My "Fireteam"

In the Marines there is term used for small units in infantry,  one such term is "fireteam", usually consisting of 4 or fewer Marines.  This is for easy maneuver and accountability during missions, specifically in urban surroundings....

I am proud to announce that my "fireteam" of Ruiz females is finally complete: Mama Ruiz, Lizzie Ruiz, Bella Ruiz, and Baby Girl Ruiz (I'm having so much fun with names, there are so many possibilities....) I'm so excited about this....I love girls!!!

Michael and I and the girls went to the doctors' to have my 5 month check-up and ultrasound.  Before that time, Lizzie had been referring to the baby as, "baby brother/sister baby", this is due to the fact that we didn't know what we were having.  Well on Wednesday, the technician confirmed to us that we are in fact having another girl.  I am not particular in what the sex of the baby is.  I, however, for the sake of Mike, did kind of hope for a son...you know how men are, they want there names to be passed on...I am happy either way...I could have a houseful of women!! I don't know about Mike though...LOL!!  He was and is happy.  When he realized that we weren't going to have to buy anything (like clothes) for this baby, he even perked up more!!...his girls mean the world to him, and they have him wrapped around their fingers...:)

I am just so excited and I can't wait to meet her.  I pray God makes her a perfect miracle...Lizzie is so excited to be the big sister again...and Bella has become obsessed with babies...everywhere we go if there is a baby, she says loudly, "baby" and points...Lizzie was like that at her age too...the Lord willing, I want to have 5 children, this of course is my ideal number, I'm sure after number 3, this may not be the realistic number, we just have to wait and see...but for now we still have at least 2 more tries to get a son for Michael....

A Little Old Fashioned...

I have located on my refrigerator, a church bulletin cover that says "Be still and know that I am God"  Lately, I haven't stood still to just enjoy some blog time...I thought today would be a great day to do just that!

We are having old fashioned Sunday at our church today.  It's a part of our Fall Program...so far it's been quite fun.  Michael was teased today because of his choice of what he considered old fashioned.  If you weren't born in the decade doesn't that mean it's old fashioned? LoL...I'll post pictures and maybe you can decide what decade he's from...the girls and I chose a different century...

The family had a great time preparing for this Sunday in what we were going to wear.  We went to several thrift stores.  Even Michael participated and shopped around. Originally, he wanted to do something completely different but when he came across his outfit he couldn't pass it up!!  Lizzie's dress I found by accident and the dress I'm wearing I found at a thrift store in PA a year ago. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything for Bella....maybe next year!

After the service tonight there is a chili cook-off, Michael entered last year and won 3rd place.  I fully expect him to get 1st this year!! His chili is amazing!

Here's Michael, what decade do you think?

My sweet Lizzie Lou!!

Bella Bear and Me!!

Mike's Chili.....YUUMMM! 

A Family Field Trip- Where the Wind Comes Sweepin in the Plains

A great way to end the day as I sit here in front of my computer: a warm cup of decaf, a full belly and the sound of little munchkins playing yonder in the living room. 

What a full day we had today.  It was the first time in a long time that all of us got to do something together as a family.  Today we learned a little bit more about our home, the city of Oklahoma City.....

Our day started out pretty normal, Michael went to the gym with his friend and I stayed home with the girls doing the regular morning routine and housework.  But Michael surprised me when he came home and he said, "Pack up the girls, we're going out!!" Yippee!! I love adventures.  And since having kids anything constitutes as an adventure...Sometimes it's nice to get a break from the everyday..

He asked me what kind of food I was in the mood for, so we went to a 'ma and pa' Thai House...it's the kind of place where when you first walk in you are kinda like, "is it safe?" on account of the decrepit building, the late 70's decor, and its location in the "old side" of town;  All the while ending up to be the "go to" place for authentic Thai Fried Rice.  {and yes, I do know what authentic Thai fried rice tastes like, I spent some time in Thailand for a deployment when I was overseas, LOL!!}. 

By the time we got there, both of the girls were out cold for their nap, so the hostess seated us in a booth, where I laid Lizzie down and we proceeded to enjoy our quiet lunch. {It was like we were on a date!!}

After that I wanted to try this trendy downtown coffee house called Coffee Slingers. Interestingly, I stumbled upon the business whilst I was 'pinning'.  It was very urban, with very urban people, who dressed very urban and talked very urban. {Is that even possible in a place like Okie land?}  Don't ask what that means.....it was just fun...



From Coffee Slingers website, they say: "Coffee is what we do. Coffee is an endless canvas we just can’t finish. The bean teaches us something new every day. New origins and new crops, we have to take the time to understand each coffee to find the roasting profile that will bring out the nuance’s of the terroir of each origin. There’s a community and a human connection over coffee."

Here is Lizzie being extremely urban while I take her picture in the coffee house.  I ordered



an Americana, and I am not kidding when I say this, but that coffee was probably the best coffee I ever had.  There was absolutely no bitter taste.  It was so smooth.  Michael {yes, he as recently joined the elite coffee drinkers group} ordered just a plain cup of Joe...I wasn't too impressed with it..kind of reminded me of what you get at Co Go's gas station late at night when you are tired and driving 12,000 miles to somewhere....It was also urban when it came to price...and please don't ask how much we paid for two cups...

In the next picture.  Here I am armed with my brew under the sign in the front of the building.  I feel like I should be in the middle of a dusty street at high noon waiting for something dangerous to happen.

Next on our travels, we decide to walk the two or so blocks to a cupcake place called 'Sara Sara Cupcakes'.  My first impression was very shabby sheik.  "Cupcakeing" has become this new phenom, I mean everyone bakes cupcakes, if you are anybody, you bake cupcakes...ever watch cupcake wars?...I indulged when I ordered two delightful desserts,  a 'Mount Rockula'-count chocula cereal flavored cake with coco frosting with heaping pile of marshmallow fluff and for number two, a little less decadent, a strawberry shortcake cupcake- strawberry cake {with real big strawberry chunks in the cake) strawberry cream cheese frosting, topped with two fresh strawberry slices...The guilt I feel when I think about how I ate almost all of both of them {of course sharing some with the Lizard and Michael}

Here are the cupcakes...I couldn't wait, I had to eat them almost right away...

When Lizzie got her piece, she ate the whole entire glob of marshmallow fluff first!! {The cake part is still sitting on the plate in the kitchen..}

After our trip to urbanland, we went to the newly opened outlet mall.  Michael was able to add a little to his wardrobe for work.  We walked around and had a great time...what a great day!! I'd like to think that all that walking helped in the area of indulging in the cupcakes I had....oh well. To end this post, here are some random family shots taken today....

 

                                         

God's Victorious Love

This week has been a very trying and tragic week for several people I know.  It seems that when the Lord wants to take loved ones home he usually does it by twos.  When my mom passed...that same night a very good friend of hers', Ethel, who was much older, died too.  They must have been escorted by the Angels together into Heaven...Two dear friends of mine lost a daughter this week, and another good friend asked me to pray for her as friends of hers lost a little one.  I also have a friend who is enduring some very difficult family issues that are effecting the family in a very profound and deep way.  In times like this it's hard to see the good...it's hard to understand the why.  It makes me think of a quote by Corrie Ten Boom given a few weeks back in our church bulletin, I've hung onto and see that it has really blessed me and thought I would share:

   "Ofter I have heard people say, 'How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!'  Yes, God is good when He sends good weather.  But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp.  I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there.  Everything around us was darkness in my heart.  I remember telling  Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. 'No, Corrie," said Betsie, 'He has not forgotten us.  Remember His Word: 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Corrie concludes,  "There is an ocean of God's love available-there is plenty for everyone.  May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love-whatever the circumstances."

"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." Psalm 51:12

The List

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you didn't get one thing done? 

I remember when I first had Lizzie and was a full time stay at home wife and mom, one of the hardest things for me to do was to look at what I did (the every day chores and such) and see it as important...After my kids, I literally had to retrain the way I thought about each of my days (thank you feminism)...And realize that getting the laundry folded and weekly ironing done for the day was indeed an accomplishment.

If you've ever worked outside the home at all you can relate... When it comes to staying home with small children versus having a 9 to 5 job, the accomplishments really change. They are just as valuable, maybe even more even though at the time they seem, well sort of small...not unimportant but small...You've heard it said before, investing in your children isn't something you can measure. This is true because you can't measure the special moments that you have throughout the day with your kids, you can't measure the time when you get to see your child smile for the first time, sit up or scoot across the floor...or when they say, "I love you."... 

None the less,....even as I sit here, in my mind, I hear myself saying, "I didn't do much today!"  Then the voice of reason slaps me up side the head and says, "No Rachel....you did quite a lot!!"

Time to LIST it...

Nurse Bella 1:30am, 7:00am,
Change Diaper
See Mike off to work 7:27am,
Make coffee,
Pray {Lizzie enters my room, sits on lap while I read my Bible},
Take Lizzie to the potty
Make eggs with chepup {Lizzie word for Ketchup} and toast,
Clean morning dishes {and, oops! dinner dishes from last night},
Sweep floor,
Take trash out,
Take Lizzie to the potty
Bella cries, feed her oatmeal,
Change Bella's diaper
Dress Lizzie,
Do morning workout,
Get a call from Hubby: he wants me to do something,
Nurse Bella again,
Lunch time,
Feed Lizzie leftover Lasagna, eat,
Get pianist for special Wed,
Hubby comes home for lunch,
Lay Bella down for nap...
Dance with Lizzie to Veggie Tales theme song....
Do a task for Preacher...

And this is only the first half of my day!!
This always helps me...I can actually see what I've done. And in the end, it's all very worth it,  I'd say I'm blessed beyond measure...Thank you Lord for my life!!

Angels Encamped Around Us (Carry an Ice Pick! oh and keep your garage door shut)

For the average Marine, (yes, once a Marine always a Marine) I'd say I'm pretty good at being aware of my surroundings, being on guard and knowing what I would do if any real harm became apparent..... until yesterday. 

I was having an average kind of morning with the girls; nothing too exciting for a Thursday. I needed to take a trip into town so I was loading the girls up in the Yukon in our garage that was open to the street.  As I was putting the stroller into the back of the truck I noticed a man, not more than 18 years old, walking down the sidewalk. He was kind of dirty, wearing a Carhart jumper.  I found this to be odd because our little subdivision doesn't have an outlet and we rarely get outside traffic, foot or motorist.  So I took a mental note and went about my business.  As I was finishing up with the stroller, I turned around and another man, not more than 18, was just standing there on my driveway no more than 4 or 5 feet away...now Lizzie is loaded in the car seat at this point...it startled me, he was wearing hunting overalls and had long shaggy hair.  He smiles and starts talking, "Hey I just tried ringing your doorbell (Rachel's mind: I can hear the doorbell from here, I didn't hear it..), I'm out of gas at the the 7eleven (My mind again: that's almost a mile away and there are 6 or more subdivisions between here and there) and was wondering if you had any cash?" At this point, I am inwardly panicking, knowing that this encounter can go only one of two ways, he mugs me and does whatever else to me and the day turns out bad or he just moves on....Thankfully, he just moves on when I tell him that I don't have any cash...In my mind, in that brief moment, all I could picture was the worst thing and the regret of not having my gun with me. As he was talking with me I thought, I need to run into the house to get the gun...but then I'll leave Lizzie.  It was just bad.  When he left, I watched him; he caught up to that other man who wasn't too far from where my house was.  As I watched them, they went to another house then came back to the street again...and were gone.

The good Lord only knows what those men's intentions were and I do believe Angels are about us watching and protecting us when bad things are about to happen.  It is God who allows for the good and bad.  And I also believe that those men had nothing but wicked intentions...I think they were in my neighborhood casing it...and when they got to my house they saw that one of my vehicles was gone and the garage door was open, I believe they were going to burglarize me and they didn't because at the last minute they got scared because my front door was unlocked and they heard me.  I called the OKC police non-emergency line and reported their suspicious behavior. And you know when I left my subdivision I saw those two men across the street in the other neighborhood...doing the same thing. It really scared me...and regardless of what happened thankfully, the outcome was good, I still took a lot away from this experience.   

It's an eerie feeling and I don't believe that in this world we can be too cautious especially, even though I joke about the Marine thing and being tough, because according to police, I am still considered to be in the most vulnerable demographic of people to be attacked by thugs: young mothers with children. So when I told my boss, who was a former Green Barret, what happened, he simply told me to keep a fanny pack on me at all times so I'll have the use of an ice pick whenever needed.


I know you can always be thinking of what to do if this or that happens, but the real lesson here is that if you aren't prepared to do something when the time comes then you've lost all chances of getting out of the situation on top. So I think I'm going to take my boss's advise and just carry an ice pick. Do they still sell them at Wal-Mart?