Lots of Posts

I posted a ton this morning...so scroll down and enjoy.

Field Trip

This week has been a slower week as we've done a little school and got to go on a field trip on Monday to a local Christmas Tree Farm. It was sooo much fun. They went on a hay ride, decorated a scare crow & tree, ate smores and fed the llamas. The "la mommas" as Katie called them. Her retelling the story of the La Mommas is hilarious. David had a blast and later told me "I want to live at a place like this." This boy misses the country!! It was a great time to hang out with friends...pics are on the slideshow!!!

Happy Birthday To Me

I had an incredible birthday...I blogged earlier about my time with mom shopping (every girl's perfect birthday day..) then I came home to a cake baked by my precious family and decorated by the kids, dinner AND lunch (mmm no cooking) and just a day of rest and time with the fam on Sunday. Then yesterday, two dear friends took me to lunch at Bonsai Garden (Japanese Steak House). I am blessed beyond measure with the most amazing family and friends. Thank all of you for the cards, calling and just well wishes!! Hey 49 ain't so bad (ha ha) This was on the card that two of our 'yutes' gave me!!

Tab- Kyra is a little pyro just like her cousin. She figured out how to make the lighter work..no on is safe now!!

Nana Time

The kids had fun playing with, jumping on, telling stories to...asking questions, saying "Nanny 'mon" Katie has renamed her Nanny or Wana. :-)

This is what happens

So how do you teach a 2 year old (almost 2) to chew gum and not swallow it? Well you tell her to spit it in the trash...the other night as mom and I decorated the house, Katie was chewing gum. I kept saying..."Don't swallow it, spit it in the trash when you are done." So I'd see her chewing and kept saying "chew, chew ... don't swallow it." So I noticed that an entire pack of sugar-free gum (see I am doing something right as a mom :-) ) was gone. So I asked her where the gum was. She does this adorable thing where she says 'mon 'mon and motions with her fingers for you to follow her...this is what happens when a 2 year old chews up and spits out an entire pack of gum. Kind of looks like intestines huh? LOL

In Memory

Today I remember a sweet friend who went to be with the Lord on Friday. This sweet lady who had a love for life and leaves two precious children (4 & 2) and a husband grew up with me from elementary to high school. Margaret was the girl who always had a smile on her face, found something to laugh about and was nice (genuinely nice to EVERYONE). We had a great conversation last Christmas about how excited she was about her walk with the Lord and how much she loved being a mom!! My heart breaks for her family at her untimely and what seems to us unfair death. But we know God's timing is perfect and she is with her Lord and Savior. I pray today for Joan, Jeremy and those precious babies. God show them through the years that you ARE good, that you love them and you love thier momma. Remind them of what an incredible woman their mother was! Thank you for letting me know Margaret.

Great Weekend

I will be posting pics from my fabulous birthday weekend, but one of the fun things I got to do was my mom and I took off on Friday and went to San Marcos shopping. We spent the night, shopped until literally they closed the place adn then stayed up until 1am wrapping presents. We laughed and laughed and almost got a speeding ticket (it was her fault 1. She has a great car 2. We were talking and not paying attention to the speedometer and she assured me he would get the gray car in front of us that was REALLY speeding...unlike me who was just kind of speeding.) I know, I know breaking the law is breaking the law. ANYWHO...
we had a great time and Rody was fabulous to keep the kids for us. I am so blessed to have a mom that will drop whatever she has going to come and be with me or help me. We laughed as we talked about how old she would be when we did this with Kyra and Katie. Thank you mom! It was so much fun!!!

What Have I Been Doing?

Any of you that know me, know that I often need "something" to get me motivated when it comes to my house. Yes this is the house I have lived in a year and other than art have hung only 5--oh wait 6 pictures of my kids. And I LOVE pictures of my kids. I just don't like trying to decide where to hang them. ;-) So I am hosting our Ladies Brunch in Dec and decided this was a good opportunity to do some of the things I've wanted to do around the house.
The first was the guest/kids bathroom...there are a ton of funny stories on that but I will wait on that until I take and post the "after" pics.
But oh...several weeks ago I started on our entry way. Oh did I mention I am the queen of starting and not finishing?? Anyway, It had a hideous blue paint over really bad wall paper that I had to strip the wall paper (oh it was over rody's bday so around the 12th I started this). then I had to texture the walls and I chose a nice shade of red (which my dad thinks he is going to hate in an entry way). My entire house is beautiful earth tones...browns, chocolates, sage greens...and now light blue in the bath and a bold red (which looks great DAD--especially since the Red Raiders beat Texas & A&M (sorry Johnna) this year--who cares about Oklahoma...they are in another state). So....here are some before, during and after pics. I have yet to touch up the trim but other than that it is good...

The Wallpaper Stripping Phase

Sorry I didn't get pics of the texture..I was too busy and messy to touch the camera

After

here it is complete

Sunday is Wendy's birthday

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I blogged. Wendy does such a better job of it than I do, but I wanted to jump in and let you know about the birthday girl! Her birthday is Sunday. God's Word says:
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord. Proverbs 18:22

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband...Proverbs 12:4a

The Father has shown me favour in giving me Wendy. Her price is far above rubies and she is a crown to me! I love her sooooo much and thank God for her.

Guys - I hope God has blessed you as much as He has me!

A wife is a part of her husband and as far as I can tell, she is the BEST part! She is a helper that is meet (suitable) for him! (Genesis 2:18 & 24)

Wen, I love you and wish you a happy birthday. You are all this and more. God has blessed me, our children, our families, our church and our friends with you!

-Rody

Allergies

Okay this is my random post...sorry. I am experiencing and learning all about allergies living her in central Texas. It is so funny...there are weeks okay days that I have no symptoms nothing bothers me. Other weeks and days I carry go through a roll of toliet paper blowing my nose (I'm one of those cheap people who do not buy tissue b/c my kids just pull it out of the box). I have the whole itchy eyes, watering eyes, runny nose, sore throat thing...it is just weird. I can understand a week at a time while something blooms or blows but just random. anyway..

Hey if you read Beth Moore's blog her daughter Amanda did a great post on a balloon and the temporary joy it brings and comparing that to us and our joy we get from temporal things and refocusing our joy!
Have a blessed day!!

Ready for Church

I used to be great at making the kids all stand together and getting pics of them all dressed up for church. Well as you probably experience in your home...most days we are running out of the house still putting on our clothes and grabbing diaper bags and everything else we need for church. I must just be a weird mom but it takes 3 bags for us to go to church...the diaper bag for Katie in the nursery, David's bag for drawing books/crayons adn then Kyra likes to take her own bag...which of course I end up holding. LOL! :-)

I hold in high revere those moms who can do this every morning and be out of the house by 8...God KNEW what he was doing when He made me a stay home mom.

Oh yeah...and this is precious katie in one of those rare catch on camera throw a fit moments...

Fall Festival

Okay I'm over 15 days late posting these photos ... sorry! Here are pics from our fall festival! The kids had a blast. The funniest thing was everyone thinking the "cross" on Katie's head was us dressing her up. The dermabond is slowly starting to come off. The kids LOVED the bounce house and had fun at the trunk-or-treat. For me the most exciting part was getting to see people in our neighborhood bring their children and see there is a church on the corner that loves them and their kids.

Quotes

We have the sweetest, most godly preacher's wife in our church and she continually sends cards of encouragement. The quote on this week's for Rody was "A 'finisher' is not one without wounds or weariness. Oh how this speaks to whatever it is that we are called to do in life. Be a mother...homeschool teacher...Sunday School teacher...friend....sister....daughter. When there is something we do and do to the glory of God...we will experience times of wounding and weariness..but as Paul talked about run the race in such a way as to win. When I run to win in being a mother, a wife, a teacher, an employee...I often grow weary. And then I read the sweet words in Psalms as to how I am to hide in the shadow of His wings. That He is a refuge to me..enveloping me...I die and He lives in me. He strengthens me. Thank you Lord for your Son and your Spirit.

I Love This Stage

As I sit here working, Katie is on the chair next to me and has been playing with the old fashion "pop up" toy. Where you push the button and the little character pops up. She has been doing it happily for about 10 minutes, over and over. I love this stage with kids. Everything is a new discovery and they are so cute. I love to watch her little legs as she runs through the house after bubba and Ira. And I love to hear "Momma" when she wants me! Kids are great!!

100% Girl!!

Okay Katie is officially 100% girl. She came to me while I was working and usually says "bye-bye" which means she wants to go somewhere. Today it was "go wa-mart". Yes Wal-Mart has entered the vocabulary. Life will never be the same. When Nana told her they would go to the mall later she said "ALRIGHT!!!!!"

Why?

The eternal, never ending question at my house. Katie's new favorite word is WHY? My other two never really ever entered the "why" phase....and thus as a new mother at first thought "oh no!! i don't have inquisitive learners..am I not presenting learning opportunities?" I quickly learned from other moms this was God's grace and favor on my life. LOL.
Back to Katie..she is my "why momma?" baby and I love it! I will tell her something or explain something she will ask "why?" and the best part is that she will sit and listen as I try to explain in toddler terms.
Other new favorites--sitting at the bar playing with "ba doh" (play-doh) with the big kids; jumping on the trampoline with "bubba" and "Ira". She loves to play puppy with Kyra and babies!! She has taken over baby Ella and it is SOOOO funny to see her interact with her babies. she will coo with them and bounce and pat them on the back. She will be a great momma!!!
What a blessing this little one is to our family. She is such a little jokester..she loves to keep us laughing.

Happy Birthday Rody!!

Well today is Rody's birthday and for the first time ... well...maybe since we have been married we are not going to get to share it together. He is in Ft. Sumner, NM doing a revival. So Happy Birthday Rody! You are such a blessing to me and our family. We are so blessed to have a man that truly seeks to follow God leading our home! You are my best friend and I love you so much!
I had a video of the kids singing Happy Birthday from last year but cannont find it :-(

Answered Prayer

Rody and I received a huge blessing on Friday night when Kyra prayed to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior. There are many things we desire for our children but first and foremost that they would surrender their lives and their will to the Lords. Kyra is a our little miracle girl and has had more prayers prayed over her than most people. God has a BIG plan for her life and gave her the determination to fight for life, enjoy life to the fullest and not back down to accomplish what He has planned for her. So many precious friends often remind me if she was my reserved, calm child she probably would not have the guts to do what God is calling her too! And now she has taken the first step in following in Him in what will be a lifelong journey! It will be the greatest adventure of her life!!!

Thank you all for praying for her then and now!! She is a gift to all who know her!

Update

Okay you know you need to update your blog when you have to check your own blogsite to see what you have not posted! :-) We have finished up revivals and it was a WONDERFUL week. God spoke and refreshed so many of us and if you get a chance, go to the church's blog and download Brother Herman Cramers messages. They were really good.

Let's see what else is going on around here...
Katie--the cut on the forehead is healing nicely although that glue has not "sluffed" off yet. So we are waiting for that. She is at that accident prone stage. I was talking to my brother Thursday night on the phone and she was in the tub and fell and busted her lip. She talks ALL the time. And names thing as she pleases (Bo-Bo is now pink bear) and she thinks it is hilarious to call me Winnie. (That is what my nieces and adopted kids--Jenn call me) She can say just about anything and I can't think of any new words.

Oh this is funny...last night a couple of our youth spent the night with me and we went to Whataburger. There were some college age girls there and Katie climed into the booth across the wall from them and was playing peek-a-boo. She would say "mon Momma--Pee Boo" and try to get me to come play with her. She was hilarious. Then she came home and vacuumed (backareem as David fondly referred to it as a toddler) the whole living room with her little vaccumm. Oh that she would keep her love for cleanliness! :-)

Please Vote

Good Morning!! As I write them I'm trying not to read all the articles predicting the outcome of today's election. As I read in the Word this morning and I am reminded how BIG my God is and that He is a refuge. Today is a big day for our country and I cannot help but be a bit anxious as I think of what some of the extreme implications could be for me as a homeschooler adn follower of Christ should this thing go way left....but again, God's people only grow stronger when refined by fire. PRAY AND VOTE!!!!!

Revival

November. I cannot believe it is already November. Where has this year gone? I wanted to cry the other day as I was changing out all the kids clothes and David is wearing a size 5 and Kyra is a size 8! Ah! David will start kindergarten next year. It was just yesterday he was my little baby who loved to be held and rocked and Kyra the little toe-headed toddler playing with him. Anyway!!
We started our revivals today with Herman Cramer and Wes James. It was really good. He preached out of Mark 2 talking about the crippled man on the mat. The one thing that just sounded off like a gong in a very familiar passage of scripture (and sorry cannot quote the verse as my bible is in the kitchen and well...I'm lazy) is how Jesus looks at the 4 friends and the guy on the mat and said "their" faith has made you well. The friends faith tied into the salvation and the healing of this man!! Wow!! It made me wonder is the faith I have in Jesus for myself, my family and my friends leading them to salvation and to healing!!! And then he pointed out that God did not send one man to bring the mat, or two, but four b/c a bed/cot has 4 corners and we all have our part to do and when we each do our part it is not a burden! May God bless you today and may He increase your faith!