives.... they're a weird bunch

so, we have not stopped laughing... except for that one time that guy totally shut us down and mocked us... in front of a room of our peers... but that's ok, it's good to be humbled, right?

it is weird to be in disney world without the kids... i know they would love to come again, but not this time guys, this time its meetings and eatings and meetings and eatings... i cant' wait until they roll us to the park...

good thing we've been laughing non-stop... it's been our exercise, although today we did ride a bicycle built for 8 - wow! and no camera....... hence no photo... so i'll have to write again tomorrow i suppose....

i am so grateful for this opportunity to learn from one of disney's premier imagineers.... an honor, truly.

hey there, cuz

Here we are with our cousins... we love them to pieces. stone, sunny and shane are the ones you don't recognize, but that look familiar because they look much like us. this was Christmas eve, what a blast... and the day afterwards was in the photo that i posted last time.
i hope you enjoy this little glimpse. the collins family is full speed ahead into the new year... with work, basketball for quint and jackson and soon we will start soccer practice again for everyone... it's crazy around here, but we are so grateful that we have such a special place to live out our lives...
alex is coaching the basketball team, and i'm pretty sure he's the one learning the most lessons...