Hi y'all! Long time no see. I am missing this space as of late, longing for some order and a little bit of creativity. I just wanted to say Hello!
I wanted to share a few pictures of the family and let y'all know what's been happening with us, the Witty family.
Following Christmas Day, we arrived at our house to discover massive broken water lines during a very hard freeze in our home. We went without water for 2 days while Gary managed to crawl under the house and repair the lines.
Those lines are probably over 20, or 30, years old. He went in search of insulation but didn't manage to find any locally until a few days later. The Home Depot closest to our house gets insane with folks trying to repair their lines, as if that location is the only hardware store in the area. After this freeze, I don't think Gary will shop at Home Depot any more for pipes and pvc. I think he would rather spend a few dollars more to avoid the crazy aisle closures and the masses. I am so grateful for his reliability and that he's able to fix our home when it breaks.
After being blessed with water again, we managed to make it to New Year's Eve gathering at our friend's house. You know? I think midnight is too long to wait for the New Year because it's past my bedtime. But I'm glad I toughed it out because Gary and kids love those fireworks!
We took advantage of a sale during the week after Christmas and splurged on upgrading the boys beds. Their twin beds needed to be replaced as they were getting quite old--not to mention the boys are growing too! So we got a 2-for-1 deal and decided that the boys were getting new beds.
You know what else that triggers? New bed frames. So Gary got to work. The weather has not been very cooperative for a finished product, but he's been diligent about working on them any chance he can get. Track season at his school starts soon so I assume the boys will have to wait a few more weeks until we are finished with them as I still have to paint them.
You know what new beds also trigger? New bedding. I had to purchase new bedding sets and pillows! These guys are sleeping in comfort and now we have enough beds for visitors, too!
The weather has been a bit insane with hot January temperatues in the 80's and then back to the 30's. I actually managed to snap my beautiful baby girl during one of those sweltering January days...
Jonah purchased with his own money a very difficult locomotive piece from our local Woodcraft (it's really not local as it's 20 miles away). The kids enjoy purchasing wooden crafts from there. Jonah spent almost 2 days painstakingly putting this train together. I hardly have any shelf space to display their master builds!
Our oldest, Andrew, has been homeschooling for most of the school year. He has excelled completely and has surprised us at how responsible and independent he has become. There have been some growing moments, but overall I think this decision has been one of those truly suprising ones. You know, where you didn't know you needed something until you had it?
Even after visiting my folks back in Central Texas for the holidays, we felt like we needed to come back once more to say Hello and Goodbye to a few people. My stepfather was celebrating another year with some cake and family, and my brother was headed to Boot Camp to become an airman. Our family gathered to celebrate, and eat, and fellowship with one another.
We had chicken and steak fajitas, amazing salsa, and a healthy chocolate cake. We had brought a scooter for the kids to play with on the farm, but the weather was a bit harsher than it is back home. Nevertheless, she enjoyed being outside on her scooter and petting all the animals as usual.
My brother's going away party was celebrated the weekend after. A massive crowd of people came to pray over him, fellowship with him, give him all kinds of wise words and hug him before he left to boot camp. I'm sure he'll remember that all his life and realizes how truly loved he is.
On our way home, we stopped in Waco, Texas to visit George's on Speight Avenue. The place is fantastic and I would love to visit once again. I had a chicken fried steak (Lunch special) but you can barely see it from the massive onion rings! That place is a whole vibe.
Recently, we have made a switch to a smaller church. We had attended a mega church in North Houston for over 9 years and it was time to say goodbye. Our new church has made us feel closer in our faith and our community. This church doesn't have frills and blinding lights and I'm okay with that. The message is 30 minutes longer, and I'm ok with that too. All three kids have to sit through the message, and I don't think they're ok with that, but I'm sure they'll eventually be ok with it ;)
I still love going to lunch after service and talking about family stuff. I love that my kids will grow up with that tradition and will pass it on to their families as well.
One of our favorites is JJ Diner where we all know our Lunch Special number and slurp over our Egg Drop and Wonton soups. This here is the famous Orange Chicken lunch special.
Besides keeping busy with projects, getting back into the hang of things from the new year, trying to navigate Andrew's school, we have all be alright.
Gary's athletic banquet was very nice. They acknowledged a lot of hard working athletes whose coaches relentlessly pursue them to be better in all aspects of their lives. His coaching staff, as well as his Head Coach and his wife, have been nothing but supportive, hardworking, and extremely welcoming to him and our family.
I've never been a part of such a team and I am forever grateful to them. That's what a coach and his family should feel, always.
We had a mini picnic with Elena the other day. I made her make personal invites to everyone. However, we had to bring our own tea! She did set the name cards and plates though. I brought Chamomile tea but Gary did not enjoy it. He's a southern boy through and through and will only drink sweet tea.
We have enjoyed crawfish this season already! It was yummy, but I dare not go too many times unless we wanna eat beans and ramen noodles for the rest of the week. I'm glad the kids enjoy them crawdads, too! They've really turned into true Houstonians!
Notice we still like to eat Ramen noodles, regardless of our financial food situation. Ha!
That's it for now! I hope you'll forgive the lapse between posts as blogging is now not "in" and posts on Instragram are king...but I do miss this place.
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