Rocking CW news, some pics, and Disney is coming!

Well, we are officially here.

Rocking CW Bucking Bulls is in business!  Our website is www.rockingcwbuckingbulls.com.
We are excited!  We have a total of 2 young heifers, named Linda's Wine and Rebel Star, a pregnant heifer, named Tipper (she's the black one in the following pics), and our rough and tough bull, named 66.

Tipper is the black one.  Rebel Star is the one in the front with the white star on her head.  Linda's wine is the other one.

Still to this day, no rider has been able to stay on for 8 seconds on this bad boy!

 He is one scary bull huh lol.  He has an attitude alright but he is one awesome bucker!  Starting next week, will be putting him in some rodeos.  Also, in January, we will be adding another pregnant heifer that we had impregnated with an embryo.  I will also be able to bring my horse home :)  We first have to get our barn up and ready with the horse stalls.  The kids are really excited.  This is our family business and we will pass it down to them.  The kids have also decided that they want to do rodeo activities instead of the ones they were doing currently.  So we will start them up on those come January or so.

Here is Alyssa and Dereck.

                                                               Here is James and Izzy.

Here is my beautiful Alyssa.  She is just the apple of my eye!

Here is my handsome cowboy Dereck.  What a great man he is going to be!

Here is my little cuddle bug Izzy.  She is my little mini-me who always keeps me on my toes!

Here is James.  He is my little "try it all" boy!  He is down with anything!

My beautiful family that God blessed me with!

My family rocks!!

My younger two.

My older two

My precious kiddos!

They light up my life!

My sexy husband who is my best friend!  I love this man with all of my heart!  He is an amazing husband, father, friend, lover, and my hero!

Love my cowboy!

We are beyond blessed on the journey God has chosen for us.  We cannot wait to see what is in store!

Well, after this blog, I will not be blogging until mid December.  With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, seeing the San Antonio family the weekend...We will be super busy.  Why...well...DISNEY!!!  Our family trip to Disney World is coming up!  We arrive at Disney on the 8th of December.  Chris' parents, Chris, myself, and the boys are driving there while my mom and the girls are flying.  It is going to be an amazing, and well deserved, family vacation and I can't wait.  I will post pics when we are back.  I will be still posting on facebook and uploading pics daily from Disney.  Hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving! 

Til fingers meet keyboard,
Lauren

Time seems to tick faster and faster!

Wow!  I can't believe we are already in the last part of October!  Time has sure flown by!  My kiddos are already doing week 14 of school.  (Just like public school we do the 36 weeks of school...18 weeks a semester).  So counting this week, we have 5 weeks of school left...then it is Thanksgiving...then it is Disney trip!  We are all super excited!  We are just counting down the days!

Dereck is doing amazing in football.  Alyssa is doing fantastic as a cheerleader.  They are loving it! 

We are getting our cows this weekend.  That is going to be great.  We have our business up and running!  One of our cows is pregnant so hopefully she is carrying a bull :)

Other than that it is the same-o same-o.  I am just super busy with teaching the kiddos and taking them to their practices.  It is such a blessing to be involved in every aspect of my children's lives.  I am still on my lovely diet...and still losing weight :)  Was off of it for a while, but I did a great job maintaining. 

Chris and I are doing fantastic.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving man in my life as well as our children's lives.  He just makes our day all the time, with his witty, funny personality.  Plus I think he is pretty hot too :)

I am just so blessed with what God has given me.  People always want the next best thing...well not me...I am content and love my life!  God sure did bless our broken road, because I have never been happier! 

I know this blog seems to just be a big ol' ramble...usually I have more time to express my thoughts and then type it out...however, this time not so much lol.  I guess, to just leave you with something to ponder...I know life has a tendency to throw tons of negativity your way.  I know life seems to be unfair at times.  Well...always think positive.  When the bad times head your way, God is there.  He always will be.  He is just waiting for you to give it all to Him.  He is your caretaker, your provider, your Father, your King.  So, give all of your burdens to Him, give all your worries to Him, and give all your stresses to Him.  Let Him handle all of those situations.  That is what He wants to do.  We are His children.  He will always take care of us.  And since you will have so much down time from not worrying or stressing, sit back and pray.  Thank Him, Praise Him, and count your blessings!  Then, see how happy and light hearted you are :)  It works for me, and I guarantee it will work for you.  Life is too short to just sit and be miserable with all of the unnecessary burdens that life throws at you.  You are to live life, love life, and just smile and be happy :)  So, turn on your favorite tune, and start dancing!  Life is supposed to be full of you living it.  So live it!

Til fingers meet keyboard,
Lauren

Been way too long...and a big change!

Wow!  It has been a long time since I have blogged.  We have been super busy.  Not only are we doing fun things together as a family...we have also started the new school year.  I do some summer school on the years of a big family vacation.  Well, this is one of those years :)  We will be going to Disney in December!  We are all so excited!  We are all counting down the days!  I sure wish it would hurry up!  I am getting antsy lol.  So, without further ado...here is the updates:

Let's start with the kiddos.  They are all doing great.  Growing (and might I say...I may need some bricks to stack on their heads so they will stop!  The kids are way too young to outgrow momma right now lol) like weeds.  Dereck will be playing for the Faith Knights again this year.  He is excited because not only will he play for junior high, he will get to suit up for high school as well.  Come on Faith Knights!!  Let's win State again!!  Alyssa will be a cheerleader for the team as well.  She is overly excited.  She has cheer camp in a couple of weeks.  So as the season starts...be prepared to be looking at picture blogs :)  James and Izzy are doing well too.  They have such imaginations!  They can play for hours together!  They sure keep themselves busy. 

Chris is doing well.  He is finally released from the doctor's care.  He is as good he is going to get.  His patrolling days and ticket writing days are over.  However, now he can focus on just cases and do his best to clean up the city from all the crazies!  He still lacks a lot of range of motion in his knee.  He will have to live with the pain until he reaches the "age" of people who can get a total knee operation.  I really wish they could have gone and done it, however the doctor's said he was too young.  So, we will just leave our worries with that with God and just keep the faith. 

Also, Rocking CW Bucking Bulls is going fantastic.  We already have our cattle trailer and will be picking up our cows in the next few months.  Then, our plan is to AI them and get some bulls so we can buck them!  Our next step is to get some horses.  Dereck wants to ride bulls and so does James.  Alyssa wants to do barrels.  I am so excited for them.  And, well, Izzy, she just wants to feed them right now because she says she is too young to be anything but a "princess" lol. 

Now, let me update about me.  I am doing well.  I have been on a new diet for over 16 weeks.  It is called Ideal Protein.  And let me tell you...IT WORKS!  Love it!  I have lost over 50 pounds and right under 30 inches lost.  Yes...you read that right!  Did I work out?  No!  This diet is great!  Plus, I am off of my blood pressure medicine.  I am so happy!  I have less than 30 pounds left to go to reach my final goal.  Can't wait for that!  Here is a picture of the most recent before and after pic I have.  The next one I post will be at my goal weight.

Yea!  Go me!  I feel better, I look better, and you know what I love the new me!!



So, I guess it is time to bring this blog to a close.  I have to get ready for a football meeting.  If I can leave with you just some advice:  Be happy, be loving, hug your loved ones, and cherish every minute that you have with them.  Look at what happened in Colorado...you never know when Jesus is going to call you or them Home.  So make every breathing moment special and live your life to the fullest! 

Til fingers meet keyboard,
Lauren

Not A Fan

Ive been hearing so much about the book Not A Fan. I've been contemplating awhile now on purchasing it for my iPad. Well, for starters, one individual (who I remember from high school who hated reading who would always ask me for a synopsis of a book that we were supposed to read for English III) brought it up on one of his Facebook statuses. Knowing what I remembered from school years, I thought to myself "if he loved this book...he actually read it...it must be good". So what do I do...I purchase it. I'm on part 2 right now, and I actually hate the fact that it's time for me to put it down lol. What a great book. I have tons of thoughts and notes that I want to share, however, I am going to wait til I finish it before I share. All I will say for now is that it's an amazing book. It will step on your toes (much like I say about the book of James in the Bible). But it's something that I feel very strongly about. I want anyone and everyone to read it. So, if you are up for the challenge, read it...it will change your life and your whole way of thinking. So before I finish this blog...I'd like to say thanks to that individual...Frankie...thanks for reading the book and re-bringing it to my attention. Til Fingers Meet Keyboard, Lauren

Haven't blogged in a long time

Wow!  I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged!  So many things have been going on that we have been super busy.  Homeschooling is still going great!  Counting this week we have 6 more weeks of school.  Then this summer I am starting early since we are going on our big family trip to Disney in December.  We are all looking forward to it!  The kids are all counting down the days...I believe the count is like 230 something days now lol.  I may be wrong since I personally don't have a counter for it lol. 

Dereck is doing amazing in school.  Can't believe he is about to be an 8th grader!  Plus he will be 13 in August!  Oh my goodness!!!  I am about to be a parent of a teenager!  Wow!  He is also doing very well in football.  He will be starting this upcoming season for the Faith Knights.  His coaches have said he has improved tremendously.  I am a very proud mom! 

Alyssa is doing amazing in school.  She has still kept her straight A's on all of her report cards.  She is such a perfectionist when it comes to grades.  I guess she got that from me lol.  I remember when I would get a B on a paper or homework, I would freak out!  Well she does the same thing.  But she is very proud of her straight A's!  (And of course so am I :)  )  She just turned 10 years old!  I can't not believe she is now in the double digits!  It just feels like yesterday that she was the preemie that I was feeding around the clock lol.  She will be in 5th grade and with our homeschool group, they let 5th graders be junior high cheerleaders.  She is soooooo excited!  She is just waiting to hear when her cheer camp will be.  Never thought I would be a cheerleader's mom, but now I am.  Sticker on my car and everything :)

James is doing great in school.  He is my science class lover!  If it is about animals...he's all in!  He is always watching Netflix learning about sharks and always watching Animal Planet.  He told me yesterday that he wants to be a zoologist.  I thought that was fantastic news :)  He is great with animals and I think that is right up his alley.  He is just ready for us to get some bulls on the ground so he can help out with them and even get on them.  (I'll fill you in on the bulls in a bit).  He is our little cowboy.  And I am proud of my little man.

Izzy is just a hoot when it comes to school.  She is just so ready to go on to 1st grade so she can have school books like her siblings.  She is breezing through Kindergarten.  I am having to slow her down just a bit lol.  She is so inpatient.  She is my 6 year old that is full of sass and ready for anything.  Even having some "drama queen" on the side lol.  She is ready to be like her big sister and cheer but she has quite a few years to go. 

Chris is doing great!  We were scared that he was going to end up having to have a total knee replacement...but finally, after tons of answered prayer, his knee is improving!  He is still going to physical therapy three times a week.  We are hoping and praying that his knee continues to improve so we can push off the total knee replacement as long as possible.  Thank you all for the prayers!  We greatly appreciate them! 

Now...I am doing fantastic!  With school and being a SAHW&M, I rarely have much time to do anything.  Am I complaining...heck no.  I love my life!  God is and has blessed me abundantly!  I am so thankful!  I also started a new diet plan called Ideal Protein.  It is AMAZING!  I weigh in at my doctor every Friday morning.  I had my last weigh in this past Friday.  In two weeks, I have lost 12 pounds and 10 total inches!  Whoo hoo!  Plus I feel so much better and I am full of energy!  Never ever in my life, did I ever think, I would like dieting!!!  But I do!

Now, to the bulls.  My husband has started a business called Rocking CW Bucking Bulls.  We have hundreds of bull semen from amazing bulls that are in the PBR.  As soon as the lease is up on our land, Chris is going to be getting some bulls on the ground.  This is going to be a family business.  We are going to have the kids involved as well.  We will be raising these bulls that we inseminate and training them to buck.  We will take them to rodeos and hopefully we can make them pro :)  And when we are old and grey, we will leave the business to our children so they can continue it.  I know I didn't say much about it...but I'll explain more later.  It is now time for me to go back to teaching.  Science class here I come :)

Til Fingers Meet Keyboard,
Lauren

Texas is gaining more and more homeschoolers! Awesome!!

I am not surprised!

Go to this link

http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/More-Texas-parents-opt-for-home-schooling-101292714.html


You are going to have to copy and paste it in the address bar because blogger wasn't letting me put it as an embedded link uggh!

Courageous

This past weekend, Chris and I were able to sit down and watch the movie Courageous. Of course we couldn't wait to watch it for two main reasons:
1) it is made by the same people who did Fireproof! Another great movie!! So if you haven't seen that one, watch it too!
2) it deals with police officers.

It was an amazing movie! As Fireproof deals with marriage, Courageous deals with parenting and our children. Two main aspects of our lives right! The movie Courageous give you a resolution on how to be. Yes, it mainly deals with men, however us women can do it too. My husband and I are doing the devotional books that are from the writers of the movie. And guess what girls...they have one for women. And I LOVE it! You can get them at any bookstore, however you can get a great price at christianbooks.com and who knows, do some searching and you might find some other devotional books you might want to read :) I'm addicted to that site! So many great writers like Joyce Meyer, Anne Graham, Beth Moore, etc...I guarantee you will find something! Some of my faves: So Long Insecurity (Beth Moore), New Day New You (Joyce Meyer), Just Give Me Jesus (Anne Graham). Those are just a few of my faves :)

Now back to the movie :). If and when you watch it, have tons of tissues on hand! All of the sobbing and tears are so soo sooo worth it! It will break your heart in such a way you will have to pause it to regain composure...and then it will touch your heart in such a way that you will ask God to remold your heart in His way. So, that's all I am going to say cause I don't want to tell you the movie. Just know, that it's a great movie, and HAVE TISSUES!

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

Til fingers meet keyboard,
Lauren

So true. Here is a great video about the misconceptions of homeschooling

I think there are a lot of closed minded people out there with their thoughts on homeschooling. So here is a heat video!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Til Fingers Meet Keyboard, Lauren

2012...already!

I cannot believe it is 2012 already! Time sure does fly!

I am so excited to see what this year will bring. Already we have had many prayers answered. Isn't God amazing! Many of those I won't mention, however they are awesome. But, I will mention one. Chris had another surgery recently, and God helped him through that and is still helping him. Chris is doing better as the days pass. The surgery was way more intrusive than the doctor planned. 18 staples, 10 stitches, a pain ball that was sent home with us via a femoral catheter, and severe pain...he is recovering. He hates the fact that he can't go back to work til the doctor releases him to light duty (hoping that Wednesday will be the release date). Even after release, he will still be on crutches and no weight on that leg at all for at least six weeks. There is still a long road ahead of us. It is a fifty fifty chance that the mosaic-plasty will work, and there is a low percentage that the body will reject the cadaver bone. We are all praying that the procedure will fix the issue and praying that his body doesn't reject it. Please keep him in your prayers.

We all had an amazing Christmas! Amazing food, great family fun, and the kids were spoiled :)
All kids got an instrument. Dereck, Alyssa, and Izzy got a guitar, and James got drums. Let's just say my kids make beautiful music together. They are writing songs and everything! I think it's awesome! That was just one of their numerous gifts...however those are the most used at the present time.

I know this blog is jumping back and forth...but I haven't blogged in awhile so just bare with me lol I'm a little rusty.

Starting new devotionals this year. Chris and I are doing the Courageous series. It's awesome! You should look in to it. So, when we are done with that, I'm going to have to find some more :)
Also, we are doing extre Bible devotionals with the kids at night. They each got their own devotional book, so we thought it would be good to not only do our normal Bible study with them, but have them all listen to each other's too.

Planning on reading more this year (if I can fit it in as much as I want to lol). I'm one busy momma! For starters, my bestie sent me a book titled The Police Wife Life Bullets in the Washing Machine. I can't wait to start on it! And after I finish that, I am going to re-read the Left Behind series. And thank goodness for my second parents, I have them all on my iPad. So I don't have to worry about lugging around bulky books. With homeschool group and the kids' practices, I have some extra reading time :)

No resolutions really this year. I am going to just keep on keeping on. I have been on a life changing journey with Christ and I'm loving every step of the way. So I guess I do have one resolution. I'm going to live and let God. Simple! I'm going to be content, have no worries, no stresses. I'm going to live in peace, joy, and love. And let God handle anything that comes my way. It's a great resolution! You can copy it if you want :) who knows...you might find each step you take gets lighter and lighter...because all of those burdens of worries, stresses, etc. are uplifted and God is taking the load! Wishing everyone a blessed year!

Til fingers meet keyboard,
Lauren