The Rodriguez Family Blog: July 2008

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Rock Star Luke!

My little Luke is a HUGE Tobymac fan! No, maybe a crazed fanatic would be more accurate! He pretty much knows all the words to every song. He even has memorized the moves from a live concert DVD that we have. This kid asks to watch the DVD almost everyday! He stands on our coffee table (the stage) and uses his marker as his mic. There is something wonderful about watching your children sings songs...especially these ones!

Friday, July 25, 2008

The Beach

We went to the beach on Saturday! It was beautiful. We found a place that, surprisingly, wasn't packed at all! The kids played in the water and we relaxed. It was great "family time". I always treasure those moments. As the kids get older we have less and less of those times because we are all pulled in different directions so often. I loved that day...

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Happy Birthday...

Well, our plan was to go to The Price is Right on Tuesday for my birthday....but things didn't go as planned! We didn't make it in! I guess it wasn't meant to be. They suggested we try another show, but all of us had left our phones in the car, so we found a pay phone...don't worry, we sanitized! After having no luck with that either we decided to head to Hollywood and Highland for some lunch. Our waitress was a girl from the reality show, Girlicious! Then we went to the wax museum and checked out the stars and hand prints in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre. It was very fun! After grabbing a Starbucks we went to Benihanna's for dinner. It was a very memorable day. Pretty much we ate, ate then ate again! Oh, and we laughed ALOT too! And did you know...that 4 out of 8 of us were teachers?:0) Thank you to all of you who joined me yesterday, it was a blast! We have all decided to try it again someday! Can't wait...

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Jake Meets John McCain

Recently Jake traveled to D.C. with my Mom and Dad. They have started a tradition of taking each grand kid to D.C. with them when they turn 10! This was Jake's year! He got to meet a presidential candidate! Pretty cool. Thank you Mom and Dad for giving my kids such amazing opportunities! They will have these memories for a lifetime!

Spirit West Coast

Wow! Talk about the highlight of our summer! Spirit West Coast was AWESOME, again! Last year was great, but we had an even better time this year because we went with friends! The kids all had a blast. It was so great...to worship...altogether...for 3 days straight! The jury is still out...Tobymac or Third Day? But we all agree the Pancake House was right up there!

Our Newest Addition!

Well, it's been about a month since her arrival and like all new parents we just haven't had a moment to send the pictures out! Maddie is the newest member to our family! She's soft, gentle, and occasionally smells good (just after her

bath)! Her hair is a beautiful golden color and her smile quite sweet! She gets along great with the rest of her siblings. We love her!

Surprise!!!!!

Talk about being TOTALLY shocked and dumb-founded! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful circle of family and friends, recently they surprised Mario and I for our 30th birthdays! Because Mario's birthday is in May and mine wasn't until July, we weren't expecting so many of our loved ones to be at the pool for a Luau, one June weekend! Thank you to all of you who joined us that night! It was soooooo much fun! Of course, we missed those of you who weren't able to make it too! A special thank you to my Dad, Mom and Diane for all of their sneakiness! We'll never forget our 30th birthdays...for sure!

Thank you for putting so much effort into something special for us!

I know....don't ask! You thought right, he IS wearing a flower bra...courtesy of Blair and Kara!

Something to Consider

Adopting a child doesn't change the whole world. But for that child the whole world changes.

Unknown

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so you may live as you wish.

Mother Teresa

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Truem

Whether you believe you can do something or not, you are right.

Henry Ford

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.

Eleanor Powell

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition!

The small things we do in life for others don't mean much...they mean EVERYTHING!

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one come to you without leaving happier.

Mother Teresa

A friend is someone who knows you well and still likes you.

Unknown

Kids Say The Darndest Things

Luke often says such funny things, so I thought I would start to share them with all of you from time to time! So here are some of the most recent ones that have kept us laughing...

Apparently Luke has recently become fluent in French. When I inquired about where he had learned French he replied, "From the FBI!"

Recently our dog Maddie was barking to get outside. I sternly said, "Be quiet! Go lay down!" Then I heard Luke say, " Mom, I could be wrong, but I don't think that is the way to earn Maddie's affections!"

Luke has narrowed down his career options recently. He told me he just can't decide whether he should work at Walmart or be a Doctor!

Luke asked me the other day if we could stop at Starbucks for a "Frap-a-chonie".

After our walk through a living nativity this Christmas, Luke said "Wow...I didn't know Jesus was "king of the jewels" thats cool!"

Luke has been asking about heaven lately. When we will go there, who will go there and now...what will go there. He told me that he'd like "jacket" (his blankie) to be there so please put it in a box, write "JESUS" in big letters and He can pick it up at the post office when he has time!

When I asked Luke how his day at school went earlier this week, he said "Great! I met Avery and she's willing to marry me!"

Today Luke announced that he is getting a tatoo. It apparently is going on his stomach and will read: God is awesome...and so is my mom! It does have a ring to it! I like it!

Luke was watching the kids walking by as we waited for Dylan after school today. When suddenly he blurted out, " Oh dang! I just saw a Jonas brother! I didn't know they went to this school." I said, "You did?" And he said, "Yeah, the one with the hair!"

Luke hurt himself on Friday and we had to visit the emergency room. When the Dr. came in she asked me if he had lost conciousness at anytime. And although he was very much out of it, Luke opened his eyes just a little bit and said, "No, I lost my balance!" Then closed his eyes again.

Luke was asking about the logistics of how God could make everything in the world in just a few days. So, I began to review with him what happened each day. When we got to the 6th day I told him that God made the first people. I said, "Do you remember who the first man was that God made? Do you remember his name?" "Grandpa?" was his reply!

On Halloween Luke asked his dad, "What is Jesus being for Halloween?" When Mario said he didn't know...Luke said, "I think he's gonna be a hamster!"

Luke received a call from Geoffery the Giraffe at Toys 'r' Us for his birthday today! He listened quietly, then said, "What the heck? I didn't know giraffes could talk!"

We were at the doctor's office recently and the nurse told Luke that she loved his curly hair. This was his reply, "Seriously, it's not MY fault! It's my mom's..."

Recently one of Luke's siblings was sent to their room for disobeying. As he assessed the situation and they went upstairs, he turned to me and asked, "Are they gonna get their rear-end paddled?" To which I replied, "No! Where did you hear that?" He said, "You know...that's spanish for a spankin'!"

Most nights I tuck Luke into bed and they all go pretty much the same...tuck him in, pray, give him a kiss and turn on his music. But tonight was different! When we were done praying he said to me,"What did you say?" I said,"Amen!" "M-O-M!" he told me,"It's Hey, Man! When we're done praying we say Hey, Man!"

Man, you've got to love kids!