Happy 2nd Birthday Miranda!

My niece Miranda celebrated her second birthday October 17th. The cool thing about her actual birthday, is she shares it with her daddy (my brother). She had a blast singing and dancing, playing dress-up, and eating her Dora cake.

Happy Birthday Kalel!

The Kidd family

I <3>

HE'S HERE!!

Big sister Brianna had just woken up from a nice long nap.

Grandma & Auntie awaiting the arrival of our baby Kalel.

There is so much to talk about. I have lots of new pics to share. I should be back here tomorrow (hopefully). Have a great Sunday!

CAN IT BE WINTER NOW??!!

Am I the only one that's OVER this gross heat? I just can't take it anymore! My car feels like a sauna, first thing in the morning, I start sweating the moment I step out my front door to get the mail, sometimes I wish we were back in the garden, then I could run around naked, and no one would care. Last week the high was 93, can you believe it? Today it's 82 - a little better, but still not good enough for me. Alright, I'm done complaining. Just had to get that out.

Who said summer's coming to an end?

While on a recent trip to the Salvation Army with the kids, I came across a rack of old swimsuits. Now, I NEVER buy other people's old swimsuits... that's just gross. I started going through the rack when I came across a swimsuit I never thought I would ever find myself being drawn to. It was bright yellow, and had bright blue and pink circles all over it... IT WAS AMAZING! So bright and cheerful... it screamed happiness!
Now, I'm not a fan of most 80's fashion, but to me, the swimsuits are crazy cool. Since I don't buy old swimsuits, I thought I'd come home and look some up that I might like. These two were my favorite. The top one is the coolest... I think, and the one I would wear. You can find it at:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29641464
for only $14.00. That's a steal! Summer is definitely not over for me, in fact... it's just getting started!

Just do it... it's so much fun!

So this morning I did my usual stuff on the computer. I checked Odesk to see if any one had responded to my applications, checked twitter, purchased 4 Princesses On Ice tickets, and then went over to Facebook before getting off. While I was responding to some of my messages on Facebook, I noticed a picture of a friend of mine that looked like a middle school picture from the 90's. It was pretty funny. When I clicked on it, I saw the website www.yearbookyourself.com, and I just had to check it out.

These are only three of the 19 pictures that I did. If you need a little laughter in your day, or if your just really curious to see what you would look like in those hairstyles(I was), than you need to go check this out.

* WARNING YOU WILL EXPERIENCE UNINHIBITED LAUGHTER *

I'm back!!

After a long time away, I'm finally back.

So much has happened. We moved, celebrated birthdays, started school, and so much more. My mind has been all over the place lately so it's nice to finally sit and let a little bit of everything out.

Amiyah started first grade at Faith Christian School, and is loving it. When I went to pick her up on only her second day of school, her teacher said she wasn't following directions. She couldn't get into detail because other parents were showing up to retrieve their own children, and get a note home as well, but she told me Amiyah had a note in her bag for me to read. Once home, Amiyah got right to her usual routine - Taking out any papers I need to read and sign (sigh) as well as her homework, putting her lunchbox in the fridge, changing her clothes, sitting down for a snack, and then some time to relax before we start homework and chores. While she was changing I went to the table where lying in front of me was a letter written in the cutest stationary, it had apples and tiny school houses on it. But no matter how cute, I still felt uneasy. I opened it and this is what it said, " Mrs. Zarazua, I had to ask Amiyah four times today to follow directions. You will see on the work she brought home from today what I'm talking about. Please speak with her or else this can affect her grade." I crumpled up the letter and frantically searched through all her work to find the one, or maybe two pages, that have red scribbles all over them. I got it! But wait, are you serious? This is why my little Poppy is in trouble, can this really affect her grade? Looking down at her math papers, I saw the dreaded red scratches from Mrs. Giovino's pen, and quite honestly... I laughed! My daughter is such an artist, and with every stroke of her pencil she released her inner Picasso. She got into trouble because she was making little curly q's at the end of every single number she wrote. I sat with her at the table with a smile on my face and asked why it was she did that. She said, " Mommy because I'm an artist, and that's what we do. I was just trying to be creative." These are the moments I wish I was homeschooling. My daughter would be free to make all the curly q's heart little heart desired. Needless to say, she now knows curly q's are for outside of school only.

Change has come

I feel an explanation is in order for the slacking off that I have done as far as posting. I can blame it on many things, but the truth of the matter is, my mind has just been in, and currently still is in, about 4 different directions.
Let me start off by saying just how incredibly awesome our Lord is. Not just in our times of need... but always. My love has been without a job since last November. He has had many odd jobs since, including a job with a guy that has since become a close friend of his, but nothing permanent, with good pay, and benefits. Being that the number of job losses increases almost daily, we knew it would truly be the hand of God if my love found a job. So, he set off to prepare himself for just about the only positions that he could find that were still available... truck driving. He went to school, and completed all the classes and tests to get his CDL class A license. Now the hard part. After applying for just about every available position he could find, we had to wait, in the hopes that someone out there would give a guy with little experience a chance.
Meanwhile... for the past few months we have been trying to sell our condo. For obvious reasons, we simply couldn't afford it anymore. We have a contract on it now, and since it's a short sale, we were just waiting on the approval from the banks on the price. After a few more months, we have come to find out, the banks have approved the amount.
After finding this out, Joey got a call from Choice Environmental Services about a truck driving job. He went in for the interview, took the driving test, and had a drug test. A week later he got the call... "You got the job." We were both thrilled beyond belief. So, now with a new job in place, condo sold, we were on the search for an apartment. I wasn't very thrilled though, I have become quite tired of apartment living. Sharing the washer/dryer, pool, and hearing constant bumping, loud kids, and even louder radios and televisions above us... we were so over it.But then again, whatever the Lord had in store, we were willing to accept. That all worked out for us in the end, no one seemed to want to take a chance on a guy with a brand new job. So... we started looking for single family homes to rent for the year. While talking to my Pastor and his wife, he mentioned that Joe Novelo, Pastor, Executive Director of Missionary Resource Network, and missionary in Brazil, had a house not very far from ours for rent. Oh, and get this, he just happened to be in town from Brazil trying to find someone to rent the house. He came to our church last weekend to share what has been going on in Brazil. Joe and I had lunch with him, and talked about the house. Ladies and gentelman, as of last night, we will be renting his house from him! We are just so thankful to the Lord. Even through these tough times, He still makes a way.
More updates to come.

Best Friends

Today I decided to do a mini photo shoot with Caleb & Emilio outside while they were playing. I have been watching little Caleb since he was about 9 months old. Him and Emilio have become the best of friends. Since I'm not a fan of posed pictures, I decided to just let them do their thing, and just snap away, hoping I would get at least a few good ones I could frame. They ran, they jumped, they even took turns wearing Emilio's hat. They share a bond that's closer than friends, it's more like a brotherhood. They ate dirt together, pulled out handfuls of grass to give to the other one to taste, it really was cute. Oh, and don't worry, I stepped in once Emilio turned to look at me, and I noticed all his teeth were black.
So, I sat back in the grass on this hot summer day, taking these pictures that one day I hope, they will both appreciate. Just watching them run and play brought me back to the beginning, when they first met. There were lots of fights over toys, food, you name it. But they have since matured into bouncy 2-yr old boys that actually look out for each other now. They bring each other their sippy cups, when Beany gets two m&m's for going potty, he always asks for them both to be the same color so that he can give one to his bestest friend, Caleb, and Caleb is actually the ONLY person he shares his cars with, besides his papi of course.
This was fun. Now I have to get Amiyah together with some of her bestees for their own shoot.

Confession -

Yesterday morning I awoke, and did something I haven't done in an entire year. Now now, allow me to explain. Since my brother's murder people have been asking, " How is your relationship with the Lord? " I always answer them honestly, stating that, "It's fine." I read my Bible, and pray almost daily. But the one thing I haven't been able to bring myself to do is worship. I haven't spent good quality time in the presence of my Lord while listening to worship in over a year. For a very simple reason. I have not wanted the comfort of the Lord. You see, for this entire year, besides the unbeliveable amount of memories my mind has been able to get ahold of, the only thing I had left, the only thing still connecting me to Randall,apart from his shorts that still lay under my mattress, and his shoe that still sits on my nightstand, in my mind, were my tears. The ripping through my heart that I still feel today. I was afraid that if I let God in, He would heal me of it all, and I would lose the connection, even though painful, that I had with him. I was not ready to heal. The wonderful thing about God is, He waits. He waits, knowing that the day will come when I will throw myself in His arms because I just can't seem to carry this any longer. The burden of my grief, I was carrying alone. At times I felt like I had a stone wrapped around my ankle, and someone had picked me up and thrown me into the sea. I was sinking in my grief, gasping for air. All the while my Lord was there, ready to cut the cord, and take me back to the surface.The weight has been lifted,and the void, the emptiness I thought I'd feel in the place in my heart where Randall belonged is not there, but he is. I still feel him, I still hear him, I still see his smile. I know for sure I will see him again. So,today my Jesus has taken me in His arms, and assured me that through it all He will never leave me, nor forsake me. Thank you Abba, for waiting for my return.